philraid

The prequels are weird for me. As a kid I loved them. I didn’t know people hated them until years later when I started watching YouTube reviews and there’d occasionally be some comment about how the prequels were terrible. Eventually I learned about how the original movies were made first and the prequels came later.
It wasn’t until I saw the Plinkett reviews that I finally understood why people didn’t like the prequels and it ended up rubbing off on me. I went through this period of about five years where I thought the prequels were terrible and I basically became an original trilogy purist.
I ended up changing my mind after rewatching them for a podcast I was doing. They weren’t as bad as I remembered and I actually ended up enjoying them. I guess like Groucho Marx said “time wounds all heels.”
Now I have a more balanced view of them. I don’t think Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are that great, but I don’t hate them either. I kind of go back and forth on whether I like them or not. Revenge of the Sith I like, although I do have some problems with it.
I could go on about some of the problems I have with the prequels, but that would take all day. Basically I accept that they exist and every once in awhile I’ll watch them. But for me, the original trilogy is Star Wars. Those are the ones that actually matter to me.

I bought them back in 2014 because at the time I thought it was the only way that I’d ever be able to see the original versions of the movies. Obviously I didn’t know about the despecialized versions and stuff like that back then. And they were not cheap either. If I remember right, Empire and Jedi were about $40 or $50 used.
Back then I thought they looked alright, at least on the TV that I had. It was a square TV, so the formatting issues weren’t a problem. I was also less picky about picture quality back then.
Half a year ago, I pulled out the DVD for Star Wars and checked to see how it looked on the flatscreen TV and that was when I realized how obvious the flaws were with it. Not very good sound or picture quality and the image was right in the center of the screen.
I do still keep the DVDs just because I like having the original movies in a physical format, but if I watch them, I’ll just watch the despecialized versions or other fan restorations. I keep waiting for the day they eventually just release the damn things on blu-ray.

Recently I was wondering if I might be feeling that way, but I think that’s probably just because the special edition (the 2004 one that is) was the version I first saw as a kid. Because when I actually think about a lot of the changes that were made, I don’t think they were improvements. They’re less intrusive than the changes to the other two movies, but that’s not hard to accomplish. If I had a choice between just those three special editions, is it the special edition that I would sit down and watch? Of course it is, but I still don’t think the changes were really needed.
I thought that I liked the changes to Cloud City, but on a recent rewatch I realized that they said in dialogue that Cloud City is supposed to be a small outpost. It doesn’t look like a small outpost in the special edition. Also, the CGI has really dated and looks out of place. Especially the shots of people standing around listening to Lando talking on the speaker.
The Emperor change in theory makes sense, but the execution is inconsistent with Return of the Jedi since it’s Revenge of the Sith Ian McDiarmid. There was something a little more ominous and mysterious about the original Emperor even though it is a different looking person. Also the dialogue makes much more sense in the original version.
Boba Fett’s voice change I can sort of understand for consistency with Attack of the Clones, but again, I don’t think the execution was great. Plus Jason Wingreen’s voice was perfect for the character. I like Temuera Morrison, but his delivery doesn’t even compare.
The only change I might keep (and this might surprise some people) is the Wampa scene. I remember that scene freaking me out when I first saw it as a kid, so I might keep that in there for nostalgic reasons. Watching it again, it doesn’t look too out of place (at least compared to these other changes), although it is ultimately unnecessary.
The only addition that I would say is an improvement is fixing some of the matte lines on the ships, but I don’t really care all that much about minor details like that. The movie’s over 40 years old, it’s okay for there to be a few technical mistakes here and there.
So overall, I would say the theatrical version is still better.

