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Post #1297542

Author
Shopping Maul
Parent topic
Anyone else think Empire Strikes Back's Special Edition is actually better than the Theatrical Cut?
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1297542/action/topic#1297542
Date created
20-Sep-2019, 1:56 PM

Back in 1980 I didn’t notice transparent Speeders or repeated set corridors - nor did I care that I never saw the shuttle Vader referred to. All I saw was total awesomeness.

Now of course I can see the rough edges. I can see the genius of how the Hoth battle was achieved, or how the sets were cleverly designed to give the impression of greater scope and distance. Lucas calls them ‘faults’ - I call them craft.

I’m a conservative on this point. I think the films should have been left alone. They are (as Gary Kurtz said) a product of their time, and no amount of tinkering will make them otherwise. The SE were a cute novelty in 1997 and should have remained such - a bonus disc to compliment a stunning remaster of the theatrical OT in whatever format.

If Paul McCartney decided to remix the Beatles’ catalogue with all-new digital sounds, tweaks to the songs, Katy Perry on a couple of tracks etc etc, and then try to bury the originals, he would probably have to go into hiding - and with good reason. This is how I see the Star Wars issue. The sight of Lucas banging on about ‘mythological motifs’ at a 40th anniversary celebration of a film he won’t let us see anymore made my blood boil.

So no, I’m in the unaltered TESB camp.