CT Special edition - worst and best changes

The best change would have to be Ian McDiarmid as Sidious in TESB. Very subtle and eerie performance.

Worst change would probably be the large beast in ANH that Luke and Ben past on the way to the cantina. Or...Greedo shoting first.

 

Jedi rocks sounds "alien"?

 

No, the original song Lapti Nek.

 

We need the original Lapti Nek scene, with the added Oola scene in the pit,

Plus the more I think about it i'm a prequel fan, but I don't care for Boba's changed voice. Windgreen's voice didn't contradict the PT, just because Boba was a clone doesn't mean he would sound the same. (How many immigrant parents in real life have an accent from their home country, but their children speak with an American accent.) Your voice is molded by your surroundings, not your birth. In fact, I think using Morrison's voice undermines Boba's character. It makes him seem (literally) identical to Jango. The changed voice is also so phoned in.

When I was younger I was in the boat of not giving a crap about the Greedo shooting first thing. Now that I'm older, I can't stand it, it looks terrible, and totally contradicts Hans character.

 

Yes, but voice is not the same as accent. Voice is determined biologically while accent is more of a psychological thing, or at least something you get from your environment. So clones would logically have the same voice. Don't you mean your accent is molded by your surroundings? If you are fluent in different languages people would still recognize your voice, even if you don't have the slightest accent. Am I wrong? I'm not sure about this change though, as I think I have never seen the 2011 edition of the OT. As far as I remember, the 2004 DVDs don't have that voice change. They are the only versions I have.

 

Tatooine celebrating the death of the Emperor.

Tatooine is not part of the Republic during the prequel era. By ANH it is still a backwater, the planet that is the "farthest from the bright center of the universe". In the deleted scenes Luke pours scorn on the notion of the Empire becoming interested in the planet.

At the beginning of ROTJ, the rebels are able to come and go on their mission to rescue Han and then destroy Jabba the Hutt rather indiscreetly, all without fear of arousing any Imperial entanglements in or around that planet.

Yet Mos Eisley celebrates like it's their first independence day. ?????????????????????????????????????

 

Best - Victory Celebration

Worst - In one shot of the Falcon's arrival to Cloud City the sun is in a slightly different position in the 2011 version. I prefer the original.

 

Semi-sarcastic positives
Adding back the "Close the blast doors!"
Giving James Earl Jones voice acting credit

Serious Negative
Replacing Revill in Empire, in itself and that the credit wasn't changed

 

That's what it looks like in the movie. But they're celebrating something else entirely. It just happened to be at the exact same time.

 

Yeah, they were celebrating that the annoying little brat who won the Boonta Eve race all those years ago has finally kicked the bucket.

 

Aside from saying how "wizard" things were,that brat cost a lot of punters big time on their bets.

 

While many have of course criticized the decision to have Greedo shoot first, the difference in tone between the original Mos Eisley entrance in ANH, and the revised one is pretty striking. In the theatrical release after learning that his uncle and aunt have been murdered, Luke follows Obi-Wan to Mos Eisley, a wretched hive of scum and villainy. What follows is an entrance reminiscent of entering a barren town full of criminals in the old Westerns. Han preemptively shooting Greedo in a Western style salloon fits perfectly in this scenario. There's no slapstick comedy with droids and Jawas to undercut this tension.

 

Best Changes
- Luke's Reunion with Biggs = I remember almost jumping out of my chair when I saw this in the theater back in 1997. I had already seen Star Wars about a billion times up to that point, and it was interesting that Luke talked about his friend Biggs and then he's flying with someone at the end named Biggs who tragically dies. I always thought "Is that the same guy?". This scene confirmed it, gave us a nice reunion between two friends, and adds to the tragedy of Biggs' death during the battle.
- The Wampa = OK I prefer the scene being shot around the monster ala Jaws as that makes it more tense and atmospheric, BUT if you have to show the monster, then they did a really good job with it. And hey! Its not a CGI cartoony looking pile of garbage. It looks REALLY good.
- Expanding Cloud City = Adding more liveliness to Cloud City made it more visually appealing, and it was kept mostly in the background, unlike Mos Eisley where they added all kinds of stuff to the forefront and it was so "in your face"
- The Sarlaac = It wasn't necessary and not a great design, but it does look more alive than the "hole in the sand" from the original, and it doesn't look as jarringly bad as other CGI monsters that were thrown into the films.
- Luke congratulates Wedge in ROTJ = Its a BRIEF shot, but a nice touch all the same. We see Luke acknowledging Wedge, the ONLY pilot to fly in all three major battles and survive (at least as far as we know), and it was nice for Luke to give him that little bit of congratulations and respect.

