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Post #1361911

Author
StarkillerAG
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/1361911/action/topic#1361911
Date created
10-Jul-2020, 1:32 PM

To give my own answer to the question, judging by actual quality rather than just subjective purism:

  • The Wampa additions are okay. The mystery surrounding the creature is reduced, but the Wampa with Tauntaun blood on its mouth is a terrifying image, so I’m fine either way.
  • The snowspeeder recompositing is amazing. The original scenes haven’t aged very well, and the speeders just look like grey blobs. Updating the original models with digital compositing makes them so much better.
  • Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine is a good idea in theory, but it ended up being a complete failure. His line reading is much more dull compared to Clive Revill’s intimidating performance, and the added dialogue just makes the plot more confusing.
  • The Cloud City additions are pretty good, but just a little too gratuitous. The added shots are just distracting, and they probably could have improved the continuity on some of the windows. Other than that, I think it helps give more of a sense of scale.
  • Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett is just a complete trainwreck. He sounds so disinterested in everything that’s going on, and it isn’t even necessary for Boba to sound exactly like his father. The original voice was perfect.
  • The added shuttle scenes are completely unnecessary, and distract from the purpose of the scene. By far the worst part is when the Falcon is escaping Cloud City with intense music, and then it suddenly just grinds to a halt to show a reused shot from ROTJ. Absolutely awful.

Over all, I think the ESB SE has some good ideas, but some bad ideas too. I mostly prefer the theatrical cut.