'Star Wars' DVD release attracts fans

Star Wars fans will always debate whether Han or Greedo shoots first, but there will never be any argument as to who were the first people in Bloomington to get their hands on the unaltered original trilogy DVDs.\nMore than a dozen Star Wars fans waited outside Best Buy on Monday night to get their hands on Episodes IV-VI in their original theatrical form and the new video game "Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy." Bloomington's Best Buy was one of select store locations to release the DVDs. The Hoosier Alliance, the official Bloomington Star Wars fan club, coordinated the event with Best Buy.\n"We were the first ones here," said Bloomington resident Bryan Kiefer as the clock approached 11 p.m. "We got here at 7 because we thought it would be crazier like two years ago."\nWhen the original trilogy ("A New Hope," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi") was first released as a box set on DVD in September 2004, more than 200 people waited outside of Best Buy for it, according to a Sept. 24, 2004, Indiana Daily Student article.\nThe unaltered versions of those three films still hold a special place in the hearts of hardcore Star Wars fans who grew up in the 1970s and '80s with the movies. \nMany fans were angered when in 1997 George Lucas released a special edition of the trilogy with new footage, music and improved special effects.\n"People grew up with Han shooting first and a pasty old white guy as Luke's father at the end," said Chris Miller, who drove from Louisville to wait outside Best Buy. "You grow up and you feel cheated when someone comes along and tells you that's not the way it is."\nOne of the more controversial changes to "A New Hope" was a scene where Han Solo is confronted by a bounty hunter named Greedo inside of a bar. In the 1977 version of the film, Solo fatally shoots Greedo, but in the special edition, Greedo fires at Solo before Solo kills him.\nIn the 2004 DVD release, Lucas continued to change the trilogy. At the end of the 1983 and 1997 editions of "Return of the Jedi," a ghostly Anakin Skywalker, played by middle-aged actor Sebastian Shaw, appears to his son Luke.\nIn the DVD edition, Shaw was digitally removed and 25-year-old Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin in the prequels, was inserted in his place.\n"If they were going to change it, they should have done it with Obi-Wan and Yoda younger too," said Russell Thomas, wearing a purple cloak like the emperor from "Revenge of the Sith" and holding a lightsaber. Russell also drove up from Louisville for the event.\nThis is also the first time the original Star Wars DVDs have been released individually in any form. As of Tuesday, Best Buy was selling each movie for $19.99 or the set of three with an exclusive tin for $69.99.\nEric Stuckey, president of the Hoosier Alliance, said he only planned to purchase "Return of the Jedi" now for the original music.\n"There's a big question of whether to buy this or wait," he said. "There are rumors on the Internet of a big boxed set next year with all six movies and even more footage. Usually you can trust that"