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The Special Edition wasn't needed. — Page 4

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EXACTLY!!!

The great thing that Alec Guiness did with the crazy old hermit was to give us so much detail in so little dialogue that we are free to read just about anything into it.

To Ben, Vader is Vader and Anakin is dead. So calling him Anakin wouldn't really make any sense. It would ruin ESB for new viewers. Plus at that point, Vader was just an evil character who had killed Anakin.

It always bothered me that Luke just called out to Leia like that. I just didn't think Jedi could call anyone. I guess they have a Force-enabled cell phone in their heads. Also, if Luke was able to do that-why didn't anyone realise any earlier that Leia had some kind of Force potential if any of the retconning is to be believed? Vader tortured her for quite a significant time and didn't get that memo?

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader

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I don't think you need to have Force potential in order to receive a message in your head.  You just need it to send one.

Besides, the "cell phone in the head" thing was established (a bit later in the film, obviously) by Vader and Luke communicating between the Executor and the Falcon at the end of Empire.

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The scarring on Anakin at the end of ROTJ was incorporated into the look of ROTS, the idea that Anakin was burned by lava or whatnot was in the original novels and screenplays back in the early 80s, it wasn't just something brought up in ROTS. Lucas told them to go as far as they felt needed, and the make up artist/designer said he figured Anakin had several skin grafts in the 23 years between ROTS and ROTJ, Even in ESB the back of his head looked pretty bad as well.
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My opinion is this,

The S.E. should stand on it's own as a "could've been" treat for all the fans.

It should never have been something to base a whole new set of changes on.  If Lucas wanted to "fix" the Trilogy, he should have allowed those who worked on them originally to make use of the new technology and find a way to incorporate those creations back in replacing the original elements that might need fixing/updating....this way, it would have enabled a better transition between the look and feel of the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy.

Doing this would also have allowed all those people whose hard work got butchered the opportunity to keep the respect that was taken from them and their creations and George Lucas could have kept his credibility as the guy who stood up against bastardizing film history.  

The S.E. is a great concept and it's execution was in poor form as others have already stated.  The Original Trilogy is what I grew up on....saw it at the Drive-in even.  It changed the way I looked at Sci-Fi and the evolving world around me.  It is sorely missed.

I am honored to live in an age where the fans have proudly accepted guardianship of something precious that was left for dead by it's own creator.

Cheers to these Star Wars fans, anywhere and everywhere you are, you rock!!!!

 

 

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Well, obviously the originals are better. I disagree that the SE was a great idea though. The OOT is a product of the time in which it was made. No amount of computer upgrades can change the fact that ANH came out in 1977 and was made on a shoe-string budget.

The SE was never a good idea. Go on, remaster it, restore and remix the soundtrack but don't change the content of the films. The people who worked on the films, including Lucas himself, deserve more respect than that, in my opinion.

But if it has to be done, the originals should be not only preserved but also considered the official and definitive cuts, with the SE's regarded as... well, whatever one wants to think.

All I really want is each film as it was originally seen and heard in theaters; no fixes, corrections, "improvements" or modifications necessary.

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If think the original idea was to fix and repair the negative, do a clean up of bad optical effects, or whatever and then Lucas figured Fox would pay for the R&D and he would get it free and use it as a test bed for the prequels.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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thecolorsblend said:

Well, obviously the originals are better. I disagree that the SE was a great idea though. The OOT is a product of the time in which it was made. No amount of computer upgrades can change the fact that ANH came out in 1977 and was made on a shoe-string budget.

The SE was never a good idea. Go on, remaster it, restore and remix the soundtrack but don't change the content of the films. The people who worked on the films, including Lucas himself, deserve more respect than that, in my opinion.

But if it has to be done, the originals should be not only preserved but also considered the official and definitive cuts, with the SE's regarded as... well, whatever one wants to think.

If that was the case then the prequels would have had to be conformed from the get go to the oot, and not the other way around.

 As it is there are still so many things that still need to be fixed to make the old trilogy agree with the prequels.  

I mean the discontinuities and age difference in the characters between the trilogies is so bad, why not just reshoot the whole original trilogy.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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skyjedi2005 said:

I mean the discontinuities and age difference in the characters between the trilogies is so bad, why not just reshoot the whole original trilogy.

Hey now, let's not give old George any more ideas ...

