The Special Editions Turn Twenty

[Tallguy]

Today the Special Editions are as old as Star Wars was when they replaced it. (By a few months.)

On the one hand it was a super exciting time. The SEs were in the THEATER. Star Wars was everywhere again. All three scores were getting 2CD (mostly) complete editions.

On the other hand we didn't know that when George said these would be the only versions that anyone would see again (mostly) he was serious.

 

[Tosk]

Which is funny, because you can't actually buy the Special Editions that he said that about. You can buy the next Special Editions, and the next next Special Editions, but not the original Special Editions.



Special Editions.

 

[Unionized Elf]

So, twenty years of Greedo shooting first?

 

[Crisp Conditions]

Old enough to vote and die in a war, but still not old enough to drink.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I love the SE's, so I say Happy Birthday.

 

[Commander Richard]

I was thinking about this the other day. Can't believe it's been that long.

 

[Skywalker]

Pretty soon Greedo will have shot first longer than Han did.

 

[Set Harth]

That's sad.

 

[Smellmet]

I can live with the special editions. Some of the extra bits genuinely improve things, like the yavin battle, snow monster and a few other shots. It's the creatures in mos eisley and jabbas palace that are shit in my opinion, and there's not too much screen time devoted to them to override the positives for me. I wish my blu ray box set had both cuts of the films in though.

 

[Tosk]

Magic rocks and Jedi Rocks. I hate 'em both.

 

[Ithekro]

If I recall the most recent version of The Special Edition, Han and Greedo shoot at the same time. Greedo's just terrible.

 

[N-121973]

Sorry to pull a Marco Rubio and repeat the same mantra all over again 'Of course Obama has a plan' . Seriously though as I've noted on many other threads on these forums, I love the special editions, I just wish, particularly Jedi got even more changes and having watched some of the deleted scenes for Empire and Jedi, some of those should have been re-integrated. I would also re-shoot the Vader unmasking scene so that it featured Hayden Christiansen. And to shut the die-hards up I'd have the original theatrical cuts, cleaned up and offered as an alternative.
Just yesterday I watched the DC's Legends of Tomorrow episode featuring a young George Lucas. What would have been funny is when they approached George Lucas to get him to make films if one of them, perhaps the White Canary threatened bloody violence on him if he made the special editions .

 

[publiusr]

The special editions seem somehow more dated that the original prints. The CGI has progressed so much. CGI today will age well due to its detail.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm starting to feel old. I remember when these special editions were a big deal.

 

[Smellmet]

The special editions seem somehow more dated that the original prints. The CGI has progressed so much. CGI today will age well due to its detail.

I see what you're saying and partially agree. The vistas of the various planets at the end of ROTJ for example still hold up extremely well, as do a good chunk of the other effects. It's the creature FX that's starting to look dated for me. The extra falcon stuff in empire for example will always look decent as it was intended to fit in with the original movie, which it does for me. My feelings are still a little mixed when it comes to these special editions, as there's still bits I positively hate, you could see the beginnings of the rot with the ewoks in ROTJ, through these and into the prequels with use of childish 'comedy' CGI characters, but there's still a lot to like here. For every stupid scene in jabbas palace there's a better shot of the falcon, or an improved background in cloud city. They remain a very entertaining but flawed set of releases.

 

[Unionized Elf]

Magic rocks and Jedi Rocks. I hate 'em both.

In all honesty, I actually enjoy Jedi Rocks. It is kind of a catchy tune.

I would also re-shoot the Vader unmasking scene so that it featured Hayden Christiansen.

No, that would have been taking things a bit too far. Altering the Force Ghost was questionable enough, but the unmasking scene? Completely pointless. In all honesty, it would likely have been too difficult to be a practical option anyway.

 

[Venardhi]

Not too difficult at all, but I'm certain it would look terrible anyways. I have the "despecialized" versions at this point so I'm not overly concerned with what they do with the SE, but a 40th anniversary 4k version of the unaltered OT would be pretty swell.

 

[DimesDan]

still not old enough to drink.

Only in certain, somewhat backward in this regard countries.

 

[RandyS]

I'm starting to feel old. I remember when these special editions were a big deal.

Then you're not as old as me. I remember when the special editions AND the original theatrical runs were big deals.......

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

No, that would have been taking things a bit too far. Altering the Force Ghost was questionable enough, but the unmasking scene? Completely pointless. In all honesty, it would likely have been too difficult to be a practical option anyway.

Another reason to keep Sebastian Shaw is to show how much Anakin was unnaturally "aged" by the dark side. Hayden is just too young to play the broken, dying Vader. The whole point is that the dark side sucks all the life out of someone and causes them to die much sooner than they normally would. Much easier to use an actor who's a lot older than the character he's playing.

Anakin's appearance as a Force Ghost is another matter, because that's the idealized, youthful appearance of him. So it makes sense that Hayden plays that version.