CT Will Disney Re-Release Theatrical Cut Of The Original Trilogy?

Good points - you're absolutely right here. So, the likelyhood of anything like this happening anytime soon is very slim.

As I said earlier, it would be nice to see just the OOT & the '97 SE's on Blu - i.e. in the proper anamorphic format, with remastered picture quality, sound, etc. I wouldn't be interested in anything similar to the half-a$$ed 2006 DVD releases that we got of the OOT. I haven't seen either of these OT versions (in their entirety) since the '90's.

 

Totally agree. All the versions should be released on Bluray. BTW, if you haven't already, check out Harmy's Despecialized versions if you want to watch an HD (but not officially sanctioned) OOT. And I believe Team Blu (again, not officially sanctioned) will be releasing the 1997 SE trilogy soon as well.

 

Team Blu already did a restoration of the '97 Special Edition of A New Hope. They haven't done the other films. Harmy did a restoration of the '97 Special Edition of A New Hope as well. He calls it The Respecialized Edition. Both are available.

 

Yup, forgot to mention that. And TESB & ROTJ 1997 versions will be available from Team Blu soon I've heard.

 

I haven't seen them despite having downloaded the Team Blu restoration. It was one of those DVD downloads. I put the Despecialized on a flash drive but wasn't able to get the '97 restoration onto the flash drive for some reason. I guess it wasn't compatible. I wound up deleting it from my computer.

I'm not entirely sure that I've ever seen the '97 Special Editions. I didn't see them in the theater. I'm not sure if I've ever seen them on VHS. Based on the Youtube clips I've seen, they look pretty good color wise.

 

Yeah, color wise, they are much closer to the original color timing than the subsequent versions. Also, I'm no expert on audio mixes, but I believe that the 97 audio mix was also an improvement on the original version, whereas the 2004/2011 versions have various problems including some sounds actually being reversed (in terms of what audio channel they come from).

For me, the greatest thing about them is the ROTJ ending because I love hearing the new Victory Celebration music and I don't like seeing the Hayden ghost; the 97 version satisfies both of these conditions quite nicely.

 

This is exactly what I was about to say. I love seeing Shaw happily smile while the Victory Celebration music plays. It provides closure like no other ending.

 

Seeing all three SE's in the theater from January - March of '97 was the best SW theatrical viewing experience I've ever had. I was in my 20's at that time, and had dim memories of seeing the OOT as a kid in the theaters years before - but the SE's took things to a whole other level:

They had:

1) The best picture quality for the films - up to that point.

2) Unbelievable audio (I especially remember hearing every drip of water during the trash compactor scene)

3) And the revised/enhanced special effects were unreal.

Plus, seeing all three films back to back (with only a month in between each) was fantastic. I completely agree about the ROTJ ending: I strongly prefer the Shaw Anakin ghost, and also prefer the SE ROTJ ending with the new music & the scenes on different planets, etc. - much more epic in scope than the original "Yub nub" ending.

 

I love Yub Nub, but I do concede it works far better for the conclusion of a single trilogy with the specific tone the OT has in isolation, rather than a six-film saga that has a completely different tone and context because of the prequels. I can understand why Lucas would want to make that change.

 

I've come to appreciate Yub Nub more. However, I still don't get the same cheery feeling that I think a lot of people get from it. I'll try to explain why. To me, the way I feel during any given scene is largely dictated by the score. For example, when Ben dies in ANH, the sweeping score really allows me to feel the emotional grandiosity of the moment. With Yub Nub though, it largely feels like something separate from the score and more like music that the characters are producing in-universe (which, I guess, they are). So in the Yub Nub version, when Luke arrives at the party, I'm still not sure what to feel since we don't immediately know Luke's mindset. After all, he just came back from an emotional experience that was kind of isolating and one that his friends probably won't fully understand for quite some time. He smiles and hugs them, but is that just for show? How does he really feel? Then we start to understand that he's truly happy now once he sees all the Force ghosts smiling back at him. They're resting in peace and you can tell that Luke finally feels a large weight off his shoulders. And then the true score kicks in when Leia pulls him back to the party. Luke can finally rejoin his friends and he's no longer alone.

With the Victory Celebration music, the tone is pretty much set in stone as soon as the music starts playing. It's happy, yet somewhat bittersweet. And I think it can work even without the prequels. After all, it released in 1997, 2 years before the first prequel would come out and people had no problems accepting it then. You get a shot of Coruscant, but that's pretty much the only prequel tie-in that's there. Overall it seems to establish a more obvious & consistent tone, and convey that the entire galaxy is celebrating the Empire's fall. On the other hand, Yub Nub's tone isn't immediately apparent to me (which isn't a bad thing since I quite enjoy the initial uncertainty and subsequent payoff) and it is a lot more personal in nature. I think either can work within the context of the just the OT (although I guess the more personal nature of the former would probably be more consistent with the OT alone). I just happen to enjoy the Victory Celebration ending more simply because of the awesome score by Williams. It just really gives me this feeling that a long, difficult, and emotional journey is coming to an end.

 

On top of everything you said, we also get a little nod to Wedge that wasn't in the Yub Nub version. It's quick, but Luke gives Wedge a hug in the Victory Celebration version. It's subtle, but I like that it's there. Wedge is an unsung hero of the saga.

I noticed that Lucas cut Luke's wink to the force ghosts in the Victory Celebration for some reason. Perhaps Lucas felt that it was a bit too light-hearted on Luke's part and didn't fit the moment.

