The Han Greedo scene is legendary for its place in Star Wars history due to the numerous recuts its been subject to as updated versions of Star Wars hit home media.
Now, the Han Shot First discourse has been revived due to a new cut of that scene in Star Wars: A New Hope on Disney+.
As Eric Fell noted on Twitter, the recut scene lets Greedo get in one more line before his and Han’s blasters go off.
In the Disney+ version of Star Wars Greedo now shouts “MACLUNKEY” before getting shot. This is now my favorite version because why the hell not? MACLUNKEY! #starwars #maclunkey pic.twitter.com/k1XmP8wAZT
— Eric Fell (@ericfell) November 12, 2019
This is the fourth version of the scene to appear in an official release: the original 1977, where Han appears to shoot (ahem) solo; the 1997 Special Edition that added in Greedo’s wide shot; the 2004 DVD edition which has Han and Greedo shooting at the same time; and now the 2019 Disney+ version, with Greedo getting in the last, baffling word.
Vanity Fair pointed out that the subtitles fail to include this new word—which fans have heard primarily as “Maclunkey”—so what it means in Greedo’s alien language is anyone’s guess. They also confirmed that Lucas made these particular edits to the scene roughly seven years ago, before Disney bought Lucasfilm, which has us wondering: WHY NOW?!
Han shot FIRST dammit!
I’ve heard some people say (on FB) that this is from the Blu-Ray release and not acutally new. Of course, still begs the question of WHY Lucas is so weirdly compulsive about this scene.
Lucas seems to have a weird hangup with making good guys completely good and honorable duelists, or at least ones played by Harrison Ford. I believe he’s said he doesn’t care for Indiana Jones casually shooting the swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark, either. But thankfully he didn’t change him to swinging around a bazooka instead of a sword!
Maclunkey? Clearly, Greedo says ‘Laurel’.
@princesroxana first implies Greedo got a shot off…Han shot, the end ;-)
My guess is that “Maclunkey” is the name of Greedo’s favorite sled……………
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Curious indeed!
@5, Good point. Greedo monologued when he should have been shooting, so Han shot him. Totally justified, Greedo’s intentions were clear. Only an idiot would have waited for him to make his move and Han isn’t an idiot.
@3, I believe the decision to shoot the swordsman was Ford’s idea. He was in the midst of some rather delicate gastrointestinal distress issues, and didn’t want to do the choreographed sequence. At least that’s my understanding of it.
Ford did not like Han’s character, which is a shame, because his story arc of redemption is why I love the character more than any others. I prefer his story to the Hero’s Journey that Luke goes through. It makes his rescue of Luke during the trench run so much more poignant than Luke trusting the force. He was a good man that did bad things to survive in a bad world, and his growth back to being a good man is powerful, in my eyes.
Similarly, I like Finn in the new series for much of the same reasons.
Han didn’t shoot first. Han shot only.
princessroxana @8:
Greedo monologued when he should have been shooting, so Han shot him.
Hah — now you’ve got me wondering if Lucas might have been influenced by the classic scene in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (“When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”)