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It struck me recently that, ever since the Special Editions, Star Wars movies have really been struggling with their tone. In fact George Lucas seems to have become tone deaf.
In the original 1977 Star Wars we realise Tatooine is a dangerous place, when Luke get's attacked by Sand People. Soon after this his aunt and uncle are brutally murdered. Luke decides to join Obi-Wan on his quest and the adventure is on it's way. Obi-Wan introduces Mos Eisley as a hive of scum and villainy. We meet assassins, smugglers, and just generally dangerous people and aliens. Han Solo is introduced as a shady character. There is a sense of danger when we enter Mos Eisley.
George Lucas has said while introducing the Special Editions he always wanted Mos Eisley to be this bustling town. He also introduced tonal inconsistency. We now have slapstick humor when we enter Mos Eisley (just after we've seen Luke's aunt's and uncle's burning corpses). We have a "funny" beebing droid when when our heroes are interrogated by the stormtroopers.
The same thing happens in Jabba's palace in ROTJ. In the 1983 version Jabba's palace is a dangerous place, where people are fed to monsters. From 1997 on this tension is undercut by a "funny" musical interlude with cartoon characters.
Some would argue that the changes are only small and cosmetic in nature, and that it is essentially the same movie with some digital effects added in the mix. I disagree. I would argue that George Lucas deliberately tried to make the tone of the original films more kiddie friendly. The most obvious example being the "Han shot first" scene. In the end he only succeeded in making the film's tone inconsistent, and it ultimately becomes a less great film, a watered down version of Star Wars, with less sharp edges.
What do you think?