Anchorhead said:I'd make the argument that the original deserves proper respect & preservation because it did so much more than what a few gold statues can do. Star Wars permanently altered the course of film, particularly any film set in space. After Star Wars, outer space adventure had to look & feel real or it was in for some tough criticism. People wanted the stories not only to resonate with their experiences, but to resemble them as well - that used universe that Lucas presented so perfectly in Star Wars.
There have been plenty of films that won multiple awards, including best picture, and not had the effect on their genre that Star Wars had. Star Wars went a step further and cemented the (then) recent phenomenon of Summer Blockbuster that had been ushered in with Jaws. A film's effect on the world is a much more honest measure of it's importance to people than the Academy Awards. Which, by the way, are voted on by the people in the film industry - hardly an honest measure of value & importance.
I agree with ya Anchor.
I always thought that the Original Star Wars needed to be preserved simply because it did change movies. I would kill for a 5-star BluRay version of the OOT version of SW'77.
I think what Lucas doesn't understand is that the OOT is timeless and those movies may show their age, but each generation loves them just as much.
The perfect example is The Wizard of Oz, the movie has continued to be popular since 1939, even though you and I see that they are 1939 sets, but no one cares, because it is the characters and story that make it timeless, not the production values. If Lucas understood that the OT is beloved because of Luke, Leia, Vader, Han, the Droids, etc, and the fun story we follow for 3 movies, the effects were always secondary.
edit: I will still stand by for all the problems with the PT we debate here and for all the CGI Lucas used that some love and others hate, IMO, the characters suck and I didn't give a rats ass about Anakin or Padme, thats why I will never love those 3 movies.