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[Ushojax]

Nobody would care if the original versions were also available. Most directors always try to preserve the theatrical release alongside any updated version.

I think it's disgusting that George has erased so many artists work with his alterations, people sweated blood over the practical effects of the OT and it's wrong to throw their hard work in the trash. Several actors also had their work redone by other actors. The original films are what made SW a phenomenon and won awards for their technical achievments, when you consider that George didn't even direct ESB or ROTJ, his alterations seem even more dubious. He might have owned Star Wars but he clearly has no respect for the hundreds of people who made those films.

Why didn't they at least add in a non-evil looking version of Anakin into the ghost scene? That would have actually been a pretty cool change if it wasn't executed so poorly.

Because that would require actual effort. Much easier to use a costume test from ROTS where Anakin is doing an evil stare (that doesn't even match the eyeline of Ben). In an ideal world, they would have aged Christensen with makeup and shot a proper insert.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

They are the worst versions of the original trilogy though.

 

[Dead Guy]

It's kind of a mixed bag for me. While I do think the special additions do add a lot where the effects are concerned, there are several re done scenes that hurt the films as a whole.

In particular I am talking about Greedo shooting first, Vader's "NOOOOO" in ROTJ, and the weird musical scene for no reason in Jabba's palace.

My biggest gripe though is actually a scene that many overlook. I hate the scene with Han and Jabba talking in A New Hope. To me it completely ruins Jabba's character as it takes away all the mystery surrounding him up until ROTJ where you originally saw him for the first time.

Plus the fact that Han steps on his tail and he just takes it like a bitch makes Jabba look really weak and not at all like the creepy gang lord he is in Jedi

 

[xxracerxx]

OP made a lot of threads today.

 

[MMarston]

Hey man, if you're gonna take a jab at that scene, use the better one.

(Still awkward as all hell though)

 

[Livingskeletons]

You never met Blade Runner fans OP?

 

[JettDash]

We have a thread discussing the coloring timing of the new release of Terminator 2, but Star Wars fans are out of control for not liking the special editions.

I'll never understand the double standard.

I don't care one way or another about the new release of T2 and I love that movie.

 

[Permanently A]

Star Wars obsession in general seems insane to me.

Even man that made all this shit moved on. Do the same. Find a job. Hit the gym. Do something with your lives instead of obsessing whether Zippalon Diago was in that one shot on Bespin or not.

Why so aggressive?

How can we complain about such masterful work?

This is the only egregious thing for me, all the other additions don't stand out to me either way, but this one is just pretty silly for a cavalcade of reasons.

 

[BocoDragon]

Hey man, if you're gonna take a jab at that scene, use the better one.

(Still awkward as hell though)

I haven't seen that one in HD. Are we to the point where the 2004 one now looks awful enough to re-do again?

 

[MMarston]

I dont understand the obsession with Star Wars at all.

Says person on a video game forum loaded with people as equally invested if not more on a another thing.

I haven't seen that one in HD. Are we to the point where the 2004 one now looks awful enough to re-do again?

Yeah, but let's not give them anymore ideas.

 

[old manatee]

I got the despecialized version and I don't care anymore.

 

[JettDash]

OP made a lot of threads today.

It is the booze.

You never met Blade Runner fans OP?

Not any fanatical ones.

 

[Slime]

Hey man, if you're gonna take a jab at that scene, use the better one.

(Still awkward as all hell though)

Haha, I thought it looked slightly less terrible than I remembered.

Oof.

 

[JimtotheHum]

I find Jedi Special Edition unwatchable. I'm in the middle of Jabba's Palace and suddenly the cast of Monsters, Inc. show up? Hard pass.

If it weren't for Harmy or my Wal-Mart DVDs, I would still be lugging around a VHS just to watch Star Wars.

 

[Thorgal]

They're upset because they know in their heart of hearts that Yub Nub sucks

Thems are fighting words mate.

 

[BocoDragon]

I got the despecialized version and I don't care anymore.

Yeah the product we want exists. The only hiccup is that it's not official and accessible to everyone. I'm satisfied, though.

 

[JettDash]

What is Yub Nub?

