Star Wars Trilogy DVD set

Well, I haven't bought the DVD set yet, but I am planning to. I've heard all about the changes, and I'm actually looking forward to seeing them. I don't know if they'll improve the movie or not, but I am curious about them. I also think that even if the changes actually make the movie worse (which I doubt), they're not likely to have a big impact overall. I'm really tired of hearing complaints about how Lucas' changes 'destroyed' the movie. Only a really, really shitty movie could possibly be destroyed by a few changes. It's not as if Lucas has re-edited Star Wars into a weird Pulp Fiction clone - really, how much has changed? Thirty seconds? A minute? :)

It's worth adding that, because of my experiences with UE, I have a lot of respect and sympathy for Lucas' efforts to improve his work. I've heard from a lot of people that they really like UE and all that - but I'm not one of those people. I don't like UE as a whole. I like parts of it - I'm very proud of some things in it, in fact - but there are also many parts that I really hate, things that we couldn't do better, or simply places where we screwed up. This is how most authors relate to their work - for example, many actors refuse to see their own movies, because they know they'd be too busy dissecting the flaws in their own performance to enjoy the movie. So, all things considered, I can understand Lucas' point of view, and (given the animosity of the Star Wars fans) I very much respect his courage for going through with the changes. And finally, while as a fan I would very much like to have the original, unchanged Star Wars on DVD to be able to compare it to the new version, I also respect, as an author, Lucas' decision to not release the original version on DVD. It's simply his right, and if you don't like it, you'll just have to wait - I'm sure the original version will be out on DVD (or rather, whatever they'll use in the future) exactly 75 years after Lucas' death, when the copyright runs out (assuming, of course, that he doesn't change his mind and release it himself - which is also his right).
 
Aside from the "changes", the audio on Episode IV is freaking terrible. I couldn't sit through the movie - all the sound flubs, audio spots and the like.
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Really? Because all I've seen anyone complain about is the 5.1 track - no one seems to have any issue with the ordinary stereo track that everyone without an expensive HT setup should be listening to in the first place.
 
I'll double check the audio when I get home. Hopefully, you're right.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
without an expensive HT setup should be listening to in the first place.
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My friend´s got one of those (with a big "E" on "expensive") and he´s buying the DVDs. His Home Theater room won a prize for the best acoustic (sp?) in Brazil. When I watch it there I´ll check the 5.1 quality.

And Quarto, UE was simply GREAT. Quit bitching about it :p

Seriously, I know what you´re talking about. I write petitions every day and I have that same problem with the big ones. I write a draft, then I check it and change a lot of stuff, then I re-check it and change it a little bit more, then I re-re-check it and shuffle topics up, then... (etc.) to the point when I have to stop and just trust my work. But I could go forever rewriting the petition. I only know it was good if the judge likes it :)

We (the players) are UE judges, and speaking on behalf of many, many of them, it was a superb game.
 
When I first heard about the changes I was really pissed off. But, after seeing all the changes (on my friends copy) I don't really care too much, although I would like a copy of the original trilogy. There are two things that bother me the most, the extended emporer scene and Boba's voice. I just think that the emporer saying: "Search you fealings Vader, you'll know it to be true," takes away from Vader saying nearly the exact same thing to Luke in the end. I do believe that Vader could have been playing stupid seeing as how he told Luke: "You can destroy the emporer.." Also I don't think that the guy who played Jango (although good in EP II) just didn't always get into the Boba character. Actually the only line I have a problem with is: "As you wish." To me he said that it is just too fast, of course it could have been just the fact that I have watched the original so many times could be that hearing it said so much faster is strange and out of place. Thinking about now (and being to lazy to go back and change my post) I also thought that Jabba in Episode IV seemed too CG and out of place.
 
I think we should all be thankful that the Stormtroopers don't all have Tamura Morrison's voice now.
 
What the Hell is an "Emporer"? A person who works in an Emporium?

I have the original VHS tapes released BEFORE 97, fullscreen version. I plan on watching the DVDs and the Tapes side by side.

And I think Lucas could have included more documentaries in the Extras Disc. They surelly have dozens of hours of cool things, including the making off ones.
 
Edfilho said:
What the Hell is an "Emporer"? A person who works in an Emporium?
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No, it's the guy in CHARGE of the Emporium. That's the place where you can get those cool Ewok throw rugs. :p
 
Some of the changes were strange, some were actually good. At least they removed the scream on TESB. Overall, the changes don't have much impact. And yeah, the 5.1 sound of EPIV has problems.
 
