Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Boxed Set Includes "Maclunkey" Cut of A New Hope

Almost every decade, a new home video format sees a new release of Star Wars: A New Hope, with the [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Almost every decade, a new home video format sees a new release of Star Wars: A New Hope, with the recent release of the entire Skywalker Saga on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray in a massive boxed set revealing that the included edition of the film is the infamous "Maclunkey" cut from 2019. What's also worth noting is that, if you purchase the film on its own with its recent release, the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo pack includes the Maclunkey cut, while the Blu-ray standalone version instead comes with the HD release of the film that initially debuted in 2011.

For the uninitiated, the Maclunkey cut debuted on Disney+ last year and is named after a specific tweak to the scene in which Han Solo faces off with Greedo. The original 1977 version of the scene saw Solo firing at Greedo under the table and killing him, though the 1997 Special Edition release modified the encounter to depict Greedo shooting first. When the film debuted on DVD in 2004, the scene was again changed so that the characters fired simultaneously. In 2011, the scene earned some minor tweaks, but the film's 2019 debut on Disney+ saw the addition of Greedo saying what sounds to be "maclunkey" before being killed.

In short, if you purchase the film with the 4K Ultra HD disc, Greedo will say "maclunkey," and if you buy another Blu-ray version, he doesn't say this. While these details might not matter to most, purists will likely be more concerned about which version of the film they own.

As far as what "maclunkey" even means, fans are largely unaware, as that piece of dialogue isn't subtitled, though Sebulba does utter the phrase in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, with the context implying the remark was a threat. Paul Blake, who played Greedo in A New Hope, confirmed that this piece of dialogue wasn't in the original script and he has no idea what it means.

"It certainly wasn't in the dialogue," Blake admitted to Empire Magazine. "I've got the script here still, but I haven't looked at it for about 20 years – it's somewhere up in my attic. I now will actually go through it, I'm sure it doesn't say 'maclunkey', even though my memory as a 70-year-old is appalling. It was just the simple phrases as you see in the movie."

He added, "Greedo wasn't even a Rodian when we filmed it, he was just called 'The Alien'. George [Lucas] was forced to stick in that scene when he cut all the stuff with Declan [Mulholland], who played the original Jabba the Hutt. My little bit in English was just a simple, straightforward cowboy scene. 'Going somewhere? Give me the money. If you don't give me the money, I'll shoot you. I've been looking forward to this for a long time.' That's about it, as far as I can remember. I certainly don't remember the word 'maclunkey'. Are you sure that's not the noise he made when his very brittle green head hit the table? Or he was saying 'ouch' in Rodian just before he fired?"

The Skywalker Saga boxed set lands on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on March 31st. Pre-orders are available here at Best Buy (exclusive).

Will you be adding the set to your collection? Let us know in the comments below!

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