What's Wrong With The Special?

[RellikRats]

Ah, speaking of RotJ, I hadn't seen it in a long while. One of the joys of having smaller kids is getting to experience some of these things vicariously for the first time again, if you know what I mean

 

My 5 year-old insisted on watching it last night, so we popped in the SE (all I have until September.) I didn't realize how much I really liked this movie. I got goosebumps all over again, as if I was 15-going-on-16 again and sitting in the darkened theater.

 

I did find that some of the SE changes were almost seamless, but a few were, IMO, clunky. I didn't mind the enhanced saber blades so much, but the sand-creature-gullet-thingie (can't remember the name offhand) wasn't so cool. I liked it when it was just this dark hole with a few tentacles and you went down-down-down if it got you

 

I found I didn't mind the ewoks as much as I remembered, although I still wish for something a little darker and on a larger scale than a little forest moon thing.

 

What was most interesting to me was how having seen Revenge of the Sith colored my viewing of Jedi. Colored, I should say Enhanced, with a capital "E". Knowing the story made such a difference, and I found myself much more deeply involved. In fact, it made Vader and Luke's interaction a little more subtle, almost as if it really had been made "after" Sith. Even though I've seen Jedi at least 50 or 60 times over the years, I found myself quite moved during Yoda's and Vader's death scenes, such as I hadn't in a long time.

 

And, quite honestly, it made absolute perfect sense to me to see Hayden as Anakin's Force ghost at the end. Even that moment, as a confirmation to Luke of his father's final redemption, was a moving moment for me.

 

Anyway, I had such a great viewing experience that I just had to share it...

[PoiuyWired]

Well to be fair the new saber blades are not too bad.

 

Things I really don't like:

 

4) Weird Band additions (cause there are too many good stories about the original Band), even more weird weird "Chicken mouth of Carkoon"

 

3) Vader's Head Change, it really is not necessary.

 

2) Crawling Jabba and hutt stomping Han. Its just stupid.

 

1) Greedo, nuff said. &^$%&*$&**&$

[MachineCult]

Vaders head change?

[Kurgan]

Well there are a few smaller problems here and there, that one can argue about:

 

The DVD Editions: the lightsaber effects are inconsistent. Sabers change color seemingly at random, look solid in some shots, more transparent in others. Some shots are obviously too bright (garbage matte boxes around TIEs in ANH space battles, others too dark (saber clash in ROTJ). Bad color timing/balancing (Leia's caked on makeup, blue shirted Rebel troopers, wrong saber colors, "white" death star 1 explosion with blue artifacting, orange skinned characters on Tatooine, "too blue" R2 in ANH, "too green" Yoda, etc.)

 

Pasting Anakin's head over Shaw in ROTJ just seems like a blatant attempt to force us to think of the Prequels, rather than show us Anakin's redemption. Lucas' explanation of a person looking how they did before they "turned to the Darkside for the last time" just seems goofy and forced (no pun intended). Erasing his eyebrows seems similarly pointless (okay so they burned off, but not the rest of his face?), makes the bald cap more prominent (destroying some of the realism of the makeup) and takes away some of the actor's expressiveness (the eyebrows do a lot in that scene).

 

Poorly delivered lines by Ian McDiarmond as Palpy in ESB, and needlessly modified dialouge. Original scene was far more effective.

 

Needless overdubbing of Boba Fett's lines. Now he just sounds like some guy you'd have a BBQ with and some seafood, not a scarred and nasty Bounty Hunter. The character was so shallow, at least giving him a gravely voice made him seem a bit tough.

 

Bad sound problems on the English/Spanish track for ANH (awesome music drowned out by engines during the Death Star Trench run, Tarkin/Leia's lines not equalized leaving "tape hiss" especially for Leia, channels swapped for no reason).

 

Now the SE's:

 

Greedo shooting first, or shooting at the same time, etc. Pointless and stupid. I don't care about the whole "character arc" or "roguish nature" arguments. Anybody would have been justified plugging Greedo under the table after he clearly threatened Han's life AND had a gun pointed at him. In a court of law he'd have gotten off with "self defense." No need to let Greedo, a supposed bounty hunter, take the first shot and MISS from such a stupidly close angle (what, was Lucas trying to make us think of 'Pulp Fiction' here?), and then have the blaster bolt do no damage (it BOUNCED OFF THE WALL, where did it go? In the next version you'll hear and "eiiii!" off an unseen bar patron who got hit by the bullet and died.. comedy!). I guess the "sizzling flesh" sound effect added was kinda neat, but the whole change to the scene was unnecessary. Nobody would fault Han (rogue or not) for shooting first when his life was in danger. And it just makes Greedo look like even more of an idiot. The turning of any credible threat to the Heroes into comical bumbling objects of slapstick comedy just serves to destroy any drama or suspense... reminds me of the prequels and their "battle droids."