 

It makes perfect sense - each appears how they want Luke to remember him.

Yoda and Obi-Wan: as mentors
Anakin: As a loving father who is a good person at heart

I would argue that old man Anakin makes a lot less sense, considering the saga story.

 

Eh, I don't think the young Anakin really symbolizes "loving father who is a good person at heart". At best, he's morally grey since he was a war hero who cared about his friends, but also a guy who unnecessarily murdered people, including children (and he Force choked his pregnant wife!).

I'd think Anakin would want his son to remember him as the guy who, despite all the mistakes he made in his life, still managed to do the right thing in his last moments out of sheer love for his son. The same guy who said "You were right about me....tell your sister...you were right". And that would be the older version, which also happens to be the version Luke actually spoke to in his final moments and would thus have a greater emotional connection to.

 

The Sebastian Shaw Old Anakin ghost always made perfect sense to me since I first saw ROTJ back in '83. We saw the old DV w/the mask off in ROTJ after he saved Luke, and then he died shortly after. The Shaw ghost spirit @ the very end is what he looked like at peace, and it made perfect sense to see Anakin as an old man - since he was old when he died. Never did I question this scene, or think it didn't make any sense.

Conversely, the 2004 DVD changing to the young Hayden Anakin spirit ghost was an awful decision; basically, he looks ridiculous standing there near the old Obi-wan & Yoda. It's jarring, and really ruins the scene for me. I've even been told by non-hardcore SW fans that this is a bad change, and they're not into these films as much as those of us on this board.

 

And the old Anakin isn't that? Shaw Anakin is the one who saved Luke, not Hayden. Let's not forget that young Anakin was the one who murdered entire groups of children.

 

Shaw is the culmination of Anakin's arc.

Seeing Hayden again feels like a regression of the character. Like the OT and ROTJ in particular never happened.

 

By this criteria, crispy and old Anakin right after Luke took the mask off should be the ghost.

 

It' still the same Anakin who saved Luke, regardless of having no scars. Who is to say that force ghosts can't heal scars? Luke can still see that it's the Anakin who saved him. The Hayden ghost really has no connection to Luke, seeing as how Luke never saw him appearing like that.

 

The ghosts definitely do appear whole, or else Obi-Wan would be carrying his legs as he floated around.

Off topic, but I actually just realized that Obi-Wan was killed by a Sith Lord the same way he himself killed a Sith Lord; bisection. (Strictly within the context of the movies, of course, not taking into account Maul's return in The Clone Wars).

 

It's a mystical concept, it can work out any way Lucas can get his head around to making it. However, with that in mind, I think it was a rather goofy decision to change it from Lucas and an example of the weird way world building is taking precedence over film-making. In other words, continuity over context.

 

If we're going by the logic of "Anakin in real life never looked like a completely healed Sebastian Shaw", then, by extension, can't we say that Anakin also never looked like the Hayden ghost since he had an arm missing at that age? But really, that line of thought is probably overthinking it. The movies don't really give rules on how it all works in-universe.

Like if the argument against the Shaw ghost is that he never looked like that in real life, then the retort is simply: so what? Who says the ghost has to be an exact reflection of the character's physical self? Who says that the ghost can't simply be a physical manifestation of who that character is on the inside?

So because of the lack of clear rules, my criteria for which ghost works better comes down to which is more emotionally satisfying to see. Is it:
A.) war hero BUT still a child murderer & wife beater
or
B.) the guy who, after making many terrible life decisions, finally made the correct decision to save Luke from the Emperor & actually exchanged some words with Luke before he died

For me, the latter is more satisfying. I know the rationale for the younger ghost is that he went back to "the good man he once was". But that just doesn't work for me because I never saw ROTS Anakin as particularly setting the bar for what a "good man" should be. Instead, as Force Smuggler says, seeing the young ghost feels like Anakin regressed to how he was when he was a confused murderer who was susceptible to turning to the dark side. The older ghost, on the other hand, feels like a character that has made progress; he used to be that murderous bad guy but then realized the error of his ways and actually course-corrected in his final moments; the old ghost is the one who learned something from his bad life decisions.

If we look at it from Luke's perspective, I'm sure he'd recognize Shaw's face more than Hayden's. There's no way he has any familiarity with the young Anakin whereas with the old Anakin, he at least saw him under that mask. Yeah, he was scarred and burned, but at least it was still the same guy.

With all that being said though, I do understand why the Hayden ghost might work for people. If you're a saga I-VI fan, then Hayden is the actor who has played Anakin the most. So in that sense, the ghost being Hayden would symbolize that Vader has turned back into Anakin again. Personally though, even if I was a I-VI fan (I'm actually a release order fan), I would still have a tough time accepting that ROTS Anakin (before he turned) was a purely good guy. If anything, he had begun his descent to the dark side starting in AOTC; Lucas had set it up to not be so sudden. So seeing the young ghost would feel like the character hadn't learned anything after all these years of making mistakes.

 

Also, Hayden Anakin always wore black leather. He never wore the Jedi robes that ghost Anakin wears.

 

Somehow, him getting a robe change redeems him.




Seeing the Shaw ghost does that better for me anyway.

 

Wife beater? Um

Were we watching the same movies? Because it doesn't seem like it from this post.

 

He chokes Padme. He doesn't literally beat her, but he does physically take out his anger on her.