My friend just got it last week up here at school...we watch all three in 4 days. They did a nice job of brushing up a lot of the scenes, although the change of people in the last scene of RotJ was a little weird. I did like the extra scenes of planets celebrating the empires demise...
 
LeHah said:
I think we should all be thankful that the Stormtroopers don't all have Tamura Morrison's voice now.
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Right, but does that one Stormtrooper in ANH still smack his head against the top of the door whilst trying to arrest Han, Obi-Wan, Luke and the droids? :D
 
Hey in ANH they fixed the carbine when Leia is shooting it when Luke was about to throw the line across to swing. They had never patched over the gun sound with the blaster FX, was always the gunshot.

And Vader's lightsaber when they Luke blasts the door after Kenobi dies, they actually went through and fixed it and gave it color they never did before.

The picture is so much better scrubbed, the scenes in ESB were beautiful lol.
 
Well, at least Jar Jar's not in it. and the guns have not been replaced by Walkie-Talkies. You know, it kinda makes me think of that one South Park episode where the kids bitch about the special edition versions of E.T. and Star Wars stating that Speilberg and Lucas are a couple of greedy Jews*.

* I do not hold any Anti-Semetic beliefs myself, hell I'm part Jewish. That's why I get pissed at South Park's growing Anti-Semetism.
 
Here's the changes (all the bigger ones and a bunch of smaller ones) for the movies if you all wanted to know as quoted from somewhere I totally forgot the name of, but here it all it...


"The movies have been overhauled extensively for this DVD release. The dust and scratches have been removed. The picture is incredibly sharper. The colors are all brighter. As soon as A New Hope starts, you can see how blue R2-D2 is and how gold C-3PO is. It's a dramatic difference and it makes the films look newer, especially with ANH.

But let's get down to the real item of interest – the latest changes. In case you weren't aware, George Lucas has tinkered with the films yet again. There have been more changes since the Special Editions of 1997. Some of the changes are very minor. Others are pretty dramatic. Here's a quick rundown of what you'll find as far as changes go and my thoughts on them:

Greedo Still Shoots First – Unfortunately, this scene still looks terrible. It was bad enough to make Greedo shoot first in an effort to make Han seem less cold blooded, but now they have made Han dodge the shot. As the blaster bolt comes towards his head, Han jerkily moves to the left. No matter how they tinker with it, it still looks bad.

A New Jabba – This modification to A New Hope actually looks better than it did in the Special Edition. Jabba has been changed to look more like the original puppet and his Episode I incarnation. Everything about him is improved, though Han stepping on his tail still looks a bit awkward. Overall, though, this is a welcome change to this new edition.

Changed Text On The Death Star – In A New Hope, the words on the controls were in English while in the other films it was all in Aurebesh font. That has actually been fixed in this edition when Obi-Wan turns off the tractor beam and when the Death Star gunners go to their computers. Again, another good change.

Longer Cellblock Hallways – This is one of those minor changes that you might miss if you didn't know about it. If you look carefully, you'll notice that the cellblock corridor is much longer than before.

A New Emperor – In the Empire Strikes Back, the old Emperor has been changed. Originally it was an old woman with chimpanzee eyes and the voice of Clive Revell. Now it is Ian McDiarmid in his full Emperor makeup. For the sake of continuity, I think this is a good change. However, there's a much more significant modification to this scene. The dialogue has now been changed so that it appears that Darth Vader never knew of the existence of Luke Skywalker. The Emperor now reveals to Darth for the first time that Luke is his son. The implication of this is that in Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Anakin doesn't know about the existence of Luke. In the past fans always assumed that Darth Vader knew Luke had been born or at least thought he had been hidden or was dead. This ends up being one of the biggest modifications to the story in this edition. (It also ends up killing a few Expanded Universe stories where Vader learns earlier that his son blew up the first Death Star.)

Boba's New Voice – In ESB and ROTJ, Boba Fett's voice has been replaced by that of Temuera Morrison's (aka Jango Fett and the Clonetroopers). It's a minor change, but for the sake of consistency I think it's welcome.

No Screaming Luke – One of the most despised additions to The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition was Luke screaming as he fell down the pit in Cloud City. The addition of this seemed to be an effort to make Luke's jump seem less like suicide and more like a last ditch effort to escape Darth Vader. It ended up coming across as stupid and unnecessary. Seeing it removed is a great relief.

Anakin Sans Eyebrows and New Eyes – In Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader is unmasked, a couple of modifications have been made to Anakin Skywalker. His bushy eyebrows have been removed and his eye color has been changed. This is yet another change for the sake of continuity and it will make more sense after Episode III. A burn victim wouldn't have eyebrows anyway, so it makes sense.

