Paul_SD

Has anyone pulled out the DVD of SW lately (or i should say, ANH)? I had mine buried away not intending to watch it again soon, but pulled them out last night and I was flabbergasted how good it still looked, even after digesting so many stellar Bds recently.

The Bds, unless they are royally screwed up, will be better- but for someone like me who watches the SEs with his finger on the fast forward button, the DVDs are no slouch and quite sufficient when the presentation is already compromised fundamentally in terms of content. At the very least, the DVDs are good enough to prompt me to wait for a ridiculously good deal.

rod319

The DVDs are decent quality compared to other DVDs of the time, but trust me, they do not hold up compared to Blu-rays of today.

My daughter recently discovered Star Wars (she is almost 6). I have "educated" her on the OT, and we have watched the OT on my 120" CIH 2.35:1 HD system.

I am looking forward to the Blu-rays for a huge improvement. I doubt she is going to let me wait for the prequels until Sept. I am dreading the EE on EP1!

ScissorPuppy

I'm no expert, but how was the original negative permanently altered if the restoration was done digitally? Wouldn't that mean they scanned in the original negative, made the changes digitally and then printed a new master print? Wouldn't that leave the original negative unchanged?

Besides as many have already said, people are not looking for an unrestored version of the OT, they just want a version without the ton of CGI added in 1997. Getting good copies of footage from the few scenes that were changed and adding them in seemless branching wouldn't be nearly as hard or costly as Lucasfilm is saying.

coli

I agree and disagree with this statement.

I think that the fans who love the OOT and wont buy the new BluRays are a minority. But the MAJORITY of older fans do PREFER the OOT over the SE, but 'put up' with the changes and will buy the SE because they love the movies so much.

All of my friends who are SW fans are in their late 30's like me, and we all prefer the OOT over the SE, but most of them will buy the SE in September. But trust me, they hate Greedo shooting first, they hate Jedi Rocks, and they disdain Hayden in the ghost scene. So you are right that Lucas still has a market for the SE to sell, but that doesn't mean that fans prefer them.

JimRochester

It's funny how they'll present 100 documentaries on how they are able to change things to fit the original vision but there would be too much difficulty either in expense, technology or time to get it back to the original state.

Jason

See, I have no problem with the SE's. They have always been clearly marketed as special versions of the original films, and Lucas has been very forthcoming with his reasoning behind them. I enjoyed seeing them again in the theater, and was there opening night in a packed house. Lucas' refusal to acknowledge their existence and importance is strange, and I feel shortsighted in terms of his legacy.

I would like to have properly restored completely original versions in the best format possible because I am such a big fan, and because of the profound influence the original film had on me.

Michael Corvin

Same here. Lucas has worn me down. I grew up on the OOT but continually pining for them is exhausting and futile. At this point the only thing that REALLY annoys me to no end is Hayden Christiansen in Jedi. I can tolerate the rest even though I'd rather see the OOT.

Yep. Thank you. It was driving me bonkers not remembering.

milo bloom

I can't get behind that. After the initial VHS and LD releases, the "Special Edition" moniker has been conspicuously absent from all packaging. The very next home video release of the eps 4-6 was in 2000 with a US VHS release (P&S and LBX) and a Japanese LD release. All of the featurettes from the 1997 SE releases were gone, with only a sneak preview of Ep 2 on the ANH tape. There was no indication of them being the SE's, nor has there been so on any of the DVD releases. Even on the releases that contained the old laserdisc transfers of the original versions, you'd have to know what you were looking for to know the difference.

Lucas has been trying to bury the original versions, the craptacular versions he put on DVD a few years back only served to cement his attitude towards them.

But the strangest thing is to go back several years and read all the quotes by him about film preservation and preserving our history, and then to hear him say it would cost too much to restore the other 10% of each film to restore the originals... that really doesn't add up.

Supermallet

In terms of stupid, harebrained, "cannot believe they did that" changes, nothing tops the awful musical number at Jabba's palace. Completely robs that scene of the disturbing power it had before. The rest of the changes are annoying but they don't quite kill the scene the way that musical number does.

