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9 Years Ago Today....

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I was so excited! Star Wars the Special Edition! Alas, Star Wars on the big screen after all those years. I had bought my tickets early, lined up for about 2 hours to get a good seat, was surrounded by friends and fans.

They next thing I remember is....

Greedo shoots first?!? And missed?!? What the hell was that?!?!

I remember leaving the theater and saying, "I understand Lucas wanted to 'fix' his movie, but I can't stand the fact that he took parts out to replace them rather than fix them.

I also remember thinking, "well this is the Special Edition. Love it or hate it, we still have the original version."

Boy, if I only knew what was coming....
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special editon changes, definitely a portent of things to come.
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I remember that. I didn't get to see it opening night, ebcause we didn't ahve a cinema in town, but I saw it a week later with my dad, the biggest closet SW fan I know. It was a great trip, though we spent the whole drive home talking about Jabba's appearance. We figured, though, that that's what the Special Edition was going to be, a "reimaigining" of sorts. Like a Director's Cut. We didn't think it would completely replace the old ones.
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I remembered the commercials in '95 saying "... Then it's gone ... forever!" in regards to the final O-OT release on VHS. So I was prepared for the "new and improved" trilogy to replace the O-OT on store shelves.

I really looked forward to the SE, and enjoyed them a lot. But each film introduced something so stupid that I was already re-editing them in my head. In ANH, it was Greedo shooting first. In ESB it was Luke's wussy scream and the landing on the Executor. In ROTJ is was that awful, awful, awful Jedi Rocks.

I was blown away that only one of these was removed for the 2004 DVD, and that even worse changes were added in: Wussy Krayt, Boring Jango, and Unbearable Hayden and Cringeworthy Jar Jar. Wesa "F#$%^ed"

Fortunately that DVD release led me to this site, where I patienly await the X0 project's completion.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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I liked the 97SE for what is was a new version of Star Wars at the cinema and it was great the see it back on the big screen, the "bad" changes didnt really bother me at the cinema and enjoyed them for what they were, it was only with the VHS release of the 97 trilogy i began to dislike some of the "bad" changes as mentioned but I still had my O.O.T VHSs to fall back on, but the 2004 DVD was just a step too far for me with some of his new revisions.
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I did see it opening night in '97, and remember seeing ESB too when Luke & Leia kissed, the whole crowd screamed 'ewwwwwwwwww!' Even though I didn't like the changes at the time, it was cool to see the original in the theater again with a new generation of fans, and being amazed that SW was still popular 20 years later. I really thought when Lucas was re-releasing the SE of the OT that nobody would really care, and that SW was an afterthought, and maybe, I was just alittle too old to still love those movies. I loved it in the theater that night, went back again that Saturday night, and showed me my love for these movies will never get old.

It is just weird to think how my views of George Lucas have changed in 9 years. Now I am not one to hate the guy, but I definitely don't think he is this great director or genius that I thought he was when the OT was ruling the world. I always thought Lucas was untouchable to criticism before the SE and the PT. He was god to me, and I would shrug off any people who would say SW was overrated, I would defend George to the tilt. Now after watching 3 PT movies, I realized he can't write a lick when it comes to dialogue, he is an overrated director, and he has definitely lost his edge in what is 'cool' for the public with such bad attempts with Jar Jar, the droid voices, and the uncool aliens. The one thing I will always give Lucas is he is a great storyteller, and if he just wrote his vision for his movies, and let someone write the screenplay and direct it, the PT would have been so much better.
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i agree with that co, especially agree with how far lucas gone down in admiration. pretty stunning if you ask me
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I was living on a military base in Japan and I missed the showing of ANH (because it only stayed for a little while), but I did get to see ESB and ROTJ twice. I didn't have a problem with ESB, but I did wince at the "Jedi Rocks" number.

I actually remember, one afternoon, begging my Mom that I wanted to go to ROTJ again, but maybe I didn't because I had just seen it like a week ago. I don't think that she wanted to see it and I was getting a little pestering. But then after we went to the BX (military mall store place) she took us (I think rather reluctantly) across the street to the theater because she said "Well, your brother want's to see it, so we're gonna go anyway."