 

[Everybody whines about that scene, but those are the real legit reasons to have a problem with the change, not some nebulous "it detracts from Han's roguish nature" argument. Watch it you just have to stop for a second and go "What the heck just happened?"]

 

Needless insertion of Fett flirting with new dancing girls. Silly.

 

Overly cartoony "backup artists and that singing Yazum" added to the Rebo band sequence. Yes the Yazum was a character created just for ROTJ back in '83, but still, it was good they left it out, since it looked more at home on some Ewok show for kids. Jabba's palace has enough slapstick already without characters like these.

 

Jabba scene: poorly done, repeats almost verbatim of Greedo scene. More slapstick... don't stomp on the crime lord's tale! Jabba is just too nice, and Boba Fett mugs for the fanboys in the audience (ugh). DVD edition improved graphics, but Jabba still looks different than ROTJ and too lovable.

 

The SE & DVD editions (like the THX enhanced set) use the alternate (not as good) sound takes on two lines (ESB: "You were lucky to get out of there." instead of "You're lucky you don't taste very good!" / ROTJ: "Don't worry I can see a lot better" instead of "Don't worry, trust me." - Some people didn't like the "Close the Blast Doors!" because it made the Stormtroopers seem even more inept, sort of like the added head bonk sound effect in the DVD, though the new footage of the room full of troopers at the end of the hall makes the original scene seem less comically inept with regards to the troopers).

 

The "comic slapstick" moments added to Mos Eisley in ANH are annoying and silly (plus look very out of place in spots), with the Ronto's tossing Jawas and the worker droid punching an annoying beeping camera droid. The "serious and forboding" scene is turned into yet another joke for the kids.

 

Changing Lapti Nek to "Jedi Rocks." LN was cheesy, but Jedi Rocks is even worse, and the title sucks!

 

Changing the Ewok song at the end of ROTJ makes a more fitting end to the saga, but sort of ruins the mood a bit for the Ewok victory (dancing and helmet xylophone timing is thrown off), which I guess is fine by some people. Brief shots added to the scene give us more Ewoks, oh well I guess. It was kind of a silly scene to begin with, now it becomes more somber and serious. But previously it was meant to be a contrast between Luke's sadness over Vader and everybody else partying down because they're alive and the Empire is decapitated.

 

 

Shots of the planets being liberated are kinda okay, they look a little too modern and pasted in, though if you've just seen the prequels they fit better. "Wesa Free!!!!" arggh, I didn't need to hear that. Feels like Lucas just wanted to rub the Gungans in our faces one last time..

 

Needless "censoring" of blaster shots exploding on the chests of Imperial Officers on the Death Star. This is still a PG rated film, George, give us a break! And besides, you missed one...

 

"Bring my shuttle" (pissed off Vader) vs. "Alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival" (business as usual). I prefer the old line. The recycled shot of Vader arriving on the DEATH STAR 2 (not the Executor) just feels lazy. The "added suspense" is a slight improvement, but many felt it unnecessary. Either way we knew Vader was coming and it was a race to save Luke.

 

 

 

Some things in the SE's were improvements, IMHO. The DVD Rancor scene is vastly superior, as is the new DS1 space battle (in the 1997 version, the DVD edition ruins the sound). I have no argument with the cleaned up video (though leaving in SOME film grain in the DVD's wouldn't have been wrong, but I guess Lucas wanted to match the "digital video look" of Episodes II and III, and if he ever cleans up TPM he'll probably do the same to it).

 

New echo effects in the Death Star "tarzan scene" are an improvement. Dianoga eye blink is fine. Bantha herd, who cares.

 

Oola's final scream scene I guess is kinda good, but unnecessary (either way, we don't see the Rancor yet).

 

The new Wampa scenes are arguable. The creature looks slightly different in the new scenes than the existing footage of the old Wampa, and the sounds are added onto the old sounds (are there two Wampas in the cave then?). Previous monster was more of an "unseen threat" in the cave, but the disarmed Wampa seems angry and dangerous so perhaps a little scarier (helping explain Luke's panic). So it's a toss up.

[The Source]

^^^^^

You have a point.

