Star Wars Special Edition

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what do you guys think of it?

I have all the DvDs with both the Special Editions and the Original Theatrical releases in them and I'll stick with that. I'm tired of Lucas continually diddling with a classic that has already been given to the public. He's trying so hard to make the original trilogy line up with his ill-thought-out prequel trilogy, that he's ruining something that was near perfect the way it was.

As far as I'm concerned, the last 20 minutes of Episode III were so hackneyed in the amateurish attempt to crowbar a handful of continuity 'explanations' into Lucas' already wooden dialogue that it became embarrassing and made the entire prequel storyline into a pathetic joke - and I actually had never even had a problem with JarJar.

It was bad enough that he turned the biggest badass in the galaxy into a whiny gurl in the prequels, now he has to go back to the original films and make him a soft-hearted wimp there, too? CGI rocks that appear in one shot and disappear in another? Dubbing in dialogue that was never necessary before? Blinking Ewoks (like putting teddy bears in wasn't a bad idea to begin with)! This is improvement? Not for me, thanks.

I don't even need to see the BD set. Until George is ready to release the real Star Wars on Blu Ray, I'll pass.

Maybe while he's at it, Lucas would like to CGI Gumby, Pokey and the Joe's Apartment dancing cockroaches into the master print of Wizard of Oz.

The sad thing is, the changes have ruined the movies even for people who don't mind them, because it's now practically impossible to just watch the movies and enjoy them outside of the context of the controversy they've caused.

I can look past them despite the fact they can be distracting on occasions. As long as they don't really effect the story or alter the character developments, I really don't have too many major issues. Although there are exceptions naturally. I kind of agree that the "Greedo shoots first" idea was kind of lame. It's not like Han was killing him in cold blood or anything before. IMO, it was pretty unnecessary and it could have harmed Han's character development during a time in the story where he's still being fleshed out. Fortunately, there enough other moments which retain Han's cocky, smart-ass nature where the damage in that change is minimal.

One change that I do have a problem with is the recent change to the climax of the throne room battle in ROTJ (aka the "Vader No 2.0"). I have no freaking clue why they felt it was necessary to add dialog to what was already a very tense scene. I always felt the wordless sacrifice was FAR more effective than this new version. This almost makes it kind of hokey, especially for those of us who still have the first Vader No burned into our minds. It's almost as if it was an unintentional callback to the LEAST coolest part of Episode III.

To summerize, I don't have as much of an issue with the visual changes as I do with the audio changes. I pray to God that Lucas gets enough fan input to make him take that change out of Jedi by the time they get around converting it to 3D.

I liked the Special Editions...that is, before they were changed again.

I like the idea of re-adding deleted scenes and adding better background imagery. I hate the idea of putting Hayen Christenson at the end of the movie, though, and I'm not too keen on the crazy alien dance in Return of the Jedi either.

I have the special editions on VHS, but I don't like the special-er editions.

Hate them.

To be fair, I think anyone who was grade-school age and saw the OT on the big screen like I did would nearly have to be biased against the special editions.

Lucas underestimates the value of being able to relive your past a bit from time to time. The changes in the special editions totally distract me, I cannot watch them, because if I am in a Star Wars mood it is usually based on a desire to 'go home again'. The comfort food factor.

An old guy needs the exact movies he saw at 6, 9, and 12 - especially an Aspie with awesome memory.