If anyone has watched the documentaries on the 4th disc - you will not have failed to see the clips of Vader and Obi-Wan’s final battle - - in which, Obi-Wan is clearly chopped in half… instead of just disapearing beneath a collapsing robe…
Seeing this, I assumed it was one of the numerous changes that Lucas had made to this version…
I thought… “Hmm, ok, it makes more sense that way - - every other character who gets hit by a light-sabre does tend to get a bit cut”
so… then I watched “Episode IV: A New Hope” - - and lo and behold - - it was the same death I had always seen ( if a little clearer - and with better sound quality )
so does anyone know what the deal was with the severed Obi-Wan clip - - did George decide that - - it was a bit violent - -
maybe
I’m still shocked that he changed the ending - - The Death Star should never shoot first.!!!
I like Star Wars, and I don’t consider myself a fanatic, but this is what I remember from an early documentary:
No, the clip shown in the new documentary was never used in the movie:
George found that the clip did not look good or the saber cutting effect looked silly, I saw the not used clip, and the top part of the dummy that was supposed to be Obi-wan, falls late or unnaturally slow.
Compared on what the light saber was shown to do before, it was decided to do Obi-wan’s death with mostly an editing cut.
That makes sense - - it didn’t look very good.
thanks GIGObuster
I can confirm GIGObuster 's theory. I believe it was on the bonus features on the Special Edition VHS release in 1997. That was the original idea, but the dummy never looked right so they had to figure it out in post production.
Can anyone tell me if the special features (documentary, commentary tracks) are all the same as the ones on laserdisc?
There’s commentary on the laserdisc?
Well, this commentary is all new, as it is clearly, judging by the comments made, been recorded after the shooting of Episode III, which happened in September last year.