[Kurgan]

To sum up... it's better in a few ways, worse in a few ways, and "ho hum, it's just different" in a LOT of ways. But the few negatives are really a sticking point with many of us who watch the movies for nostalgia (and not having to worry about how the prequels "tie in"... I mean, the prequels should spin their own story and "fit" based on their own sequence, he shouldn't have to tweak the old movies to "fit" right?).

[RellikRats]

I mean, the prequels should spin their own story and "fit" based on their own sequence, he shouldn't have to tweak the old movies to "fit" right?).

 

Well, easily said, but if you do any writing (and a lot of us on this board do, I would wager) you must know the permanent dissatisfaction most writers have with a finished work.

 

When a person looks back on a finished work, they always see flaws, think of improvements they'd like to make, or things that one would change in hindsight for consistency's sake. Lucas was in the position to say, "If I'd known I'd do this or that in Ep.III, I'd have done this in Ep.VI... wait a minute, I CAN do that."

 

I understand the nostalgia of it all, but I also understand how Lucas would see the saga as a whole in his own heart and mind and would want to do his best to make it as cohesive as he could.

[PoiuyWired]

Kurgan get most of the points.

 

Thing is, being a "Special Edition" or DVD version or whatever, the overall performance should be Better, not Worse than it is. After all those taken into consideration, I don't think SE did a really good job overall when it comes to changes, other than graphic cleanups.

 

I don't really mind some of the non-storyline whacking jokes (like the ronto) but some of them are really an eyesore, aka next time someone yell "mesa free!" I am going to hurt some fluffy baby animals.

[Kurgan]

Well see I don't CARE if an artist or author wants to go back and revamp their work a decade or so later to how they want it. As long as they give the public the option (because now the work has become part of the public, in a sense, especially in the case of Star Wars) to continue to buy/own/watch the earlier version if they choose.

 

That's why I'm glad Lucas if FINALLY releasing the original original trilogy on DVD (though he's being a little bit greedy about it by making it a LIMITED TIME RELEASE, and forcing people to buy a copy of his revamped 2004 Editions with it if they do, and knocking off Anamorphic support, which has just been standard for DVD's for many years... it's like he resents his fans or something, and can't bear to quite give them what they want without one more snicker... oh well, eccentric millionaires!).

 

The thing with the Special Editions was it took me a lot of training to not jump up and point and go "whoa, there's a new scene!" Many others I watch with are the same way. And the more you watch it the more you notice.

 

The first few times it was like "wow, cool" then it was like "how did they do that" then it was like "okay that doesn't look so good anymore they can do better" and finally "that's so dumb" and "I wish it were back to the way it was before."

 

Most of the stuff was not really necessary. It was done "because he can." Lots of us assumed this was being done as "practice" for the Prequels, to try to make "StarWarsy" stuff and practice CG tech. So we ended up with a CG Yoda, CG Stormtroopers, CG aliens, and full CG realized main characters. As high an improvement as these elements were in Episode III from the first special editions, they still don't quite look "real" compared to puppets or actors in suits, who at least, in most cases, are actually tangible and in the same scene with the other actors, having weight and such. The CG in the prequels doesn't bother me, since the movies were made with it originally in mind. In the OT, it just sticks out. The places it works best is in the space scenes, because there's nothing living, and it's more like a video game anyway. As long as its pretty close to what we'd expect, it looks fine, and it actually looks great in most places. They did make a few goofs, like making all the new X-Wings have the same markings and same pilot inside them (one of the development guys served as the model), but only very observant "nerds" will notice things like that.

 

Still. The SE's are fun for what they are, but I want the originals. Ultimately, that's the meat and potatoes, the SE's are just the twinkie for dessert.

 

The graphic clean ups and such would have been fine, but they didn't go far enough. It seems Lucas could have spent the millions he wasted on unnecessary CG insertion, on actually getting the color timing correct, normalizing the lightsabers properly, and cleaning up the garbage mattes around the objects in space and other flying things. Instead he just seems to have modified stuff that would wow people on the big screen (the matte boxes for example become MUCH more prominent on home screens).

 

In this the digital age, many fans have taken to even making their own customized versions of the movies and putting them on DVD to watch. Taking the "best of" all versions to make their ultimate version, even doing stuff like correcting the Death Star plans (so they actually match the model of the Death Star scene in the rest of the movie) and taking out Vader gesturing with no lines in Tarkin's ready room, etc. If these amateurs can do this, then it proves there is no excuse for Lucas not doing it.

 

So anyway, that's cool. But fans shouldn't have to rely on other fans to do Star Wars right... right?

 

It's sort of like if LucasArts releases a bad game, people are like "well, we'll just make good mods to make up for it."