 

[Mechazawa]

No one would care if there were easily attainable versions of the originals.

I'm not much for Star Wars and even I understand why people are annoyed by this. The fact that someone with all 6 on blu-ray doesn't understand is boggling.

 

[Aaron Strife]

If they just made the original versions available and with the same love and care they give the other releases, I wouldn't give two shits if in a new edition they replaced Luke Skywalker with a CGI talking cat played by Kevin Spacey.

But c'est la vie. I'm not as diehard hoo rah rah about it as I used to be, but I'd still rather like it and some of the bigger changes they made do legitimately harm the movies.

What is Yub Nub?

Yub Nub is the Ewok song at the end of the original cut of Return of the Jedi. For the special edition release it was replaced by a new song called Victory Celebration.

I actually prefer the new song as I grew up with the 97 version and it lends the scene a better sense of finality, although I guess with VII that goes out the window. Still would trade that song for every other change to be reverted as well.

 

[Bronx-Man]

Whoooaaaa, sick bro. Like you bro? Show me your muscles bro.

Since you asked:

I earned this body with dedication, not with marking out over little pshew pshew laser sword movies

 

[Sobriquet]

They're upset because they know in their heart of hearts that Yub Nub sucks

wtf is this 😡

 

[TheRedSnifit]

WHY DOES HE WEAR THE MASK

 

[MMarston]

wtf is this 😡

Victory Celebration is the better ending song though.



I can respect the preservation of Yub Nub, but I don't have to like it.

 

[Meowster]

What is Yub Nub?

trash

 

[JettDash]

Yub Nub is the Ewok song at the end of the original cut of Return of the Jedi. For the special edition release it was replaced by a new song called Victory Celebration.

I actually prefer the new song as I grew up with the 97 version and it lends the scene a better sense of finality, although I guess with VII that goes out the window. Still would trade that song for every other change to be reverted as well.

Thanks.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

I find Jedi Special Edition unwatchable. I'm in the middle of Jabba's Palace and suddenly the cast of Monsters, Inc. show up? Hard pass..

It's so dense....every single frame has so much going on.

Fuck you Carcetti.

 

[matrix-cat]

I like my goofy '70s sci fi movie to look like a goofy '70s sci fi movie, I suppose. The more changes they make to bring the original movies in line with the giant, suffocating Star Wars universe continuity that exists today, the less I like them. I want all the matte lines and puppets.

It's not such a big deal now that I have Harmy's Despecialized Editions and the Silver Screen cut, but I'd still like to be able to buy a nice, professionally-restored, official version of the original cuts.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Changes such as the colour grading are less fanaticism and more just wanting something to be aesthetically pleasing.

Blu-Ray

Fan restoration based on Technicolor print

Also wanting the movie to be authentic and true to how it was when it released (minor things like the opening title aside) isn't a big deal.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Should be available..not sure why that's so controversial..

 

[Roders5]

Hayden ghost can fuck right off. What the hell George?

 

[Eggbok]

Two things I've always scratched my head about regarding Hayden in this scene.
- He never wore those robes
- Vader redeemed himself as an old man, why is he like 23 again?

 

[thrillho88]

I love Star Wars deeply and I take holiday time every year to be at the midnight releases.
That being said, it's absurd how upset some people get with the changes that have been made.
Many of the changes have actually been positive overall, replacing Yub Nub and improving the emperor's hologram in ESB to name a couple.

George Lucas owned those and he is able to change them however he sees fit.

Even the stuff that people take as a negative really aren't that bad. I grew up with the VHS special editions with the CG stuff in RoTJ and everything, no big deal.

For the record, I watched through the entire series recently with my girlfriend and she didn't really observe much of a quality dip with the prequels and doesn't understand the hate they get either, they're just a little bit different is all.

I think it's when people put so much of their identity into something that you get these kinds of reactions from people. They see any change or negativity as something deeply personal. You see that on Gaf all the time with video game stuff.

 

[Evil Monkey DTT]

The problem isn't that Lucas changed them.

Its that Lucas changed and also REFUSES to release the original versions in any way save a half-assed laserdisc transfers over ten years ago.

