I think updating an old film’s sfx for new generations is a pretty awesome idea. Things like removing matte lines is awesome. Unfortunately, some of the changes are so bad they practically ruin it for me.
STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE
-I can accept the wide shots of Mos Eisley, and other added stuff, but the things like the Dinosaur that walks in front of the speeder are so bad they actually ruin the entire movie for me.
-Basically, I’m fine with stuff that you wouldn’t notice. So I’m fine with them adding a CGI dinosaur in the background, but having one walk in front of the camera, or having CGI slapstick droids front and center, is dumb. It doesn’t improve the quality of the movie, it changes the way the movie is. I think that’s most people’s problems with the SE.
-CGI Jabba is horrible. And completely ruins Jabba. If you were seeing that scene for the first time, you’d think, “oh, Han Solo doesn’t need to worry about Jabba–he’s silly! He even let’s Han step on his tail!”
-Basically everything else is very well done. The Biggs scene was great.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
-Continuity is overrated, IMO. But I guess it makes sense to put in Ian McDiarmind (spelling, sorry). But what was the point of changing the Emperor’s dialogue? The old lines were fine.
-Yoda looks too green. This is actually really distracting to me for some reason.
-“Prepare my shuttle”–just a dumb chance for Lucas to show us CGI-scapes.
-I’m fine with basically everything else.
RETURN OF THE JEDI
-Rancor scene stands out as the best change ever.
-I also like the Sarlaac’s beak. As a kid watching the '95 versions I didn’t think some hole in the ground was that scary.
-The new musical number is horrible. I would have just cut this scene entirely, I mean it’s not like the movie is short or anything.
-The whole CGI-scape celebration feels out of place in a movie that’s mostly filmed in a very real location (redwood forest) and makes the ST’s reversal of the happy ending make less sense (if you care about that).
-The new music is fine, though. While “Yub Nub” is also good, there was a weird emotional quality to having that melancholy William’s tune playing over a muted celebration. I know that sounds cheesy, but hey that’s how I felt.
-Again, Continuity is EXTREMELY overrated. Hayden Christensen was a decent Anakin in III (not in II though!) but he doesn’t belong in this movie. Having Anakin’s ghost be from years ago makes it seem like Ben Kenobi was right and Anakin really did “die” back in Episode III. Having an older Anakin, however, gives us a more powerful redemption message: now that he has ‘repented’, he looks the way he would have looked as if he had never done bad things.
THE PHANTOM MENACE
-The theatrical is much better than the extended version which was made for DVD and Blu-Ray. There’s no reason to make a long movie even longer with stuff that’s unnecessary.
-Was there any reason George couldn’t have toned down Jar Jar’s more embarrassing moments?
ATTACK OF THE CLONES
-Not really a great movie no matter what way you spin it, so this is one that actually could have benefitted from George’s tinkering. No one would have cared, because no one liked it.(at least in the time between it’s theatrical release and the DVD/VHS release)
-So they should have replaced many of the current love scenes, with the scenes where Anakin meets Padme’s family. Which aren’t superb scenes are anything, but they aren’t awkward and cringe-inducing.
-The scene where Obi-wan goes to the Jedi archives was much better than the Dex Jexter scene and contained the same info.
-Corny moments needed to be cut from the end.
REVENGE OF THE SITH & SEQEUL TRILOGY & ROGUE ONE
Some people really liked these and others really didn’t. Either way, there shouldn’t be changes to these, except for fx updates if Disney ever cared to do that.