It was great. I knew that this was going to be the last time I was going to be able to see ROTJ in the theater so I made a consious effort to look at more than just the screen and remember how big the theater was. To this day where Jarrod walks to greet Vader I can still feel like I'm in that theater.
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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After seeing Star Wars SE, I remember getting up to leave, and a fews seats over, there was a father and son. The son, maybe 7 years old turned to dad and said, "that was the best movie ever!" That made me feel pretty good. It reminded me of when I was 4 years old and my dad took me to see Star Wars for the first time. Star Wars was, and still is HUGE with the kids. Pretty cool after almost 30 years.
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Ah, i remember the SE. I too remember being puzzled when greedo fired and missed, but i quickly forgot about it and was entranced by all the new changes like Jabba and Mos Eisley. Seeing it on the big screen was a momentous event in my life, after watching it endlessly on television since i was 2.

And you know i saw lots of parents taking their children to see the film and both of them loved it. Parents were taking their kids to see a movie in theatres that they themselves had seen in their youth, and not only that, said movie was number one at the box office for weeks, dethroning jerry Maguire! I think this is the only instance in history that a film has linked generations together and endured as mainstream entertainment for so long. Despite what minor changes Lucas makes to it, its still the same basic movie, and its legacy truely astounds me sometimes.
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Originally posted by: ADigitalMan
I remembered the commercials in '95 saying "... Then it's gone ... forever!" in regards to the final O-OT release on VHS.


http://hiddenfortress.free.fr/TOOLT.jpg

They really meant it...

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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http://hiddenfortress.free.fr/TOOLT.jpg



Last time on 'Video', they never said on all upcoming formats for the future, there is hope!

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unless upcoming formats are on film, video includes Beta, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray and any other electronic or digital format.
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If only had we known...
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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If I remember right, only the first one was advertised as available for the last time. Not all 3.
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Originally posted by: 20th Century Mark
If I remember right, only the first one was advertised as available for the last time. Not all 3.


i remember the quote being 'The Star Wars Trilogy...one last time"
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I remember when the SEs were released. I remember commercials for ROTJ SE. But... I never went to see them at the the cinema. I really had no clue what Star Wars was at the time.

That's the primary reason I'm looking forward to the 3D releases - I've never seen the OT on the big screen in ANY form.
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I watched the SE on the big screen with my dad and I still have vivid memories of it. I didn't even know much about the changes, and I didn't care. It was an awesome experience and despite Lucas' constant tinkering, I really look forward to 2007!
"The things that stick in my mind and make me laugh were, like, memos worried about whether or not the Wookie should have pants. They're looking at this thing and saying, "Couldn't he have some lederhosen?" This is great. Of all the things to worry about, the Wookie has no pants." -Mark Hamill
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Originally posted by: Devilman-1369
Originally posted by: 20th Century Mark
If I remember right, only the first one was advertised as available for the last time. Not all 3.


i remember the quote being 'The Star Wars Trilogy...one last time"


I still have that VHS set in shrink-wrap. I just wanted it as a collector's item, but I never thought it would be the last unaltered release of it.
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I remember the commercial saying, "This is your last chance to own the original version of Star Wars, the George Lucas masterpiece that launched the Star Wars Trilogy".

To me that means the first one. I have it on tape somewhere.
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It was the trilogy one last time. Including ANH. That bit of advertising you remember i guess emphasised ANH since it was the very first and most memorable film but the other advertising specifically said "the Trilogy" one last time.

I remember thinking I better get me these if they wont be available again. Lucas wasnt lying either! Can you believe its been nearly ELEVEN YEARS since the OOT was last released!?! Wow.

But i still say Lucas will release the OOT on a next-gen video system within the next five years so that he will never have to release it again (since the resolution will be close to having a 4k scan of the negative). This, i believe, is the reason why it isnt on DVD--if he did that now he would just have to do it again in a couple years since DVD resolution is already outdated.
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i remember that time too, but when i saw the infamous Greedo scene i ithought it was a mistake on the copy, besides having a new voice for Han in the french version (it's a really bad job; on the french dubbing you have the original voice for the whole movie except for this scene where they chose a new actor and it was totally stupid because when we see the new scene with luke and Biggs they used the same actor who dubbed Hamill in 77 and the actor who dubbed Ford at that time was still available even if his voice has changed a bit)
the Jabba scene was one of the worst CGI i've ever seen! and showing Fett here is totally useless (i also hate when Lucas says that he was in this scene...BS! Fett was created in 78!)
well, i won't make again a "things i hate about the SE " post but it's "funny" how in less than 10 years SW turned from my "favorite movies" to my "biggest disappointment"