Jayce Skywalker

I was five years of age when I first saw Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. It was an experience that changed my life forever. The characters, planets and concepts were instantly integrated into my heart and the films became the hallmark for every movie I saw afterwards. I was fortunate enough to see Return Of The Jedi upon release back in 1983 and Luke’s journey from farm boy to Jedi Knight was the one story that captivated me like none other.

During the rest of the ‘80’s and mid ‘90’s my love for Star Wars diminished slightly during puberty and all, but it was always there. Whenever I would encounter an image of my beloved trilogy, whether in a magazine or at Disneyland, my heart would blossom and I was reminded about the beauty of the series.

Around 1994 my love for Star Wars returned in full force and I started collecting memorabilia enthusiastically. I discovered the Internet and I learned about the ‘Special Editions’, a project that I was highly looking forward to. The first online image I ever saw was the one of the newly created CGI dewbacks. I thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw and in my mind the Special Editions were destined to be complete winners.

When I saw an image of the CGI Jabba however, the first cracks started to appear in my unquestionable trust in the Special Editions. It didn’t look good. Rontos followed, and various droids, and the more I saw, the more I was worried.

Then I saw the Special Edition of Star Wars back in 1997. I had mixed feelings about it. Some things certainly looked great, but others were very disappointing and actually degraded the film I loved so much. The Jabba scene annoyed me the most; it really disrupted the pace of the film, and the scene wasn’t that good anyway. It was merely there to show of a CGI Jabba.

The Special Editions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi didn’t help either. It was mostly uneven. I liked the new Sarlacc, but hated the fact that they didn’t fix the matte lines of the Rancor (something that was corrected for the 2004 DVD though). I thought the new wampa was ok, but the newly added footage of Vader boarding his shuttle and arriving at the Executor – like the Jabba scene in A New Hope – disrupted the pace of the movie. Most of it simply felt unnecessary.

But despite my disappointment, there was a new Star Wars movie to look forward to: Star Wars Episode I. This was the film I lived for. The story of Obi-Wan and Anakin, the mysterious Clone Wars and the demise of the Jedi. In my mind, nothing could have more potential to become an intriguing and immensely cool trilogy.

Without going too much into detail, you can probably guess how depressing the prequels were to me. Like the Special Editions, it was the unfocussed and uneven feel to it that disappointed me most. Some things were ok, but other things just ruined the integrity of the saga.

So there I was in 2005. No more new Star Wars films coming out (I never followed that Clone Wars animated stuff) and basically the only versions I watched where the Laserdisc copies of the original, uncorrupted releases. I just couldn’t watch the Special Editions. The added stuff just distracted me too much from enjoying the films I loved since childhood.

At this point thankfully I was married, had a good job, travelled a lot. There was more to my life than Star Wars. But Star Wars proved to be my creative reference to the artistic world around me. Buildings, designs, music, art, everything I would somehow relate to Star Wars. Star Wars however, had become a tarnished entity and its creator, George Lucas, a laughingstock. This was my hero and Star Wars was always the coolest thing in the universe. I felt incomplete as my view on the artistic and critical power of Star Wars had changed.

And then something changed everything: I learned about a project called ‘Star Wars: Revisited’.

Adywan, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your hard work on restoring the trilogy. Your versions may never replace the originals, but they can exist proudly side by side as two separate, equally enjoyable representations of Star Wars.

For me, you have given validity back to Star Wars and I feel you have such a great gift in enhancing these films. Thank you for completely restoring my love for the films and for the future of Star Wars. I am greatly looking forward to your work on Empire and I really hope you will rework Return Of The Jedi too, as well as the prequels.

You are a true artist.

Thank you and all the best,

Sandor van der Laan
The Netherlands