 

I think we can safely say that the 2004 DVD editions, as great as they are, could have been much MUCH better, had they given a little more time, rather than rushing them out as quickly as possible (and then re-releasing them twice to milk as much money out of it as possible)... plus they way they tried to artificially boost the sales figures of the Battlefront games with the sale of SW DVD's just seemed a little underhanded.

[DarthXilon123]

Hey I just like both of them a lot. If they didn't make the originals they wouldn't make the DVD.

[Great Scott!]

Okay, here's something that I think I'm the only one who's ever noticed. I know I will be flamed, attacked, and burned by fanboys of the original versions for saying this, but here goes...

 

The first editions I ever saw were the special editions, and later the DVD editions. Now these were all fine and well for me, but because of all the people saying the original versions were so good, I decided to watch my grandparents' old, unopened 1995 VHS versions. Now ESB and RotJ weren't really much different to me, but when I saw A New Hope... here it comes...

 

The quality looked like crap. I could not believe how low-budget it looked during the whole movie. The orange effect under the speeder, the terrible, pretty much white lightsabers, and worst of all... during the throne room scene, right before the credits, the screen just shifts to the left randomly (even in the credits it looked uneven). I could not believe how terribly cheap it looked. I'm sorry fans of the originals, but it was just very hard to enjoy when it felt like I was watching a crappy little fan-film (picture quality-wise, not dialogue quality-wise). Please don't flame me, but this was really how I felt whilst watching (I guess it was a little exaggeration saying "the whole movie," but it looked low-budget at some relatively important/exciting parts)...

[ABCIMe123]

That's because you've been spoiled by the Special and DVD Edition.

[Great Scott!]

Hang on, someone's trying to page me.

 

Oh wait, that was my fanboy alert, never mind.

 

Just because I happen to like the quality of the SEs and DVDs more, doesn't mean I was "spoiled" by them. It's just the quality in the originals wasn't that great...

[McCusto]

I liked the DVD versions just because the old Anakin and Emperor just didn't fit into the movie.

[Prime]

I liked the DVD versions just because the old Anakin...just didn't fit into the movie.

Wuh?

[ExileRevan]

Well this just may be my anol retentive attention to detail talking but, Han shooting first imortalised his character to me. Anything else just isnt quite right to me. Plus the added stop-motion Jabba the Hutt was a pointless scene which was, I beleive a replacement scene for Han shooting Greedo, because Greedo can be seen walking off screen when the outragiously skinny Jabba the Hutt leaves.

[Henz]

What if George decided in about twenty years to change Hayden's face in Episode II and III to a digitally younger David Prowse (The Original Darth Vader)? Would you be upset?

 

Think about it this way: Several of us have been bourght up with the original cut of Star Wars for 30 years. One day, George decided to make tweaks to his films. After making several cool tweaks, he also managed to make some argumental tweaks. The movie that I grew up with no longer exists. The movie that I fell to admire for its place in film history has been overhauled in a way that is indifferent. If the Star Wars saga was built from Episode I - VI, from the very beginning, I would probally not like the franchise. Episode I-III don't sit well with me. When it comes to George making changes to Episode IV-VI, this ultimately changes the story I grew up with.

 

From my perspective: Luke Skywalker & Han Solo are at the center of Star Wars.

 

To everyone who did not see the original 1977 cut, they see Anikan Skywalker at the center of Star Wars.

 

Boba Fett is a prime example of another change, which I honestly didn't want to see happen. I felt that seeing Boba Fett as a child ruined my perspective of him. I rather think he is ruthless, but now I see him as a cheap kid in a bounty hunters suit looking for revenge.

 

Mediclorians (sp?) are another example of horrible changes to the story. I grew up with the force being an energy filed, which a human can summons and control. Now, that idea was crushed by the medaclorians. Grrr....

 

Princes Leia's story is intresting. She was the only one who remembered what her mothers face looked like. Episode III messed that logic up. A five minute old baby will not remember the events that occur at the time. I personally thought Leia was brought up for a few years or so by her mother, and Luke was seperated from them to protect them fromVader. Combined, they act like a force beacon, which Vader could find and locate. Seperately, the force would bee too weak for Vader to notice.

 

None of that bothers me as every example was merely an assumption that was later defined.

 

The gay-ness' of the colouring in the DVD editions... Are they all present in the 2 disc releases with the original versions too, or did they fix them?

[Kurgan]

None of that bothers me as every example was merely an assumption that was later defined.

 

The gay-ness' of the colouring in the DVD editions... Are they all present in the 2 disc releases with the original versions too, or did they fix them?

