In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Lucas claims that Han never shot first. Never.
"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."Right. Is he just trolling fanboys at this points?
Okay? Now, to be fair, and he brings the point to a head by noting that Blade Runner has been cut "about sixteen times since Sunday."
The best part about the interview? It interrupted a discussion he was supposed to be having with Spielbergo about Indiana Jones 5.
It is a damned shame. Seeing this so early on tells the audience a lot about Han as a character - "Scoundrel" fits pretty well. He's perfectly content to shoot a man in cold blood (under duress, but still) and toss the bartender a few credits for the mess. Less about honor, more about results, money, and making it out alive. Which is why it's such a shock when he comes back to save Luke. This guy should have been across the galaxy by now, spending his money and being far away from a war zone that he has no fight in, but instead he risks life, limb, and his ship by shooting Darth Vader outside of his own battlestation. That's a huge swing from the man we first met in the cantina, which makes it all the more satisfying.
ReplyDeleteBut instead, we get this wishy-washy half-justified shootout in a booth that, in addition to making a lot of the character development moot, looks like shit anyway.
I'd recommend to everyone that they watch The People Vs. George Lucas, which actually covers both sides of this issue (and more general ideas like if art belongs to the public or the creator after it's completed) surprisingly fairly.