If he did that, not one would care.

How many versions exist of blade runner yet no one is really offended or upset by any of them. This is completely on point.

 

[BarringGaffner]

The movies are worse because of them. Much worse. They completely distract from the film.

 

[Kuroi Gogeta]

The special editions end up replacing the originals so you end up not being able to find a copy of the originals. It's a big issue for people who prefer those films.

 

[verboten84]

The fact that Lucas, and now Disney, has essentially outlawed the owning of a high quality release of the theatrical versions is the true insanity.

 

[Choppasmith]

I don't know why I laughed so hard at this.

Anyway, I didn't mind the original Special Editions from the 90s when I was a kid. Seemed kinda overblown (seeing the gifs in this thread though, YIKES) but when I heard about the ADDITIONAL changes for the bluray (hidden R2, the extra "No!") I did a hard pass.

 

[Mandius]

Everything released after 1996 has been weak.

 

[Aaron Strife]

It's so dense....every single frame has so much going on.

Fuck you Carcetti.

What is it with Ricks?

 

[Einchy]

I have 1-6 on Blu-ray and I couldn't give a fuck less about that shit.

Well, many do because it adds a bunch of really pointless things and they often distract from the scene. Not all the changes were for the worse, though, but a lot were.

 

[HTupolev]

I guess I can see wanting the original versions but I don't understand how some people get so upset about Lucas changing them.

That's the point. That's why people are as upset as they are. If the original versions were available legally in a high-quality format, they would mostly just ignore the SE; they'd poke fun at it, sure, but it wouldn't be a real problem. It would be a Blade Runner situation.

Because, quite frankly, those same people wouldn't have given two shits about it anyway.

You could say that about basically anything, though. Someone who had never had beer before wouldn't notice if they got Long Hammer when they asked for Pliney. Someone who had never seen a car before wouldn't know that their "1965 Corvette Stingray" was actually a sloppily-rebranded Pinto. That doesn't mean that a ripoff isn't happening.

What is Yub Nub?

The original ending sequence for RotJ. Neither it nor the new Victory Celebration are all that amazing in and of themselves, but Yub Nub at least has a nice musical transition into the credits.

 

[BocoDragon]

At this point you've got to be about 30+ to have grown up on the original version. I don't expect people raised on the Special Editions to care, but there's the classic saying "you don't know what you're missing".

 

[THEaaron]

Is this a thread about the cgi scenes in Star Wars or people saying how they don't understand the love for Star Wars?

I don't like the remastered versions at all. The cgi is bad and distracting and misses a good bunch of atmosphere from the original scenes.

 

[Neff]

I prefer the originals. They're the ones I grew up with and want to grow old with, but they're held hostage by outdated formats.

That said, they're Lucas' films, not mine, I respect his right to do with them as he will, and I only have immense respect and love for the man for contributing to a fantastic childhood.

 

[Skunkers]

They never bothered me that much through the DVD release. In fact in some ways I actually prefer them. I could even think of some more changes that I would like to have done. Don't kill me.

I definitely do believe though that after all the fan outcry, the additional changes on the Bluray versions were kind of an intentional middle finger to the fanbase. And there is no reason why they shouldn't make the originals available for those that want them.

 

[Bronx-Man]

My uncle works at disney and he told me the original theatrical cuts are coming out on 4k ultra hd just in time for the star wars 40th anniversary

 

[massoluk]

Uh not really. I would call them crazy if Lucas released the original version along with special edition. But I kinda understand their plight with Lucas seemingly burying a piece of history unreasonably.

 

[Gleethor]

I haven't seen that one in HD. Are we to the point where the 2004 one now looks awful enough to re-do again?

Word has it that they have indeed touched it up

 

[DonMigs85]

The CGI aged really, really badly. The ronto's skin looks like an N64 texture and the CGI Jabba is an abomination and completely out of character. The real Jabba would never allow someone to step on his tail and live.

 

[JettDash]

My uncle works at disney and he told me the original theatrical cuts are coming out on 4k ultra hd just in time for the star wars 40th anniversary

Did Disney buy the rights for A New Hope?