Worst Changes
- Adding the "NOOOOO!" to Vader's redemption at the end is horrible. Its the main reason I never bought the Blu-Rays
- Entering Mos Eisley = Lets throw a bunch of crap right in front of the screen that adds nothing!
- Removing the Wolf Man from the Cantina = I know its a small thing but I loved that Wolf Man! I am a big Universal monster movie fan, so I kind of dug that a Wolf Man looking creature was in Star Wars. George, why you take him away from me?! You replace him with a bland looking fish face?! WHY?!?
- Greedo shooting at Han = All these years later, I still don't get it. Not only does it soften a defining character moment for Han, it just looks awkward as heck. I mean were kids really so bothered by this scene that it needed to be changed? And either way, Han is shooting Greedo out of self preservation, so if it bothers you, probably better to just cut the scene out entirely.
- The Jabba scene in A New Hope = As a kid, I thought it was cool to see. Years later though, I feel like the OT plays out better if you don't see Jabba until Return of the Jedi. There is some good build up to him and the ultimate reveal of this corpulent slug man is actually a nice surprise.
- Jabba's Palace Dance Scene = It is kind of sad when replacing that pretty tragic Sy Snootles puppet is actually a downgrade. The CGI characters look horrible and the song selection is too upbeat for Jabba's palace. I liked the grimier, grittier, dive feel of Jabba's Palace. Having this big glitz and glamour musical number just felt out of place, and not in line with the den of debauchery that the film portrays.
- Keeping continuity with the prequels = Things like Hayden's ghost and replacing the original Boba Fett voice was just annoying. Honestly, I felt like they should have worked harder at having the Prequels match the continuity of the originals rather than retroactively make the earlier films match up with the new ones.

 

Yep, I saw an interview with Gil Taylor a few years ago, who said the exact same thing while criticizing the SE's. He said George always described Mos Eisley as being like a sparse border-town from a Sergio Leone western.

 

This Twitter feed is immensely instructive in showing how nearly every shot of the OT underwent some kind of cosmetic change or update over the course of the special editions and subsequent DVD and Blu-Ray releases:

https://twitter.com/StarWarsVisComp

 

Only good change:

 

So instead they changed it to be like entering Toontown.

 

The Bad:
- Greedo shooting first, or at all, in the cantina scene in ANH

The Good:
- The Cloudy City additions
- The celebration at the end of ROJ

 

Best:
Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine in Empire, since it lends a greater sense of continuity.

The stormtrooper riding the dewback. This was my very first toy as a kid, so more for the nostalgia factor than anything else.

Small one, but I like the shot of the bantha herd, as the Sail Barge passes.

Victory Celebration replacing Yub Nub. It has a much better 'finale' feel in my opinion.

Worst:
Greedo Shooting First. No need to elaborate at this stage. Moving on.

Jabba in ANH. A completely pointless scene, as it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know and spoils the big reveal of the Falcon. Also, Jabba is too affable and easy-going here, totally at odds with how we see him in Jedi.

Jedi Rocks. I'm not the biggest fan of Lapti Nek, but Jedi Rocks is abominable.

Sarlacc beak. For a long time, I didn't care about this one, but after watching the scene again, I think it adds a greater sense of mystery if you don't know exactly what's down there.

Vader's "NOOOO". Why, Just why?

Replacing Shaw with Christensen. Like Greedo, no need to explain.

 

One small change I'm surprised was never made was digitally inserting an eopie or two, into the background of Mos Eisely.

 

Another change I've always disliked is to the wampa scene. I prefer the theatrical version where it just cuts to a close up of the creature's arm falling on the ground and then Luke fleeing the cave. Mainly because I've always thought that the extra shot of the poor dumb animal, screaming in pain, is unnecessarily cruel and graphic. I mean, I understand why Luke did what he did, but the new shot just gives a vibe of "yeah, you show that creature, just acting in it's natural habitat, who's boss!"

 

Worst- Jabba with Han in ANH

Best- Hayden as the Anakin FG. For me this is less about age than it drives home the point that Anakin was redeemed. He reverted back to his pre suit appearance. Granted he was also Vader in that appearance but not for long.

 

Worse change ever -

Greedo fires first

Followed by

Jabba and Hans conversation in "A new Hope"