Then again, it's gotten harder and harder for me to watch Return of the Jedi in any form as time goes on. Jabba's palace feels like it's out of a different movie series entirely (maybe Lucas had a hard-on for Heavy Metal or something), and goes on way too long. The Ewoks are frequently annoying. Most of the time Luke is on the Death Star he's just moping while the Emperor babbles on. It's a really unsatisfying conclusion, no matter whose ghost stands next to Obi-Wan and Yoda.

Travis McClain

I miss "Lapti Nek" as much as the next fanboy, but I still see Hayden Christensen's image as the spirit of Anakin as the single worst offender. It entirely negates the point of Anakin's redemption as it suggests that the last time he was a good guy was sometime in the first part of Revenge of the Sith, rather than moments before his death when he broke through 20+ years of being Darth Vader. The entire series is ultimately about Anakin Skywalker's rise and fall from grace...and his redemption. That substitution from Sebastian Shaw's image to Christensen's undermines the redemption...and hence, the entire point of Return of the Jedi.

Supermallet

Yeah, but if you squint, you can pretend it's Shaw. Or Casper.

mhg83

Just tape Shaws face over Haydens

tylergfoster

The most annoying changes for me:

- Hayden in Jedi. Primarily because, if Lucas has to explain it on his commentary, then it doesn't make enough sense, and of course because nobody wants to think about Episode II while watching Episode VI.
- The musical number at Jabba's Palace. It's disruptive and the song sucks, and like the Mos Eisley extension, it's full of loud nonsense, like the alien singer howling right into the lens.
- The new Emperor scene in The Empire Strikes Back. When I heard this, I thought it was a good idea, but Ian McDiarmid's performance is bizarrely terrible and the effect looks lame (needs more shadow).
- The extended Mos Eisley entrance. We do not need to see a Jawa nearly get in an accident, or that little whiny droid get beaten down.

I can live with Greedo shooting, um, simultaneously (since the effect on the DVDs is much more effective than the one from 1997) and the Jabba the Hutt scene, as well as all the other little tweaks.

Oliver Clothesoff

By far the worst change in the entire trilogy. Almost makes Jedi unwatchable for me.

Artman

Yeah, he does ham it up there just like he did in Sith. I find the portrayal humorous as it reminds of a cross between Marlon Brando and Hannibal Lecter. Part of me wishes Lucas had the foresight to refilm that dialogue with him while they did Jedi.

I really did like the more calm, creepy original Emperor. I wonder what it would've been like if Lucas went with that version in Jedi instead.

Supermallet

Thinking more about it, I don't have a problem with Christensen replacing Shaw. You can make the argument that Anakin appearing young alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda means Luke has restored him to the period where he was most good, fighting for the Jedi ideals, as opposed to the broken old man we discover under Vader's mask. It doesn't negate his sacrifice, or his breaking through decades of being under the sway of the Dark Side, instead it shows him as he once was in his prime. No, I really don't mind that particular change.

Obi-Wan and Yoda wouldn't look young because they stayed true to the Light Side their whole lives.

I dislike the new Emperor scene in Empire because it takes a really strong, singular scene, and drags it out and, frankly, makes Vader look kind of stupid. Granted, that's more in line with how Anakin was portrayed in the prequels, but come on. Although it's not bad enough for me to dismiss the whole SE of Empire out of hand.

Jason

Yeah, that's just terrible. I wonder if Lucas thought it might actually become a hit or something.

My least favorite thing is still the Praxis rings when Alderaan and the death stars explode. Not because it looks bad, but because he's just copying what others already did.

formula72

So true!!! If we got the OOT (Original original theatrical release) on DVD with anamorphic widescreen of each movie (NOT NON- ANAMORPHIC LUCAS), then I think most of us will be happy if included with the Bluray set.

I think I will pass on this Bluray set otherwise.....

pinata242

The thing is, if you had read that Secret History of Star Wars article posted earlier, you'd know that it's certainly possible to get to that point. It's just a matter of splicing it BACK together.