Naboo Celebration – Added to the celebration at the end of Return of the Jedi is a brief scene showing Naboo, thus revealing that the planet wasn't destroyed at the end of Episode III. In fact, they seem to be doing pretty well considering they gave the galaxy Palpatine. Anyway, you see Theed teeming with humans and Gungans. In fact, you can see Jar Jar (or at least a Gungan you assume to be Jar Jar) in the lower right corner on top of a building dancing and yelling "Weesa Free!" Since this wraps up what happened to Naboo, I like the addition of it. It also makes the Ewoks the least despised creatures in the film.

The Jedi Temple – In the Coruscant Celebration scene, you can now see the Senate and the Jedi Temple still standing in the background. In the Expanded Universe, it was always assumed that the Temple had been destroyed. This, of course, contradicts that. Actually, I'm surprised that Palpatine didn't have it leveled after the extermination of the Jedi. Anyway, it's there in plain view now.

The Ghost of Hayden – Probably the most notable of any of the changes in this edition is the addition of Hayden Christensen at the end of Return of the Jedi. He replaces Sebastian Shaw as the ghost of Anakin at the end of the film. While it seems like more blasphemy, Lucas explains in the commentary that when you become a ghost in the Force, you retain the form of your true self. Anakin's last form of his true self was as a young man, not as a burned up old guy, hence the modification. This may make more sense after Episode III, but it's definitely a controversial change. It will take me a while to buy it.

Other Changes – There are other minor changes here and there in the films. In ESB, Han's jacket which magically appeared in the carbon freezing scene has been removed. In ROTJ, the Rancor matte lines have been cleaned up. In ANH, the Dianoga (trash compactor monster) has had its eye tweaked a little. I'm sure there are other changes that will be found along the way.

Despite these changes, not all the bloopers have been removed. Oola still falls out of her costume and Boba Fett's antenna still switches sides in ROTJ."


This is to let people know what was changed...

Personally, he really didn't have to change about...hmm, more than half of them...or more...I just wish he'd release the Originals as well, I want a choice in what I get...I'd buy them both anyway, heheheh!
 
Col. Bob said:
* I do not hold any Anti-Semetic beliefs myself, hell I'm part Jewish. That's why I get pissed at South Park's growing Anti-Semetism.
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Hehe, I just love it when people take South Park seriously. The show is supposed to be provocative, y'know.

Starkey said:
And Quarto, UE was simply GREAT. Quit bitching about it :p
[...]to the point when I have to stop and just trust my work. But I could go forever rewriting the petition. I only know it was good if the judge likes it :)
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Well... don't get me wrong. When you're working on something, you can usually tell how others will judge it - so, in fact, I usually do know when to trust my work, and I think we were all pretty sure that UE would be well received. But that's different - when others experience the game for the first time, they do so without any awareness of how it came together. Me, I can't do that - when I look at UE, I still see all the little flaws that we noticed during production and decided not to bother with, the mistakes we made and the short cuts we took to get it finished. So, I'm always thinking about what it could have been like.

Anyway, let's not get sidetracked into a discussion of UE - my point in bringing it up was simply to give everyone a bit more understanding about Lucas' most likely motives. It bothers me when SW fans rant about how evil Lucas is for changing <insert random something here> in the movies, when his motives were almost certainly good and praiseworthy.

(...all right, all right, except perhaps for making Greedo shoot first ;))
 
They Changed some of the CGI when Obi and Luke first entered Mos Eisley, the speeder rolling into town so it looks better.

They even made the shots much closer together when Greedo tried blasting Han. Remember Lucas considered those kids movies in a way, why Ewoks were thrown in RTJ, and Han is supposed to be a hero. Odd though, if they kept him blasting Greedo first, and then coming back to save Luke would have made him less static. Since Luke was really the only character to change during the original trilogy.
 
Oh, we could go on...

"Worse than people complaining about the changes is the people complainig about people complaining about the changes". And Now copy-paste.
 
Quarto said:
Hehe, I just love it when people take South Park seriously. The show is supposed to be provocative, y'know.
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Call me a humourless killjoy, but I just don't think that making fun of the deaths of six million innocent people is funny. Although I did like the episode where Timmy and Jimmy join the Crips. And now back to the current topic.

Since I'll be holding out for the DVD box set featuring all six Star Wars Episodes, I will not be buying this edition. I do think it would have been nice if ol' Georgey Boy released the original versions with the Special Editions.
 
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