Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[The Old Mixer]

As for putting in some of the deleted scenes, the Biggs thing was kind of OK since it gave more context to why they're so familiar with each other in the battle.

I also like the inclusion of that scene because it explains Luke's change in attitude in the surrounding scenes. In the theatrical cut, we see him moping while talking to Leia, then practically bouncing into his cockpit like it's the best day of his life (and get a quick glimpse of Biggs walking away from him).

This is not in any way, shape, or form an endorsement of the Special Editions or whatever they're calling the current iterations. Just the restoration of that one deleted scene.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

My favorite special edition change is kind of abscure. It actually didn't need to be changed as the original shot looked really good, but the change was great.

Just before the first Death Star explodes, the Falcon, Luke, Wedge and one other ship flee, and we see the Death Star in the background. The first shot looked fine..
In the special edition, there's a bit of a tilt to the shot, and a bit more energy to their escape.

At about 11:37
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faBFPENMbg[/yt]

 

[The Old Mixer]

I will confess, the one thing I really enjoyed about the SEs was the new ship effects in ANH. I prefer to watch the original version in general, but those effects, groundbreaking as they were in '77, had long looked pretty damn dated compared to those in the original version of TESB.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

There are very few VFX replacements in EpIV that I like better than the originals. Matte work was cleaned up at the Rebel base on Yavin's moon, and that was welcome, but that's really about it. Generally, everywhere that shots could easily have been noticeably improved, they had to go and overdo it with unnecessary bullshit, often including the incorporation of jarring and unnatural camera movements. Maybe the Sand People watching Luke's landspeeder fly by below is OK. Did they clean up the matte painting of the sandcrawler parked at night with the Jawas walking up to it? That looks good, too.

There are two new shots that I actually kinda like, though.

One is the computer-animated dewback beside the Mos Eisely Cantina. Originally, the practical dewback was shown only tilting its head slightly. Unfortunately, the CGI replacement is borderline on the edge of overdoing it.

The best new VFX is of the Falcon landing on the moon with the Rebel base. It neatly answers the question of just what the Rebel sentry was looking at through his viewfinder. I don't know if showing the Falcon landing that way was intended all along, but I suppose it easily could have been.

 

[cooleddie74]

I really wish the Jawa and Ronto slapstick with the passing swoop bike had been left on the cutting room floor. I like or can at least tolerate the new CGI additions to Mos Eisley except for the Ronto gag (appropriately named if you ask me) and the unnecessary pack animal lumbering in front of Luke's landspeeder at the start of the confrontation with the Sandtroopers. That was a bit much and nobody really had to see a CGI animal hide lurch by the camera during one of the most iconic moments of the original film.

 

[davejames]

The only thing I really miss from the SEs is the Falcon taking off from the Docking Bay in ANH. Which was clearly a much better and more dramatic shot than the original.

And I suppose there were a few nice new shots during the Death Star battle as well, but frankly I still find the original model work to be impressive as hell. There's a ton of really dynamic shots in there (the X-Wing turning over as it approaches the camera, the Y-Wing getting it's engine blown off, the slow-motion shot of the TIE Fighter chasing the X-Wing...), and the fact it's all being done with physical models makes it even cooler to watch, I think.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The only thing I really miss from the SEs is the Falcon taking off from the Docking Bay in ANH. Which was clearly a much better and more dramatic shot than the original.

Oh gods, the SE shot there is one of the worst. The new version totally wrecks the pacing of the scene. The original is a thousand times more exciting with the sudden blast-off.

 

[kirk55555]

I have no problem with the CG in Mos Eisley, in fact I generally like it. I guess I'm just not bothered by stuff like that. I mean, the Jabba scene is fairly pointless, and Jabba doesn't look very good, but that's really the only thing that jumps out as less than good quality about the Mos Eisley stuff, at least for me.

Speaking of other additions, I also really like the added scene of the X-Wings heading toward the Death Star, it just makes it feel more epic.

 

[Ithekro]

"Yub Nub, Commander."

 

[Doctorwhovian]

I didn't like the high-pitched screaming droid that gets hit by the other droid. Sort of showed what we'd be in for with the battle droids and other obnoxious droids later on.

(Although I've always liked the Destroyer Droid/Droideka, one of the few menacing battle droids).