Lucas got to that point but he wasn't just interested in releasing the remastered movies with a few new scenes added, he wanted move forward with what was essentially pre-production on the prequels using the new technologies that were emerging. Give ILM something to learn on. Make sure Fox was convinced the prequels were possible.

When he saw the possibilities, he went bat-shit crazy.

Claiming it was his original vision is bullshit. He may actually have made himself believe it then. I believe that over the last 10-15 years, he's come to realize he made a mistake, but he can't admit it now and release those cuts because it would negate everything he did in his revisions.

Artman

Yeah, if it was just cleaning up and expanding effects shots that'd be one thing. But changing character motivations and entire meanings of scenes just doesn't add up. It may be how he wants now, but it wasn't at that time. We all change over time, Spielberg has said repeatedly he wouldn't and couldn't make Close Encounters as the person he is today. Thankfully the only film he's changed is ET and even than, we still have the original on the first DVD release. (blu-ray may or may not be different...we'll see)

Takeshi357

At this point, I really just don't care about the revisions. As far as I'm concerned, he can revise them all he wants...

...as long as he also includes the original versions. Which he doesn't.

The whole "restoring them would cost too much money" is quite frankly a big steaming load of BS for two reasons;
1) He's wading in cash
2) There are films out there with far less historical significance AND/or mainstream popularity that nevertheless receive the loving attention of receiving some sort of restoration job for the DVD and blu-ray release. Of course, these aren't always on par with the restoration of some big cinematic classics like Wizard of Oz, but they're still better than using laserdisc masters.

I skipped the 2004 box set, picked up the later limited editions and never once have watched the special editions included on those DVDs, so this, no matter what extras they shove on it, will be an easy pass for me. No way I'm blowing 90 bucks for content I don't even like.

Well ok, I blew 45 bucks for Seven Samurai despite not liking the film, but at least Criterion cares.

naitram

Boba Fett's voice being changed after the prequels is what finally broke me. The SE of Empire was pretty tolerable up to then. No way in hell I'll buy these Blu-rays.

davidh777

This. Whether or not I'd prefer the original originals doesn't really matter because it won't happen no matter what I do. I know what I'm going to get (and what I'm not going to get) if I buy these so I just have to decide if that's worth my $. I have two VHS sets and two DVD sets so I'm sure I'll get these.

DVD Josh

Hayden is Jedi is bad, but Han not shooting first changes the whole tenor of his character. That's why it's the worst single change in the trilogy.

nmr1723

This...

Jedi is very hard to watch these days. I tried to watch it with my son the other day and it definitely fits in better with the prequels than Star Wars or ESB. I used to love the whole Jabba scene back in the day...but even with the original dance number it's pretty bad. Pretty much everyone was phoning it in at this point. Even Alec Guinness seems uninterested in his brief performance in ROTJ. The space battle is the best of the entire series in my opinion and the highlight of the film.

I've actually watched the SE DVD's a good amount lately (again...with my son). The PQ is excellent (although I can't stand the blue tint on Star Wars). It will be interesting to see how good the blu-ray trilogy will look and if they fix all of the audio issues.

As for the special editions being watchable...its debatable. Star Wars SE has so much worthless added crap that it negatively affects the pacing and tone of the film. I think the worst transition is when we go straight from Luke losing his remaining family members and Ben being worried about Mos Eisley...to a Ronto bucking a Jawa and a droid hitting another droid (slapstick?). I think the part that bothers me the most (a lot of things get to me in this film) is when the digital Ronto walks in front of the camera and blocks the entire scene...this has to be a flipping joke...it's completely unnecessary.

Empire seems to be the least tampered with, and is still pretty damn good. As others have pointed out...the emperor scene and Boba Fett's voice are easily the two worst changes in the film. I'm ok with everything else...even the new wampa scene.

It just sucks that the original versions are shitty transfers that are borderline unwatchable due to the awful PQ...