1. Clone Wars (2003)- Well-animated, lots of good action scenes, and it does a good job bridging the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
2. Andor- I wasn’t sure if I was gonna like this, but it was actually pretty good. Made me appreciate Rogue One.
3. The Mandalorian- Like the space western vibe.
4. The Clone Wars- I don’t have the same attachment to it that some people have, which might partly be because the movie left such a bad impression on me. It did get better as it went on, but there were some choices I wasn’t on board with.
5. Rebels- Has its moments, but I didn’t really get into it. I guess the main characters didn’t fully win me over.
6. Visions- Not huge into anime, but there were some parts of this that I liked.
7. Obi Wan Kenobi- Liked the stuff with Obi Wan and Vader. The rest was boring and pointless. Should have been a two hour movie instead of a miniseries.
8. The Book of Boba Fett- Had its moments, but was mostly a missed opportunity.
9. Ewoks- I’ve seen better. I’ve seen worse.
10. Forces of Destiny- Only watched a few episodes of it. Completely pointless.
11. Droids- I love R2-D2 and C-3PO, but this show did them a disservice. I did like the theme song by Stewart Copeland, though.
12. Resistance- I couldn’t even finish one episode of it.

That podcast was an interesting listen. A lot of good casting ideas. I would have loved to have seen John Hurt in a Star Wars movie.

1. The Empire Strikes Back- A no-brainer. The best made of the original trilogy. It’s a near perfect film.
2. Star Wars and Return of the Jedi- I go back and forth on which one I like more. Star Wars has better action and humor, Return of the Jedi has the better emotional moments. I also have more nostalgia for Return of the Jedi, so sometimes that wins me over when I rewatch it.
3. Revenge of the Sith- The best of the prequels. I think the story is more investing than in the other two and it’s better paced. There are some corny parts, though.
4. Rogue One- Found it boring the first few times I watched it, but it grew on me on the last rewatch. Probably because I watched Andor beforehand.
5. Solo- A lot of people don’t like it, but I thought it was a fun side adventure. My problem with it though is that even though I’ve seen it multiple times, parts of it are forgettable.
6. Attack of the Clones- Of the prequels, this is actually the one I have the most nostalgia for. Has a lot of fun action scenes, but also some boring and dumb parts. I do have a soft spot for it, but I will acknowledge that it’s not a very good movie.
7. The Phantom Menace- It’s a slog to get through parts of it. Feels too self-contained. Has some good parts, but doesn’t hold together as a narrative and especially not as an introduction to the galaxy.
8. The Force Awakens- Used to really like it, but it didn’t hold up on rewatches. A lot of stuff that got set up and never paid off. Whenever I try to rewatch it, I get bored around the halfway point.
9. The Last Jedi- First impressions can be so inaccurate. I loved this when I first saw it, but wow did it not hold up to scrutiny. I’ll give it this, it did try to change things up. There’s parts I like, but the bad parts are so bad that they ruin the movie.
10. Rise of Skywalker- A joyless lazy mess. Almost killed my passion for the series. It was so bad that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to rewatch the older movies.
11. The Clone Wars movie (Forgot to include it in here)- Bad animation, bad story. I’ve only seen it twice and that’s two times too many. Put me off watching the show for years.

Maybe give Chewbacca a moment of glory, and bring Warwick Davis back as Wicket.
And thanks.

The ewoks make their triumphant return and destroy the First Order.

Manos: The Hands of Fate and Birdemic: Shock and Terror both have Blu-ray releases.

Star Wars- The Cantina
The Empire Strikes Back- A hard one, but I really love the part where Luke sees a vision of Vader in the cave
Return of the Jedi- Luke taking Vader’s mask off
The Phantom Menace- Duel of the Fates
Attack of the Clones- Anakin finding his mother and then killing a bunch of Tusken raiders
Revenge of the Sith- Obi Wan fighting Anakin on Mustafar
The Force Awakens- Han Solo finding the Falcon
Rogue One- Vader killing a bunch of rebels
The Last Jedi- Luke reuniting with R2-D2 on the Falcon
Solo- Han gambling with Lando

If we’re counting Special Edition changes, I would say the Jedi Rocks dance number. Truly awful.