mewmartigan

One more change that bothers me among the others listed already...

When Han is saving Lando from the Sarlacc and is about to shoot:

Lando: "No wait, I thought you were blind"
Han: "It's alright, trust me"

New version:

Lando: "No wait, I thought you were blind"
Han: "It's alright, I can see a lot better now"

Really useless change and "trust me" is a much better line for character.

DarthMarino

This reminds me of another useless change to Empire. When R2 gets spit out in the swamp, Luke used to say "you're lucky you don't taste very good." Now he says, "you were lucky to get out of there" implying that R2 did something heroic to escape. It kind of ruins the joke of R2 surviving only because he's a big chunk of metal.

I will agree with others that the Jedi Rocks scene is easily the worst change since it's several minutes that stick out like a sore thumb. The song just draws way too much attention to itself. The old Lapti Nek fit in much better.

Anubis2005X

Vader getting from Bespin back to his star destroyed his another awful change. It's just awkward, and ruins the pacing. Plus, the dialogue change is annoying "Alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival." That just sounds weird. It was much better when he was pissed and was like "Bring my shuttle, bitches!"

kefrank

This is exactly how I feel about it (which I articulated in a post that got lost in the database problems yesterday). Other modifications may change the nature of a character or take the viewer out of the movie, but this change undermines the thematic core of the entire series.

Guru Askew

That's not an SE change though, that line was reportedly different in different sound mixes and on different prints pre-SE.

tylergfoster

This is another weird one because everything claims it was James Earl Jones, but it just sounds...not like him at all.

I watched the non-anamorphic original Star Wars last night (albeit on a 15-inch TV) and I was surprised at how good it looked. If I didn't want those three discs of extras, I might cancel my pre-order...

Drexl

I think I posted this and it got wiped out, but I wouldn't find that satisfactory. If they were to do anamorphic DVDs, it would require new transfers of the films, and I'd be very disappointed if they went to that trouble only to downsize it for DVD.

It's funny that someone mentioned The Wizard of Oz, which has gone through 3 DVD/BD releases since the original DVD, each with a newer, better transfer. But SW is too expensive!

GenPion

George Lucas is simply too full of himself to admit that fans are deserving of seeing the original cuts. This is the same man that said in an interview on television that he didn't understand why anyone would like the Spider-Man films, which he felt were nowhere near as good as his Prequels were. Why even do such a comparison? He'll do what it takes to stroke his ego.

Granted, I may be a little harsh in this regard, but I feel as though he is punishing fans for his own gratification. He's embarrassed by the technology used in the earlier versions. Why? I have no idea. They look far superior to whatever CGI work was done on the prequels or updated versions.

Honestly, I wouldn't even be so critical of some of his decisions if he would just allow people the option of viewing the version of Star Wars they grew to love. At this point, the upcoming Blu-ray set should include the original theatrical versions, the special editions from 1997, and the most recent updated editions. Then everyone can be happy and move on with their lives. We shouldn't have to have endless debates on the internet over the validity of our desire to see these films in their original form. George has always claimed to be someone who cares about film preservation but when it comes to his own body of work I just don't believe it anymore.

pinata242

The best thing for Star Wars is for George to be out of the picture. I wish no man ill will, but he needs to hurry up and die. I just hope his kids are more receptive to the fans.

GenPion

While I would never wish that on George, I never considered the possibility that his kids might be more willing to release restored versions of the original theatrical cuts on Blu-ray than him. If they have any say in the matter I hope you are correct in assuming they would do that for fans.

pinata242

Well he sure as fuck ain't retiring

nmr1723

Agreed. I think his ego is obviously out of control. I think he's surrounded by "yes men/women" and nobody...even in his inner circle...is willing to stand up to him.

It's a shame that his wife left him around the time of Jedi. According to the Secret History of Star Wars, she was the one person who could bring him down a notch and let him know when he was cluttering the screen with useless BS. I think if he had her or someone like her in his life...we wouldn't have seen some of the awful additions to the Original Trilogy and the Prequels just might have been totally different films altogether.

formula72

(OOT) Original original Trilogy, Sorry

formula72

Well said!!!

Paul_SD

Anakin Skywalker slays women and children, as Vader he oppresses, kills with casual indiscrimination, tortures his daughter (amongst others), and presides over genocide on a planet wide scale (and this is just what we see for ourselves).
And yet he is 'redeemed' when he murders someone worse than him- ostensibly to save the son just minutes earlier he was laboring mightily to kill himself.

Does it really matter who shows up at the end, when the philosophical underpinings of it all are so full of horseshit? To argue it from any point other than wanting it simply for nostalgic reasons, makes any discussion look kind of foolish. No personal offense meant, as nostalgia, and historical reference, are as good a motives as any to want the original. But the fact that Lucas was goaded into making an issue of the original title (Revenge of The Jedi) and changed it, and then years later expended resources to make sure Greedo shot first because of the wrong message it might send to impressionable kids about one of the heroes- that all that is ultimately in the service of a six film saga about a (mostly) remorseless thug getting into Jedi Valhalla from one good deed at the end (which of course involves him having to murder someone else)- is quite bonkers.

