Which one do you all like more, 1997 SE or 2004 SE?

I’d agree that the 1997 SE is better in pretty much every way. The only positives to the 2004 SE over 1997 is the Han “Yes I’ll bet you have” line being added back in and the updated Jabba in ANH and no Luke scream in TESB.

Agreed, the 97 edition is better and also more interesting to me.

1997 had better color in the theatrical prints. It had a better overall audio mix. I liked the Clive Revill was still the voice of the Emperor and Jason Wingreen the voice of Boba Fett. Also Sebastian Shaw is Anakin in the ghost scene.

Hate Jedi Rocks, hate Victory Celebration. 1997 Jabba is terrible. I prefer the redo in 2004 for Jabba if he has to be there at all. Did not like Luke’s scream in the 1997 edit.

Hayden Anakin Skywalker added in 2004 is one of the worst ever changes. But the 2011 is even worse. Blinking Ewoks, rocks in front of Artoo. New Krayt Dragon call. Big cgi door at Jabba’s.

I don’t like how Gungans were added to the Special Edition, I don’t like the Dugg in Jabba’s palace. I hate Vader yelling noooo on death star II.

I do not mind, I might actually like seeing the Jedi temple on coruscant. I like Luke hugging wedge from the 1997 cut.

Which years all these additions come from Is a jumbled memory.

I don’t mind cleaned up matte lines or fixing misaligned rotoscope or recomposites. it’s not intended to be the original originals.

which changes would I reverse. I would remove Hayden Skywalker from Return of the Jedi, would restore Lapti Nek and Yub Yub. Vader would not yell nooo. Vader would say bring my shuttle in Empire, again. I’d undo all the post 1997 changes to ESB except removing Luke’s scream.

And In ANH or Star Wars as I call it, Han would the only one who fires in the Cantina. The blaster burns on the soldiers on the death star would be restored.

My opinion is that the 1997 Special Edition is far superior, but for technical reasons. It undoubtedly has much better colorimetry, a better DTS 5.1 cinematic audio mix, Dolby AC3 in the case of the LaserDisc, and its changes are well integrated into the footage, except for the 97 CGI Jabba the Hutt, the emperor’s scream in Luke, the annoying creatures in Mos Eisley and Jedi Rocks.

But if I’m honest, what I like most about the DVDs are the changes related to the prequels that create a better connection between the films. Yes, I like Hayden as the ghostly Anakin, I like the inclusion of Naboo in Victory Celebration, and I love seeing the holographic Ian McDiarmid. If they had only added those changes to the footage and recomposed the shots that were never recomposed in the 97SE, the 2004 editions would have been far superior in my opinion. But they had to ruin it with horrible colorimetry, more changes that worsened the experience, and a spoiled mix.

Wait, there’s more one SE version?

Technically it stopped being called that in 2000 by Lucas. But yes there are 4 versions.

1997 35mm, laserdisc, VHS
2004 DVD and HDTV broadcast
2011 blu-ray
2019 Disney plus streaming/2020 UHD

Also 2k DCP of the 2011 version and 4K DCP of the 2020 version for theatrical exhibition.

JadedSkywalker said:
Also 2k DCP of the 2011 version and 4K DCP of the 2020 version for theatrical exhibition.

One question: why is the Master HD/SE04/SE11 DCP in 2K if the trilogy was scanned in 1080p? And another question: for those who have seen that DCP version, is there a significant difference in quality compared to the Blu-ray release?

The assumption was the theater projection was 2K. I’m not certain the res of the master. I do know it was made note of when the Maclunky masters replaced the earlier ones. Fans who had seen the old TESB master were puzzled at Return of the Jedi being the newer version.

It would be the Blu-Ray release pre 2020. for the older transfer.

I’m not the person who would know in any case. I saw the 20th Anniversary special edition in 1997 on President day weekend. That was 35mm. The first showing was sold out I had to go on the second day. and TESB and ROTJ came later. March 97.

JadedSkywalker said:

Technically it stopped being called that in 2000 by Lucas. But yes there are 4 versions.

1997 35mm, laserdisc, VHS
2004 DVD and HDTV broadcast
2011 blu-ray
2019 Disney plus streaming/2020 UHD

Also 2k DCP of the 2011 version and 4K DCP of the 2020 version for theatrical exhibition.

What are the differences between them

Well, I don’t really keep track of the various special editions, but it seems like they just get worse and worse (Jedi Rocks, Haden Force Ghost, blech).

Fortunately, I haven’t watched the special editions since they were released in theaters (which, at the time, most of the additions/changes were indeed horrible, but I figured they were just throwing in all of the new bits just so that the people who had already seen Star Wars so many times had a few new things to look at; I never dreamed that George Lucas would lose his mind and actually try to replace and suppress the original films).

Unfortunately, there are now many thousands of people in the world who have never actually seen the original trilogy (but they think they have). Instead, they have only seen and can only judge the quality of Star Wars by the bastardized versions that are now being passed off as the original trilogy. It’s truly sad.

I like the ROTJ SE 97 ending because it had the new celebration with Shaw as Anakin, not Hayden. Now this version is stuck on laserdisc, lost to time. Sad.

1997 also had Wingreen still as the voice of Boba Fett and Clive Revill as the voice of the Emperor in the Empire Strikes Back with the superior dialogue.

The worst part for me was the alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival, if it had the same bring my shuttle I might overlook some of the added cgi parts.

The music editing and pacing was better in the 1980 version. I haven’t seen a fan edit that keeps some of the 1997 but replaces the most egregious parts. Now I think I will embrace just a 1980 version if restored.

Too many years of waiting for the best version on home media. Though I do agree the 1997 cuts should also be preserved and not lost media. But Lucasfilm is very unlikely to see it that way. They were last seen in 2000 in VCD, VHS and Laserdisc.

It would be nice to get a expanded score with an actual decent CD release. I haven’t seen one of quality and properly mastered since the Arista boxed set. I forget what problems there were with Brian Risner transfers for the special edition.