10 Most Pointless Changes To The Star Wars Movies You Never Even Noticed

4. No More Eyebrows For Sebastian Shaw - Return Of The Jedi

Poor Sebastian Shaw. Not only is he trumped on Google by the Kevin Bacon X-Men villain, but his pivotal role in Return Of The Jedi as the unmasked Darth Vader in Episode VI has been slowly weakened in the years since release.

Most notable (and by far the most derided change to the Original Trilogy this side of Han and Greedo's cantina showdown) is his replacement by Hayden Christensen as a Force ghost. Brutishly executed, there's absolutely no point for the alteration beyond hyping Revenge Of The Sith, which was due in cinemas less than a year after the change was made - Lucas' subsequent claim that Christensen was when Anakin was last good completely passes by Vader's last minute redemption.

At least Shaw still has the unmasking scene. Well, sort of - that too wasn't without its own share of digital alteration. In the original version, his big bushy eyebrows were proudly presented, but in the same update that brought with it the Christensen replacement they were digitally shaved off because Lucas finally realised if Anakin was burnt alive, he'd probably be totally bald.

It's a fair enough adjustment, but so minor it's hardly worth it (besides, couldn't his hair have grown back?). Especially when so much else in the prequels messed with the saga's overarching continuity.

It's particularly pointless given that Lucas had already decided Anakin wound up in the black suit through hideous burning back when shooting Jedi, so if it really was such an essential part of the scene, he could have addressed it then, rather than thirty years later.