I won't even begin to get into the fact that throughout the six films, the emualted Jedi are all clueless, stupid, despotic, easily duped, and ultimately (even at the end of jedi) weak and ineffectual- and that the only way the biggest villain of the saga can be vanquished is when another villain offs him. So kids, the big moral lesson to be learned here is- try to manipulate someone else into doing your dirty work for you. That way they have to make all the sacrifices, and you get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Remember kids, that's the Jedi way. And don't do drugs!

Takeshi357

Good grief, this. I've seen clips from the production meetings of Phantom Menace and seeing all the crew members laugh at his stupid jokes and the whole blatant incompetence of it all makes him look like some kind of a crazy despot whose underlings are scared of what'll happen if they DON'T laugh at his stupid jokes.

Also I can't believe he actually said on television that his prequels are better than the Spider-Man movies. Did he really say that? Did Mr. Shoots Films Based On First Draft really say that?

If he really cares about film preservation as much as he claims, maybe he should hand the OOT to Criterion...

Travis McClain

This is the first I've heard of such a claim, but I think I could be persuaded that way. I really enjoyed Spider-Man, especially Willem Dafoe's performance as Norman Osborne, but the sequels really fell short for me. I just can't get into either one of them, and I'll go so far as to say this: I think the love for Spider-Man 2 is as undeservedly hyperbolic as is the hatred for the Prequel Trilogy in general. There are, admittedly, fewer plot holes in the Spidey movies but I just didn't enjoy them as much as I should have.

Another way of measuring this is that I've got the three Prequels on DVD and am looking forward to their forthcoming Blu-ray release. I never bothered getting Spider-Man 3 on DVD and have no real compulsion to upgrade to Blu on any of those three movies. (Great DVD releases, though; really thorough supplemental features.)

Jay G.

Here's the quote. It's specifically about Spiderman 3, and not the series as a whole. He also doesn't say that Star Wars is better:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...an.html?cat=40
I actually thought part of the problem with Spiderman 3 was that there was too much story.

Artman

Well, it's more of a spiritual redemption, but I can see where that wouldn't mean much to those who aren't believers of a given faith. In fairness, the lasting effects of his actions weren't just wiped away, the consequences remained. Who knows, maybe in a possible sequel series that idea would be explored.

As far as the Jedi's powers, we did get a throw away line that their abilities were diminishing. However this was never shown or explored in any meaningful way. What exactly there role was in the government and commanding the military was never explained either, I still don't get it. Perhaps they shouldn't have been leaders of the troops, but a separate entity entirely...shunned and laughed at by the military officers. (would've been a good expanded role for Tarkin)

animefan

Well to be fair, I don't think it's really not that different from philosophy of Christianity. I don't want to have discussion about religion(plus I really don't know much about it anyway) But the thief/murderer that showed remorse to Jesus and gets forgiven before his death on the cross is not that far off. It doesn't mean that you can do anything you want as long as you repent before your death, but it's similar.

But, I never watch movies to learn some values anyway. And no offense to anyone, Star Wars is just popcorn entertaining movie for me, not something that I would analyze or think deep about.

And I do hate the story changes he made to the original and wish the original cut is also available. If Cameron can spend millions of dollars to do post production work on his deleted scenes and give us three different version of Avatar, than I think it's fair to expect remastered and have all the different version of the most profitable series of all time.

GreenVulture

[clicks on thread hoping for news, still finds same retarded whining and arguments that have been raging since 1997]

Well, maybe tomorrow...

Ignohippo

You are absolutely, completely missing what's going on (and I do agree with every single point you make). By creating the "Special Editions," Lucas unintentionally created a second product – it wasn't his original intention, but that's what has ended up happening.

For all his faults, I believe he's an incredibly shrewd businessman. He knows what the fans want and he knows how to sell product. He'll sell the Special Edition saga on blu-ray, he'll sell them digitally, he'll sell tickets to the saga in 3d, he'll sell the 3d versions on blu-ray.

...then, when the last gasps of sales are to be had on the Special Editions, he'll do it all over again (except the 3d theatrical versions) with super-duper versions of the original cuts. History tells us they're more than likely remastering both the Special Editions AND the original versions right now. Remember, that's what he did with DVD – he waited until the sales were flat on the saga (just before dvd was about to die as a format) and then FINALLY released the originals on dvd (after saying for years it would never happen).

Even more shrewdly, he didn't remaster them for DVD so he would have another carrot to dangle years later. He can continue to go between the two versions of the films for as long as there are new formats. Freakin' brilliant. He'll continue to call the Special Editions the primary versions and then "reluctantly" put out the originals at the end of the life of each format and say that they'll never come out again – only to do the same thing with the next format.

It wouldn't even surprise me to see him come out with a third "hybrid" version someday – containing the updated effects of the SE versions while fixing the things the fans have complained about most. Just another thing us SW fans will gobble up.

BIGBUTTER

What a bunch of sour Whiney old Women. You freaks will never be happy. GROW UP. Myself with a few million others will be lined up on release day to get this,

So what if you aren't getting the original without the extra stuff. You already have them on DVD and VHS and bottom line you will buy this anyways. Yes George changed them. BIG DEAL. He expanded on the Star Wars universe and thats all good to me.


So be happy about the Blu-Ray release and look forward to what ever else is coming in the future. It's STAR WARS and there is so much more coming!

The Valeyard

Welcome to the Forum, Mr. Lucas.

Ignohippo

funniest...post...ever.