Eu conheço quatro grandes versões - as versões originais, as edições especiais de 1997, as edições de DVD de 2004 e as edições de Blu-Ray de 2011. As alterações mais significativas foram as feitas para as edições especiais de 1997. As mudanças foram feitas por uma série de razões - para melhorar os efeitos especiais; inserir cenas que foram cortadas por motivos práticos, logísticos, relacionados a tempo ou financeiros; para alterar pontos de plotagem; e para adicionar detalhes, Lucas não conseguiu criar / pagar quando estava fazendo os filmes.
Quanto às suas perguntas específicas, sim, os efeitos do sabre de luz foram alterados, assim como as seqüências de batalhas espaciais (por exemplo, mais naves foram adicionadas, a edição foi feita mais rápida e dinâmica, etc).
Várias fontes oferecem listas de todas (ou a maioria) das alterações, mas há muitas mudanças para repetir a lista aqui. Aqui está uma lista de tais listas:
DVD Active parte 1 , part 2 , parte 3 e parte 4
Em vez de listar todas as alterações, fornecerei os resumos do Wookieepedia sobre quando e por que cada edição foi alterada.
Edições Especiais da Trilogia Star Wars de 1997
In 1997, Episodes IV, V, and VI were re-mastered and theatrically re-released as the "Special Editions." For the re-release, in addition to extensive clean-up and restoration work, Lucas also made a number of changes to the films in order to "finish the film the way it was meant to be" (as Lucas said in a September 2004 interview with the Associated Press).
Many of Lucas's changes for the Special Editions were cosmetic, generally adding special effects which weren't originally possible. Other changes, however, are considered to have affected plot or character development. These changes, such as the change referred to by fans as "Han shot first," have proven to be controversial. The "Han shot first" situation can be generally described as this: in the original release of Episode IV, the character Han Solo shoots and kills a bounty hunter named Greedo, after Greedo threatens to kill him in order to collect a bounty which had been placed on Solo's head by Jabba the Hutt. In the Special Edition of the film, however, Greedo shoots first at close range. Only after he misses does Solo return fire. George Lucas has been quoted in Entertainment Weekly as saying that this version of the scene was meant to be the original, as in the original storyboards (Greedo fires first at Han Solo).
In 2000, this version had box art redesigned to match the Box Art of Episodes I–III except the front of the box was white for Episodes IV and VI while Episode V retained the black used for the Prequel box art. Also the Star Wars logos on Episodes IV–VI used the logo design as featured for Episodes I–III. This was done to create a more uniformed look for all 6 movies.
Special coverage on CNN in 1997 notes that Lucas spent $10 million to rework his original 1977 film, which was roughly what it cost to film it originally. $3 million of that was spent on the audio track for the special edition. Lucas also spent $2.5 million each on Episodes V and VI.
Lançamentos de DVD:
2004 Star Wars Trilogy DVD
In 2004, in addition to an extensive and comprehensive hi-definition digital cleanup and restoration job by Lowry Digital, the original trilogy films were changed once again for their release on DVD. In these new versions of the films, a few changes which had been made for the 1997 Special Editions were removed. Even more changes were made to the films, however. With this release, Lucasfilm created a new high-definition master of the films, which will be used in future releases as well. Its sound mix was a combination of the first SE mix and the original mono mix.
One of the most notable of these new changes includes new footage shot during the filming of Revenge of the Sith of Ian McDiarmid portraying Palpatine, which has been inserted into The Empire Strikes Back, which replaces the original performance (voiced by actor Clive Revill and portrayed by Elaine Baker, wearing a specially made mask) recorded for the film. Another notable and quite controversial change was to a scene at the end of Episode VI, when the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker look upon the Rebels' celebration. The original actor who played Anakin in this scene (Sebastian Shaw) was replaced by Hayden Christensen, the actor who played Anakin in Episodes II and III.
The 2004 DVD changes were made in an attempt to make a better connection between the old and new trilogies. The 2004 DVD releases also received John D. Lowry's digital restoration visual enhancement treatment.
2011 Lançamento em Blu-Ray:
In 2004, Lucasfilm's then-Vice President of Marketing Jim Ward speculated on future releases: "As the technology evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there will always be work to be done."
At Celebration V on August 14, 2010, a version of all six films released on the Blu-ray high-definition format was announced. It was said to include never-before-seen and otherwise unreleased deleted scenes from the original trilogy, although the set did not include the original editions.
Exemplos de algumas das alterações *:
Os títulos de abertura originalmente não incluíam as palavras "A New Hope" ou "Episode IV"; isso foi mudado. Original; 1997.
Mos Eisley ficou mais ocupado. Original; 1997.
No original, Greedo nunca atirou em Han; isso foi infamously alterado para fazer Greedo atirar primeiro. Em edições posteriores, foi alterada ainda mais para que Han e Greedo disparassem mais ou menos simultaneamente. Original; 1997; 2004; 2011
A destruição de Alderaan foi renovada. Original; 1997.
Quando Han persegue os Stormtroopers na Estrela da Morte, ele agora encontra muito mais deles. Original; 1997.
Os efeitos do Lightsaber foram melhorados. Original; 2004.
Batalhas espaciais agora apresentam muito mais lutadores. Original; 1997.
A destruição da Estrela da Morte foi renovada. Original; 1997.
Os Fantasmas da Força no final do Retorno de Jedi foram alterados. Original; 2004.
Algumas cenas nas edições posteriores são completamente novas:
Novo tiro em Mos Eisley, 1997:
Nova cena com um celular Jabba - 1997; 2004:
* Nota: Eu me concentrei principalmente nas mudanças feitas no primeiro filme, principalmente por questão de brevidade. Os links acima são mais abrangentes e abrangem todos os filmes.