Star Wars - OG3

[pukunui]

I managed to get a box set of DVDs that comes with the original theatrical cuts as well as one version of the revised cuts (not sure which one).

I prefer to watch the theatrical cut of A New Hope, but I actually like the revised version of The Empire Strikes Back enough to watch that one. Most of the changes, I've found, are fairly subtle - like adding scenes of Cloud City through windows instead of just glowing white walls and adding a few extra planets in the background in space scenes, etc. Nothing too egregious.

I can go either way with Return of the Jedi. There are some additions that are not good, but some that are.

 

[Deset Gled]

I really enjoyed Harmy's Desepecialized Editions when they came out. Once the Team Negative 1 version of ESB is out (it's the last of the trilogy to be rescanned), I'll probably collect and watch those as well. I hear very good things about them.

The move to complete reliance on digital copies of movies makes me a little scared for the future of film preservation. Star Wars is a great example of why that can be dangerous.

 

[Rabulias]

Some of the additions to the original trilogy films I like, especially in The Empire Strikes Back, like correcting some of the special effects in the battle on Hoth, Ian McDiarmid playing Palpatine, and best of all the windows and backgrounds in Cloud City. In general, the special effects feel improved in all 3 films. Of course, the added Jabba scene and Greedo shooting first in A New Hope are worthy of derision.

 

[Deset Gled]

In general, the special effects feel improved in all 3 films. Of course, the added Jabba scene and Greedo shooting first in A New Hope are worthy of derision.

The stuff that was done to the backgrounds and in moderation was arguably an improvement. But a lot of the special effects were also a bit of a downgrade. To me, there are many examples of bad CGI that looked cartoony at the time, and has aged pretty poorly. What's worse, even looking paste any quality issues of the CGI, there is a secondary issue that it blends very badly with the aesthetic of the practical effects used in the original filming.

I think one of the worst additions was the "Jedi Rock" song that was added into Return of the Jedi:


I'll grant that Sy Snootles was an obvious muppet in the original version. But Sy was a muppet surrounded by other muppets; she fit in with the look. In this new song, she's a cartoon singing with muppets, dancing with filmed humans. And I don't even know where to start with how tragic the fur on Evar Orbus is. In the original, at the very least the lighting on the band matched the lighting of the room. The special edition can't even claim that. It's altogether a big step down.

And that's before we get into the discussion that having a song called "Jedi Rocks" unfortunately undid a chunk of worldbuilding.

 

[Rabulias]

I think one of the worst additions was the "Jedi Rock" song that was added into Return of the Jedi:

Oh yes. I think I loathe that new scene more than the "Greedo shoots first" or the Jabba one in A New Hope. I think my mind blocked it out of my memory to protect itself. Thank you for reminding me of it!

 

[R_J_K75]

The stuff that was done to the backgrounds and in moderation was arguably an improvement. But a lot of the special effects were also a bit of a downgrade.

Except for the glaringly blatant scenes, the background ones are the ones that look subpar and leave me scratching my head whether "x" was in the originals or not. I watched 3/4 of ESB and RotJ on cable yesterday and the FX looked pretty bad at times, and I think it's due to mixing the original FX with CGI