George Lucas' rationale
Star Wars creator George Lucas explained the change by stating that he wanted to make clear to children that Han had "no choice" but to shoot Greedo. This justification was unsatisfactory to many long-time and adult fans of the series. The ire of some fans led to an online petition demanding that the changes be retracted.[3] The primary objection to the revision is that it alters Han's initially morally ambiguous character, making his later transition from anti-hero to hero less meaningful;[4] others claim that shooting Greedo first was justified, since Han was likely to be killed by Greedo or Jabba the Hutt, making Han's preemptive action both prudent and necessary. The plausibility of Greedo missing from such a short distance is also considered questionable, and criticized as being depicted in an awkward manner.[citation needed]
Since the Special Editions, there have been two DVD releases. In the 2004 DVD release, the disputed scene was altered again. In this version, Greedo still shoots before Han does, and he still misses at close range, but the timing is altered (so the shots are fired at almost the same time) and Han "dodges" the shot (digital manipulation is used to "lean" the character to one side).
The 2006 DVD had two versions—the 2004 changes and the original theatrical version. The theatrical version features no changes, including Han shooting first. When announcing the dual-version DVDs, Lucasfilm noted that the scene was included by saying: "...and yes, [viewers] see Han Solo shot first."[5]
For the 2011 Blu-ray release, the shot of Han and Greedo firing at each other from the 2004 DVD has been tightened up by several frames.[6]
In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lucas altered his previous statements by announcing that Greedo had always shot first - stating that a combination of bad close-up shots and the audiences' inaccurate perception of the Han Solo character was what actually caused all the confusion: "The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down."[7]
3.^ "Han Shoots First". hanshootsfirst.org. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
4.^ Sagers, Aaron, "An unbelievable day in the life of Jack Bauer", The Morning Call, February 15, 2006
5.^ "This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD". starwars.com. 2006-05-03. Archived from the original on 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
6.^ "More Changes to STAR WARS Include Blinking Ewoks and Different Cut of Greedo Shooting First". collider.com. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
7.^ "5 Questions With George Lucas: Controversial 'Star Wars' Changes, SOPA and 'Indiana Jones 5'".
