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This is something I find tiresome and old ground.
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I know Adywan is busy finishing his revision of The Empire Strikes Back (incredibly exciting, was more than happy to contribute to get it finished) so this might be one for the future, but I was wondering what people thought of his addition to ANH of music from the other films, and if it’s as unpopular as it seems to be (relatively speaking of course), if there’s any chance of it being revised in a future version (possibly an HD one?)?
I’ve just finished watching ANH Revisited and want to say from the start that, echoing the vast majority of posters, I think it is an absolutely stunning piece of work and it’s what has inspired me to join this site.
But I’ve also noticed that, if there’s one note of dissent amongst viewers, it tends to focus around the addition of music from the other films. Adywan’s work is at it’s best when it’s seamless, and it’s clear from ANH-R that he is an expert editor and highly talented special effects artist.
But I think the changes in music are not only a distraction, they are artistically flawed as well. A musical score, just like an opera, is an over-arching piece of work that flows with recurring themes throughout.
Take the brilliantly re-edited duel between Vader and Kenobi. The music here (from the Prequels, which doesn’t exactly conjure happy feelings anyway) is out of place because it crops up nowhere else in the film, not to mention how different it is stylistically to a score composed circa 1977. If this sequence had music from ANH, or even no music at all as in the original, I can’t help thinking that I’d have just sat back and gone ‘WOW’ at this scene instead of debating about the music when I should have been enjoying the movie.
Another sequence is the initial reveal of the Death Star, with the addition of The Imperial March from TESB. Visually it is excellent and fits the narrative perfectly (I love that the Death Star now relies on a planet as a base, presumably so they could build it a la ROTJ. It never seemed right that it just sat in some part of outer space waiting for a phone call for the crew to go and blow up some planet the Emperor didn’t like the look of).
But the Imperial March is a stylistic theme throughout TESB and fits that films dark, doom-laden feel. Again, for it to just pop up doesn’t sit right and is another distraction. The new special effect sequence here even goes on too long seemingly to fit it in (the Star Destroyer appears to be about to crash in to the Death Star while it waits for the orchestra to finish) - and then music continues through the next scene where Vader remotely fingers a guys throat. It just seems a bit self-indulgent - although to be fair the nice bit of creepy music when Vader wiggles his finger is very effective.
What do others think? Were you excited when the ‘new’ music struck up or did it seem to be a change to far? Did you feel like the film flowed or that the musical changes distracted from Adywan’s work and the film? Did the changes make sense narratively?
Finally - if Adywan is out there and gets a spare second in his day at the moment (I cannot imagine how) - how do you feel about the additional music in retrospect and if you agree that looking back it’s the one thing that doesn’t ‘fit’ as perfectly as all your other changes, are there any newer versions planned where you could replace the music in question with excerpts from the original score?
If not and time is a bit stretched at the moment, maybe send me the scenes in question and I’ll have a go myself 😉
"I could see where things were headed. The toy business began to drive the [Lucasfilm] empire. It's a shame. They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It's natural to make decisions that protect the toy business but that's not the best thing for making quality films.... The emphasis on the toys, it's like the cart driving the horse. If it wasn't for that the films would be done for their own merits. The creative team wouldn't be looking over their shoulder all the time."
Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back
