logo Sign In

MY Thoughts on The Various Changes

Author
Time
 (Edited)

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.

Author
Time

The Biggs scene was great.

I find it extremely pointless without the context provided by his earlier scene (which I think should’ve been added back as well).

there shouldn’t be changes to these, except for fx updates if Disney ever cared to do that.

The FS still hold up.

Author
Time

My overall feelings

  • changes which fix bad optical composites - I like them
  • other changes which don’t affect the overall story - I can live with them
  • changes to the story (like Greedo shooting first) - nope
Author
Time

The real answer to all this remains the same - treat the SEs as ‘Director’s cuts’ and leave the OT alone, matte lines and all. Make both available on modern formats.

In the case of Mos Eisley, an often overlooked point is this - filling the spaceport with dinosaurs and CGI hijinks completely detracts from what made the cantina work in the first place. The scene worked because the spaceport itself was quite tame on initial approach - some Stormtroopers, some droids, some Jawas etc. Then Ben says “this place can be a little rough” and boom! - alien weirdos everywhere. That’s the magic of the scene. That’s why it was iconic. It was about the timing and unexpectedness of the moment. That’s why when Lucas tried to top it with Jabba’s palace, many folks were like “eh, it’s just a bunch of muppets”. The joke had already been told.

Now we have a giant overpopulated CGI city followed by a descent into a roomful of dudes in cheap rubber masks.

Way to kill a moment George.

Author
Time

ElectroDroid said:

things like the Dinosaur that walks in front of the speeder are so bad they actually ruin the entire movie for me.

Come on, I think changes like that are as nonsensical as the next guy but there’s no need to be hyperbolic; a 3 second CGI character isn’t enough to kill 2 hours of film.

Author
Time

It’s just one example of the many changes that are inserted purely to distract from what’s actually happening in the film. The fact that they look terrible doesn’t help either.

The Person in Question

Author
Time

I don’t think anyone’s going to argue that, just that that alone isn’t enough to ruin the film.

I’d say that horrid Jabba scene that actually has a ripple effect of terribleness on the trilogy is considerably more damaging.

Author
Time

Sure. Obviously parts like the shootouts on the Death Star aren’t ruined by changes in Mos Eisley, but the spirit of the changes is frustrating. I’d probably put the Jabba scene in the same category in the sense that it’s just another example of Lucasfilm screaming, “look what our computers can do!” at the expense of the film.

The Person in Question

Author
Time
 (Edited)

moviefreakedmind said:

the spirit of the changes is frustrating.

I agree. I’m in the camp who actually thinks some of the changes are for the better. ESB has a lot of changes I think are improvements (visual anyway, I detest Vader’s line change).

However, that doesn’t mean they should be there at the expense of the actual originals, but we all know that.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

In ROTJ, the new footage of the dancer in the rancor pit is really well done and seamlessly integrated, and also makes a scene that originally was a bit confusing more clear without ruining the suspense. Jedi Rocks of course ruins that whole sequence, but the dancer in the pit itself is great.

The Person in Question

Author
Time

You know I just recently watched a video on YouTube detailing the differences between the original mono audio mix of Star Wars with the dolby one. It’s rather interesting how many changes have been made to the soundtrack of Star Wars down through the years.

Reality sucks, watch movies.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

as well as the subtle changes in dialogue in each audio mix …like Luke talking to R2 on Dagobah when the swamp monster spits him out …" you were lucky to get out of there " vs. " you’re lucky you don’t taste very good" and many others. There are story of LP’S that used alternate dialogue tracks as well that were recorded during the production of the movies .

https://screamsinthevoid.deviantart.com/