1997 Special Edition Musings — Page 2

First time posting here.

I too have fond memories of the '97 versions. First time I saw it in the theaters! I never liked the Yub Nub song, so it was great to have ROTJ end with a better piece by John Williams. But aside from that, and all the general cleanup, I didn't care for much of the changes -- especially the Mos Eisley scenes.

I'm one of the unlucky few to have never seen Star Wars in the theatre. :(

Hopefully one day Lucas will re-re-release Star Wars so I can experience it properly.

For me personally, when the 1997 special edition versions came out on VHS it wasn't long before I quickly ditched the ESB and ROTJ originals. I actually thought the new colours used for ESB and ROTJ looked better and it was only until they did the colours again for the 2004 SE that they it look just plain wrong in my eyes.

The first ANH was a little bit harder for me to budge on, as the original was  perfect in my eyes and I wasn't particularly fond of the changes Lucas made to it in the 1997 SE version. ESB and ROTJ changes were more forgiving and I actually liked some of them but again, the 2004 SE went too far and ruined them for me.

It would be interesting to see a comparison somewhere of different screenshots showing the differences between the originals, 97 SE and 2004 SE. I can only seem to find comparisons between the originals and 2004 SE from a lot of places and where I can find some comparison to the 97 SE, it doesn't compare much. Would be interesting to see the 1997 SE planet Hoth compared to the 2004 SE Hoth and see how bad the blue is during the snow scenes.

Also, is it just me or does Vader sound way cooler in GOUT/97SE ANH compared to the 2004 SE version? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I am not totally aware of all the different audio changes made.

Hey first post.

Not being old enough to see the original theatrical ones, though I seen the original versions on VHS and TV a ton, the 97 SE were the first time I seen them on the big screen, that in of itself was awesome but I still prefer and watch the orignals only, mostly for my own preference.

I had the 97 SE on Laserdisc, hasn't someone converted it to DVD?

Have you bothered to look in the Preservation section lately?

Yeah, Dark_Jedi is working on a set from the digital broadcasts (SD, not HD), LeeThorogood is working on a set from the PAL laserdiscs, and Adywan's ESB AVCHD is also a restoration of the 1997 SE (but his ANH AVCHD is not).

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

hairy_hen said:

Here are some 70mm film scans--they'll give an idea of what he might have seen.  Some are degraded but most look pretty good.  Note the natural colour scheme and great image detail (and lack of horrid blue-cast).  http://www.jedi1.net/default.aspx

Those pictures made me cry.  THAT is how I remember SW.

I remember those wonderful images.....it is how I remember it as well.  Such a shame.

I saw the SE versions in my late-20s and was horrified at the additions and changes to all three movies.

In the early 1990s when I was in the UK, on the 13th of June 1993 (I still have the ticket stub), there was a screening of Star Wars at a local cinema — it was pure bliss, even though the print was a bit scratchy and old.

I have nothing but contempt for the Special Editions.

I love both versions the original and special editions and i re saw them in the theaters when they were re released in 97 and i waited in line to see each one but the way Lucas changed them in 04 trying to pass them of as the original films is a disgrace to the Original Star Wars Trilogy. Making Greedo shoot first giving Vader a pink lightsaber and replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen i will admit i hate the Yub Nub song but i don't see why Lucas just couldn't release the special editions on dvd but i can't wait for Adywans Star Wars trilogy to be done its the way they should have been released on dvd.

Did I see two sentences there?

;-)