MV64

Honestly, I would buy the current set with just a few tweaks, it wouldn't HAVE to be the originals (though that would be nice).  I don't mind him changing things, I just prefer that the changes are done right.  If he spent a ton of money and a year or two carefully re-doing all the dated CG effects, standardizing the lightsaber colors I'd be happy.  I never really noticed the color correction need or anything, so he might as well fix that, too, I guess.

But the different eras of CG just don't mix well, they need to re-do ALL of them at the same level, done with a film budget and not a straight to video budget.

And as far as content goes, he can keep all his changes (updated with actually good CG of course) except for the following:

Change the krayt dragon scream back to any one of the previous ones.

Remove Vader's No from ROTJ.

Remove Jedi Rocks.

There are a lot of easy changes that could improve the Prequels, but that's a different story.

I guess that's picky, but considering they once existed without those changes, is it really?

How do the "No" and Obi-Wan's scream sound in the final blu ray?  Do they sound more integrated in the scene and less amateurish?

Is there any chance that the Vader No and the Krayt dragon scream sound better on the final blu ray?  They just didn't sound integrated into the scene.  Perhaps the youtube video that was leaked wasn't what the final product would sound like?  I could tolerate those changes begrudgingly if they didn't sound so awful.

That interview with Wood is dumb.  The interviewer's theory about why Vader's No was added is just moronic.

Lucas is an excellent storyteller.

But only a slightly below average director.  

I can understand in a way why Lucas doesn't want to release the originals.  And I'm not bothered by them not fixing effects (even though they promised they would).  We lived with the originals for years with wires showing and un-consistent lightsabers. I can live with the new scenes added into the Star Wars films (except for Jedi Rocks, but I suppose it's too late for that).  But what is unforgivable are the Krayt dragon change and the Vader "NOOOOO!" scene.  And while some people debate about whether or not dialogue at all fits that Vader scene, a lot of people are missing the point.  For both the Krayt dragon scene and the Vader scene the audio is done horribly.  It sounds amateurish. 

I don't think I would be so livid about those changes if they sounded like they belonged in the movie.  But the dragon sound is simply two guys wailing very cheesily thrown through some filter, and the second Vader "NO" just sounds comical in the way it trails off and doesn't make Vader sound like he's exerting any effort at all lifting Palpatine. 

Such a simple fix. That is what I wish Lucas would change more than anything. And it seems perfectly reasonable if someone would discuss it with him, but instead it gets lost in the vitriol and the bitching about color changes and stuff that matters, but not nearly as much.

I've had issues with Lucas' changes over the years, but I always felt it was over substantial stuff.  I'm not a hater, maybe a skeptic. I liked the changes (some of them) he's made over the years, extra scenes, the Palpatine change in ESB, etc., so I can't say I have ever used the "I won't buy these" righteous anger before.

But the poor, shoddy worksmanship shows.  They promised us great blu-rays.  And instead they don't even clean up obvious, easy fixes?  Wires, lightsabers, etc.  Fans can do these fixes in an hour or two half the time.  But what is most insulting is the Vader change in the damn climax.

I'm disappointed because I really, really wanted these discs, right up until last night.  I want the trilogy on blu-ray and don't really enjoy the fan edits (there always seem to be terrible things left in or shoddy edits).  But I guess I'll have to settle for grabbing the deleted scenes somewhere else and keeping my DVDs. 

I know this may not seem unusual to any of you, because some of you have hated George and the films for years, but I really thought this time they were going to listen to the fans and at least clean up the SEs like they said they would. 

The more this sinks in, the more I'm angry that they promised one thing and delivered something that was so obviously not wanted that any "quality control" should have caught these changes.  Seriously, those audio changes sound like someone was sitting in their bedroom recording their voice with some buddies and throwing them on the films.

And Vader's no doesn't even sound like Vader.  Completely ruins the power of the moment.

That's why I'd like to hear what's done to the PT.  There might be some good changes to those.

Tobar said:

MV64 said:

I enjoyed the changes to the trilogy so far, except for the addition of Jedi Rocks, the Jabba scene in '97, and the burping frog in ROTJ.

Er, the burping frog (worrt) wasn't a special edition...addition. It's always been in there.

Wasn't it exaggerated in the SE?  I guess it's been a while since I've watched my original VHS tapes.

This has really made me realize something that maybe you guys already knew:  It's not so much George screwing this up, but George letting a bunch of over-excited amateurs have at his movies.  Clearly most of these changes were simply ego trips for visual effects and audio editors to put their mark on the films. 

I know George probably gives final approval, but I bet he doesn't even watch the whole films, they just show him a few clips and he okays them probably.

That being said, I'm no purist.  I enjoyed the changes to the trilogy so far, except for the addition of Jedi Rocks, the Jabba scene in '97, and the burping frog in ROTJ.  So I'm not the type of fan to get upset over coloring or audio flipping or obscure things like that. 

But I went from being excited to buy this yesterday to not buying it now.  I could handle the Ewok changes.  Sebulba in ROTJ?  No problem, unless in motion it looks terrible.  Anakin at the end of ROTJ?  A little strange, could have used a better clip of him, but whatever. 

But the Krayt dragon and Vader scenes are so beyond terrible I can't believe they ever got the green light.  Not only are they unnecessary but they simply sound bad.  They sound amateurish.  How could professionals, even if they thought the sounds needed to be changed, approve of these new sounds?  They don't even sound like they belong in the clips.

And the Vader scene was the final straw.  Coolest, most powerful moment of the sage ruined?  It's not like ignoring Greedo shoots first, or the burping frog, non-essential parts of a story that you can move on from.  The Vader scene is the emotional culmination of the entire saga.

I think I'll wait 6 months for the unaltered originals to be released.

But has anyone watched the prequels yet? I had held out hope that they would be changed for the better.  Clips of dialogue and audio here, fixed effects here, reduced backflipping there, eliminating some of the awkward pauses between line delivery...but judging from the OT changes it looks extremely unlikely.  Can anyone talk about changes to AOTC and ROTS?

This makes me so mad, because with my discount I could have gotten the complete set for 60 bucks.  And now I won't get to see Star Wars on blu ray.