First thoughts on the new DVD's

OK... I'll admit it... I haven't seen all of them yet. Actually, I've only watched A New Hope and alot of the bonus stuff off the 4th disc. From what I saw, though, here's what I think:

I like it! This is a much better looking movie than when I saw it in the movies (of course), but as far as the little tweaks GL made for this one... I'm not too bothered by them. Even the Greedo scene doesn't make me as mad as the Special Edition one did. They made it look better, although I STILL think that there's nothing wrong with Han just blowing him away. He was considered a pirate and a smuggler after all. Why wouldn't he do something like that?!? It just makes Jabba's question of "Why did you have to fry him?" seem a little... off. "Duh.. he shot at me first". Weak, but at least they made it look better. As far as the Jabba scene goes, he looks MUCH better. Even the stepping on his tail was better executed with Jabba's expressions being more in character, although it's hard to believe that the Jabba from ROTJ (only a few years after ANH) would tolerate something like that. The lightsabers looked great. The blinking out effect that Obi-Wan's saber used to do during the duel looks better. You know... the part where it looks as if his saber is shorting out? Anyway, it's still there, but it's not so obvious. Other than the minor things I mentioned, I love it! I'll be watching Empire tonight, although the fact that Luke doesn't scream after he falls makes me think this will also be better than the Special Editions.

I'm glad they fixed the Obi-Wan lightsaber "shorting out" thing. My friends and I were always puzzled about that when we were kids watching it on HBO. We always wondered if Obi-Wan's power was fading or something and that's why his saber appeared to be failing.

I won't be able to get the DVD's for a few weeks, but I'm really looking forward to the bonus disc. I've heard a lot of people say that even as long-time fans, they had never seen some of the things in that disc. Did you find that true, Vesper?

I really enjoyed watching A New Hope again. It's been years since I've watched the original trilogy. Been stuck in the prequels for fanfiction purposes I really really enjoyed it. The first scene alone the images were really cleaned up. It looked and sounded fantastic. I liked the Greedo scene too. I thought the addition was good and I thought that the scene with Jabba looked MUCH better. Haven't watched the rest of them yet. I did watch some of the bonus material -- and the EP 3 preview!!! I am SO psyched for Ep 3 now..

ESB--oh my goodness! They TOTALLY changed the scene between Vader & The emporer on the holo--it is so much better! Changed the lines, the actor....it was very cool....

I've liked them all so far--going to watch ROTJ tonight or early tomorrow!

OK, I had enough time this weekend (OK, I skipped out on a few things and made time) to watch all the episodes so far. Not back to back or anything, just in a row over the course of the weekend. Once Episode III comes out on DVD, this will be an awesome saga to wacth this way. You definitly get to see GL's idea of the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker all the way through. Seeing them this way makes me see the original trilogy in a new light as the focus is a little more geared toward Vader/Anakin... or at least you look at him as more than "just the bad guy". Of course we all know this, but I guess watching the movies in a row gets the point across more fully than just "knowing it". At the end of it all, it's hard not to feel an emotional attatchment to Vader/Anakin and the efforts Luke went through to bring him back to the light side. The look on the Emperor's face shows he can't forsee everything. The victory celebration is perfect. I love the music they put in place of the "Yub Yub" song and is a fitting (and dare I say teary-eyed) closure to this epic.

P.S. I loved that they finally got the Rancor to look like it was filmed with Luke rather than Luke act against a screen playing a movie of the Rancor. The Jedi Rocks song is a little cheesy, and I wish they could of thought of a way to make Boba look like less of a chump, but if I had to put the movies in order, I think I would say:
1. ANH
2. TESB
3. TPM
4. ROTJ
5. AotC

I liked AotC ok... but that's the problem. It was "ok". I think Obi-Wan went down too easy with the fight against Dooku. It should have been harder since his fight with Anakin will be this great and LONG duel. Oops... It seems I have gone way off topic and I better stop. To summarize: I watched the movies. I liked them alot.

I don't have the DVDs yet, but have you all noticed any problems with the music? I've read a couple of reports where people have said the main music tracks are reversed and the main theme can barely be heard in some spots. (I read about this in an article at scifi.com/scifiwire).

I don't know if this is only if you have surround sound or not. I just wondered if you guys noticed anything.

i bought the DVD's that monday night, went home and watch all 4 of them. it really makes a difference to see them on this type of format. i loved everything about them except the end of Jedi where george put Hayden Christensen in at the end. i and i do miss the "yub yub" song. but that is old news. i did take a picture of me when i bought the DVDS and sent then into starwars.com and they put it on the web site! one step closer to starwars fandom!!! hehehe.