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skyjedi2005 said:

thecolorsblend said:

Well, obviously the originals are better. I disagree that the SE was a great idea though. The OOT is a product of the time in which it was made. No amount of computer upgrades can change the fact that ANH came out in 1977 and was made on a shoe-string budget.

The SE was never a good idea. Go on, remaster it, restore and remix the soundtrack but don't change the content of the films. The people who worked on the films, including Lucas himself, deserve more respect than that, in my opinion.

But if it has to be done, the originals should be not only preserved but also considered the official and definitive cuts, with the SE's regarded as... well, whatever one wants to think.

If that was the case then the prequels would have had to be conformed from the get go to the oot, and not the other way around.

 As it is there are still so many things that still need to be fixed to make the old trilogy agree with the prequels.  

I mean the discontinuities and age difference in the characters between the trilogies is so bad, why not just reshoot the whole original trilogy.

No matter how bad Lucas (or anyone) wants it, the existing films will never perfectly match up with each other. His ideas for the prequels evolved over the years. I'm okay with that. What I can't figure out is why he isn't okay with that.

All I really want is each film as it was originally seen and heard in theaters; no fixes, corrections, "improvements" or modifications necessary.

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You mean the 5 year difference between Kenobi's timeline age and Guinness's true age at the time of filming ANH? Kenobi is listed as 57 at ANH time, when Gunness turned 62 at the time of ANH filming. I don't see how barely 5 years is such a big deal. Not everyone looks their age in real life anyway.

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No, I mean ridiculous nonsense like Boba Fett having Temeura Morrison's voice, ROTJ's end celebration including Coruscant and Naboo, CG X-Wings and TIE's into the ANH dog fight and other such flagrant idiocy. A lot of this seems done to better tie in with the prequels. I love the prequels but there's simply no point in altering the original trilogy. None.

All I really want is each film as it was originally seen and heard in theaters; no fixes, corrections, "improvements" or modifications necessary.

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Hi. First time caller.

I didnt mind all the SE changes--like the fly over of Cloud City in ESB etc. I even liked some of the SW changes...--although after watching the original SW a few weeks ago on DVD for the first time since 1977 (I had seen it on pan and scan VHS but tended to watch the SEs since they came out), I definitely prefer the original pre-SE version of it.

I think I liked the idea of the womprats walking around as scavengers, and seeing little ships blasting off from Mos Eisley, but they arent really needed and may be visual distractions.

I think ROTJ is rather a mess thanks to Lucas' marriage problems and what else-so I didnt mind Williams new ending music.

I never bothered to get the dvds of SW and wont bother--just no interest in the SEs.

The CG has become dated as well so its not much of an improvement.

 

 

 

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I think that altering films by adding CGI is never necessary and a huge waste of time. Except for the final cut of Blade Runner. I liked that one.

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^so it's a bad idea unless it works.

I'd buy that for a dollar.

I don't think they were needed but if they were done well they should have and could have been interesting curios.

The original versions would still be out there but there would be these fun and well made alternatives which we could put on for pure novelty.

George however put the cart in front of the horse and then shot the horse and people have been beating it about the bush with the wrong end of the stick ever since but it refuses to die.

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Bingowings said:

George however put the cart in front of the horse and then shot the horse and people have been looked it in the mouth but couldn't make it drink, so they began beating it about the bush with the wrong end of the stick ever since but it refuses to buy the farm.

Fixed.

 

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Bingowings said:

George however put the cart in front of the horse with no name and then shot the horse and people wary of geeks bearing gifts looked it in the mouth, led it to water but couldn't make it drink, so they began beating it about the bush with the wrong end of the stick but ever since it refuses to buy them flowers anymore.

Fixed SE.

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Jetrell Fo said:

My opinion is this,

The S.E. should stand on it's own as a "could've been" treat for all the fans.

It should never have been something to base a whole new set of changes on.  If Lucas wanted to "fix" the Trilogy, he should have allowed those who worked on them originally to make use of the new technology and find a way to incorporate those creations back in replacing the original elements that might need fixing/updating....this way, it would have enabled a better transition between the look and feel of the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy.

Doing this would also have allowed all those people whose hard work got butchered the opportunity to keep the respect that was taken from them and their creations and George Lucas could have kept his credibility as the guy who stood up against bastardizing film history. 

I agree. It's the same way with Star Trek. All those glorious effects shots that looked great through the 60s and 70s reruns were stripped out and replaced by fakey CGI in the current DVDs. At least Paramount didn't have the gall to muck up the scripts, add new scenes, etc.