 

Sorry, but the 2004 Special Edition of each of the movies ("disc 1" on the 2006 release) is the same here as it was in the 2005 "Limited Edition" and the 2004 Four Disc set.

 

It hasn't been fixed or changed at all except for the lettering on the disc label. The colors are still wrong... nothing's been fixed.

 

Thankfully the colors in the "Bonus discs" (disc 2, theatrical editions) are accurate.

 

I guess to summurize how I'm feeling at the moment.. the 2004 Editions would be far less offensive to me if the sound and video/color gaffes were all fixed up. But I couldn't justify buying them a third time just for that... (I have purchased them twice now, once when I got the four disc set and when I purchased the three 2006 sets).

 

Then I think I'd just consider the 2004 SE's to just be lame. As is I have to consider them "broken." They're like a hugely hyped and much anticipated game that comes out full of bugs and remains unpatched.

 

Had I known that Lucas was going to release the 2006 sets back in the day, I would have skipped buying the 2004 package, and just caught the "Bonus Materials" disc 4 on rental or purchased it seperately on Amazon.com.

 

Now I hear the supposedly "Limited Editions" are still widely available. So much for the hype!

 

 

The 2006 "theatrical versions" on the bonus discs are good, but not complete. Had they included the original theatrical soundtracks as an option and anamorphic widescreen they'd be perfect, though. Add the long missed deleted scenes and vintage documentaries as bonus material and you'd have the ultimate OT DVD experience. Too bad Lucas doesn't have the sense to do that...

[Sir Phobos]

The Sarlacc's beak and the fake looking Jabba in ANH sort of rubbed me wrong. Other than that the SE is just fine, nothing to get hyphy over.

[Kurgan]

You've gotta admit though, Luke screaming, Greedo shooting (and Han head bobbin'), and Temura Morrison's phoned in performance for the redubbing of Boba Fett were pretty dumb changes though (I'm surprised Fett fans aren't more angry with the latter, but I guess they've switched from liking Boba to liking Jango?). And what's with the Emperor's dead-pan acting in the altered ESB hologram scene? The makeup looks off somehow... and why did they alter the dialog? Unnecessary.

 

And pasting Hayden Christiansen (from stock footage costume tests for crying out loud) on top of Sebastian Shaw's body was unforgiveable.

 

Still...

 

I'm more pissed about the awfully botched "restoration job" and bare bones feeling of the extras in the 2004 edition (when you look at it, most of them are dated advertisments for video games or fluff teaser pieces for Episode III), than just the idea of the Special Editions.

 

Any "fan" of the Special Editions should be pissed about that. Sure the picture is sharper and there's less grain, but the colors are all wrong and it's too dark. The sound is off on the english/spanish tracks of ANH as well. Compared to the 1997 editions that we saw in theaters, these DVD's look like crap! Of course people who have never seen Star Wars before won't notice this, though they will notice how lightsabers keep changing colors!

 

Lucas hemed and hawed for so long before finally releasing the originals on DVD in 2006. I'm glad that finally happened, but was that so hard? He should have released those back in '97-'98 (along with the '97 special editions which STILL have never been officially releasd on DVD), and released the 2004 editions for the 30th anniversary (done properly), and included an anamorphic original theatrical trilogy for the box set.

[Lord XZantor]

I wouls say both. But i said origanel. For the little money the had, they did a good job. And while I was watching the beginning of the special addition, i listened to the guys talk. How they refered to parts of it, like under the speder in Mos eisly, it was funny, you know the "force" under the speder. LOL!

[Jediknight1818]

I liked the new altered versions way better. I grew up with the old ones too but, the way the special effects were updated just improved the movies as a whole. Besides some changes were made for the better like putting Hayden at the end of ROTJ made episodes 4,5,and 6 match up w/ episodes 1,2, and 3. Thats the way I see it anyway but no one is going to have the same opinion.

[jawathehutt]

I would say the new one, since its the only one I own and it looks better than the original. Although I dont like all the changes they made to the box set, and I agree with kurgan that the special features disk sucked.

[BigMike322]

The originals hands down. Some of the updates are good, but when looking at the films as a whole, the originals are still better in my opinion.

[Kurgan]

I still can't quite fathom how anyone can honestly say the 2004 editions "look better." It reminds me of a bad colorization job done on a black and white film!

 

I bet the folks who claim to prefer the 2004 editions haven't seen the originals in awhile to compare...

 

 

LucasFilm/Fox really should have refunded the people who bought the first edition and I'm shocked that they haven't fixed the colors/contrast and sound glitches in all this time (can you believe it's been 3 years since the 2004 "box set" came out?!).