The Empire Strikes Back - the original Emperor from 1980

WARNING: This original 1980 version IS NOT on the Blu-Ray release! Please "Like" our Facebook page "Save Star Wars - Boycott The Blu-Rays". This clip comes from the non-anamorphic 2006 "bonus disc" DVD release, which was sourced from a 1993 video master, which was created for the "definitive collection" laserdisc release, and was also used for the 1995 "one last time" (or "faces") LD and VHS releases. Thanks to all the fan-editors/preservationists at originaltrilogy.com for their sincere work on using the best sources available to create watchable versions of the ORIGINAL 1977-1983 Star Wars trilogy!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• star
• wars
• empire
• strikes
• back
• emperor
• 1980
• dvd
• clive
• revill
• ian
• mcdiarmid
• george
• lucas
• darth
• vader
• david
• prowse
• yt:crop=16:9
• blu-ray
• blu
• ray
• bluray
• blueray

[matrix86]

Sorry, but i'm all for the change they made in this scene. When I saw this as a kid, I just saw this as another scene. Then they redid it with Ian McDiarmid and my reaction changed from "just another scene" to "I think I just crapped my pants" lol. Besides, having played the Emperor in Ep. 6, I think it makes more sense to have re-edited this. Odd to have 2 different styled Emperor's.

& I see no need to boycott the Blue-Rays. It's not hurting you. Let the new generation have their abomination :P

[mielr]

@matrix86 So, I shouldn't boycott the blu-rays, which means I should buy them? How 'bout YOU buy them with YOUR money and mail them to me? :-)

[RetroRepair]

I'm still confused over this, is the "definitive" laserdisc anamorphic or not? Also is the previous "widescreen" laserdisc anamorphic? Does any anamorphic edition of the original trilogy (non-special) exist??

[mielr]

@RetroRepair None of the laserdiscs were anamorphic. Anamorphic LDs really didn't exist (with the exception of the few Japanese titles that were essentially novelties). No official anamorphic version of the non-SE Original Trilogy exists. There are some excellent anamorphic fan preservations, though, which you should definitely seek out.

[RetroRepair]

@mielr Thanks for clearing that up for me! BTW, do you know if the "widescreen" laserdiscs prior to the "definitive" boxset used a different master print?

[mielr]

@RetroRepair The "definitive" boxed set was a new transfer then, so the previous widescreen LDs used a different master. The same transfer that was made for the "definitive" set was also used for the "faces" LDs and VHS (and then used for the non-anamorphic DVDs).

[Thermodynamic]

The special edition DVD release , with Ian McDiarmid, is one of the few changes I liked. Amazingly, the inclusion of him didn't have them spoiling the movie's ending... which is amazing, given how crass some of the other changes made to the trilogy have been...

Ideally, having McDiarmid just redo the lines from the original would be best.

[mielr]

@grublet13 Oh, yea.....yet another "let it go", "get a life" posting. Never get tired of those...

Why don't you take your own advice?

[AJDilly]

@mielr Replacing this old ugly thing with Ian Mcdiarmid was definitely an improvement. Sorry to Clive Revill, but...

[TonyORebel]

I really don't understand why you'd boycott the blurays. Maybe i wasn't as attached to the originals as you were but for the most part all of the changes i've seen haven't been that bad. When he included Hayden Christensen at the end it was a symbolic change showing that vader had gone back to a time where he was no longer dark side. The music change, come on, the yub yub song was shit, John Williams new version is a thousand times better, and i feel the same way about the emperor.

[FranticFatality]

@sadailinikada86

Uh...no. This emperor is boring and dull. I think nothing of him.

[dalektaliban]

the emperor is dr evzan!

[frodo322]

What's the story of the emperor's face in this scene being the face of dead chimpanzee or something like that? I read that they superimposed the chimpanzee's face on the body or something. Anyone care to shed some light into this?

[futuremovieactor]

the British actor doing the voice is a man, but the person playing the physical role is a woman.

[suemorphplus2009]

@grublet13 Well, if people wanted to keep the original, then convert it to VHS, they could do it. I like the way that they made this scene originally, it was nice back when they edited analog film frame by frame, but still, if someone really wanted it, they could take a VHS to digital converter, and form a digital video file, it's doable.

[Lostzilla847]

awful, just awful. hooray for Lucas for some necessary changes!