 

[cooleddie74]

I didn't like the high-pitched screaming droid that gets hit by the other droid. Sort of showed what we'd be in for with the battle droids and other obnoxious droids later on.

The ASP-7 droid. I think the droid it smacks to the ground is one of the Imperial sentry or probe droids we see floating behind the lead Sandtrooper a few moments later. It was a bit too slapsticky, true, but back in 1997 we didn't have three Prequels' worth of goofy droids and aliens doing shtick as a reference point so it didn't much bother me back then.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

The Asp interestingly made it's debut in the EU with Shadows Of The Empire comic/novel/game (one even is used as a training lightsaber droid for Vader, whose shoulder was wounded by Luke in ESB so he needed to test it out). Some aspects of the 'new' Mos Eisley also appeared in Shadows Of The Empire's Nintendo game (mainly the Swoop chase level).

The SEs were probably well into production by that point so they sort of snuck them in as sort of a sneak preview thing. I'm also guessing they were sort of an experiment to see if the battle droid CG would work out, as they share some design similarities (mainly the somewhat skeletal look).

 

[cooleddie74]

Yeah, a lot of the CGI used in the Special Editions in '97 were probably a handy testbed for what George had planned for Episode I. The Mos Eisley droids and animals. Space shots of fighters zipping by the camera. Digital explosions. The ANH Special Edition was basically one big laboratory for figuring out how to make Episode I look good.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

I've also read that that the Ronto/Dewback CG were reworked from the models used in Jurassic Park-the film which reportedly inspired Lucas to start work on the SW films again.


That and also a lot of the films his company produced after SW were critical and commercial failures (with the exception of the Indiana Jones sequels, although from a critical standpoint they weren't as well received as Raiders...and then there's the TV series). Most famously Radioland Murders, which Lucas had been working on since the 70s and Howard the Duck of course.

 

[B.J.]

I really wish the Jawa and Ronto slapstick with the passing swoop bike had been left on the cutting room floor. I like or can at least tolerate the new CGI additions to Mos Eisley except for the Ronto gag (appropriately named if you ask me) and the unnecessary pack animal lumbering in front of Luke's landspeeder at the start of the confrontation with the Sandtroopers. That was a bit much and nobody really had to see a CGI animal hide lurch by the camera during one of the most iconic moments of the original film.

That one scene is the one I really despise. A ronto taking up the entire screen is annoying enough, but they also basically wiped out an astromech to do so.

 

[cooleddie74]

And a pretty colorful and cool-looking R5 unit at that. I've always liked that Creamsicle-orange R5 that rolls by just as the Sandtroopers stop Luke and Ben and begin questioning them. It may be one of the few Original Trilogy astromechs that hasn't had at least one action figure made of it.

 

[Richard Baker]

Couple of things in the Special Edition ANH I do like-

More sky traffic- it doe help make the place look like a space port instead of a back lot. Adding the Outrider was a fun nod.

While it does alter pacing, seeing the Falcon lift off with the engines at 'hot-ready'. The lurching motion also help with the idea this is a hurried getaway, not a casual lift off.

The X-Wings leaving for battle- much more dynamic shot and the flights look like individual pilots instead of a repeated SFX.

Things I wish they had not done-

As mentioned,adding the humor and Rontos into the Mos Eisley scene.

Seeing the Sentinel class troop transport was nice, but the extended shots of the STs searching was distracting. If they all arrived with that shuttle as implied, where did the guy on the Dewback come from?

Forgot to add the shadow underneath the Falcon when it arrives at the Rebel base.

Most of the other comments above I agree with, the biggest issue seems to be when they added/extended scenes for those 'look at that' moments they lost the crisp pacing of the original.

Interesting Project:
https://swrevisited.wordpress.com/anhr-change-list/
This in my opinion is one of the best versions of the film out there- unofficial but he corrects/improves on the movie, doing the things that ILM should have done in the first place.

 

[davejames]

^ Wow, that list of changes they made is freakin insane! Although I am glad to finally see someone add the freakin radar dish to the Falcon in the docking bay. If there's one SE change that really needed to happen, it was that one.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Interesting Project: [...] This in my opinion is one of the best versions of the film out there- unofficial but he corrects/improves on the movie, doing the things that ILM should have done in the first place.

That project is 90% garbage.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I like the Special Editions becuase I got to see A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back in a theater.