Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:
Had the changes been made 2 or 3 years later (say, in 1979), they would have been viewed by most as creative tweaks. The fact that they were made 20 years later is what is so unprecedented and what also makes the changes so glaringly out of place.
Backlight said:
I understand what you're saying here, but even if the changes had been made within 2-3 years I don't think they would've been greeted all that favorably.
When Spielberg released the "Special Edition" of Close Encounters in 1980 with re-edits and added effects the response was uniformly negative. Especially when it soon became clear that the unaltered 1977 cut was gone forever.
When Spielberg released the "Special Edition" of Close Encounters in 1980 with re-edits and added effects the response was uniformly negative. Especially when it soon became clear that the unaltered 1977 cut was gone forever.
Hmmm. I'm not sure I entirely agree that the response to the SE of CE3K was "uniformly negative". This sounds like a bit of revisionist history to me. For example, Roger Ebert, arguably the most influential movie reviewer at the time, praised the SE and called it a superior film. And I believe you'll find that this was the general assessment of most (though not all) mainstream critics at the time. And I don't believe that it was ever "clear" (or even discussed) that the 1977 cut was "gone forever" (indeed it wasn't).
Don't get me wrong, I don't believe the SE is the best version of CE3K by a long shot (I don't like the mothership interior and prefer the 1998 cut) . As I'm sure you know Spielberg only did the mothership interior because of pressure from the studio. But keep in mind that at the time Spielberg said he wasn't happy with the 77 cut, and wanted to do a "Director's Cut", and in fact he was responsible for the edits in the 80 cut. In any event, at best, the SE is an odd curiosity, but I don't think there was a "uniformly negative" reaction it at the time, and certainly no one was worried that the original cut was gone forever. There wasn't wide-spread running around saying "Oh no, I'm never going to be able to own the 1977 cut of CE3K on VHS or Betamax!"
As far as the SW SE goes, I agree with Puggo that had Lucas made changes within 2-3 years (and he did to a certain extent) I don't believe there would have been much ado about it. Having said that, even 20 years after the fact the Star Wars SE's did not get a uniformly negative response when they came out 1997, and in fact the changes were basically regarded as creative tweaks. Much the opposite, there was quite a bit of excitement to see the films on the big screen (again or for the very first time), and most people were psyched to see the new effects. The films were generally very well received. It was only later, with the rise of DVD (and people saw how dated and out of place the new effects look), along with the ability to spread the word online, that the backlash really grew. Remember, the initial home video release of the SE's was on VHS...a medium people could still get the films in their original versions in. It was when Lucas refused to release the unaltered films on DVD and people realised that we'd never see the films in their original versions again (in the latest home video format) hat things went off.
I agree that if the SW SE's came out today, knowing that the originals would never see the light of day, the backlash would be huge (as it is). But today we have the internet in a way we didn't in 1997 (and certainly 1980). Back in 1997 people couldn't easily find how much BS George's "These are the films I always wanted to make" was. Reviews of the SW and CE3K SE's back then were largely written by professional film reviewers who didn't have as much invested in these movies, not hard core genre fans who make up the bulk of online reviewers today. Having said that, if Lucas released the OT today, with new updated effects, and "deleted" scenes, people would still flock to the theatres. Including most people on this board. It's the absence of the OT in an HD format that has most of us upset.
Again, just to be clear, I feel the same way about the SE's and "good-enough" George's basterdizations of his films as most on here, and I won't even watch them (thank you again, Harmy). But, like George's SE's themselves, there is quite a bit of revisionism that tends to go on about their reception.