My thoughts on the Star Wars special edition
Since Mr. Lucas doesn't have the rights to Star Wars anymore, I think this is a good time to talk about the special editions.
I'm not going to rant and rave and how the changes hurt the original trilogy because A there's nothing new I can say about them that's already been said, and B these are Mr. Lucas's movies. He has the right to do whatever he wants with them if he isn't happy with the finished product; however, when you present your movies to the general public and they're not happy with them, it's not your problem anymore. Instead, I will talk about some of the changes I like. I can't do that without talking about the man himself.
I wouldn't mind that he did his own thing with this trilogy if he releases both the original and special editions on Blu-Ray and DVD. (I know they released the original alongside the special editions in 2006, but they were not the best quality.) By Mr. Lucas not giving the fans or people who want to see the original trilogy a chance to buy them, he's betraying the fan's memory of these films and the impact they had on pop culture. I can understand why people accuse him of ruining their childhood to a point. Side note, this is what annoyed me about Disney editing MMPR at the time when they had rights to Power Rangers. They add new effects to the show, which makes it look even goofier than it already is. By Mr. Lucas not releasing the original trilogy and changing them it makes him look worse as a director and insecure about his work. He shouldn't be embarrassed by his work because it was well-received and the franchise continues to grow and gain a large fan base. I can understand him not being happy with what he had to work with at the time, but what happened to less is more?
I understand that he's upset that studios don't let directors have their way with their movies; however, they don't always have the best vision for the film or know how to put it on paper. He showed that when he had his way with the prequels, and look at how they turned out. Heck, he was behind schedule releasing the first Star Wars movie. Another reason why Mr. Lucas is doing his own thing with the original trilogy bugs me is that he's being a hypocrite. How can he tell people you shouldn't alter films or history when he's doing it? Mr. Lucas is a polarizing figure to me. It's hard for me to respect someone who acts like a victim, carries himself as if he worked on Star Wars by himself, and doesn't admit to the fans that he made mistakes. What's messed up about that is some of the people who helped him bring Star Wars to the big screen are dead.
I wouldn't mind that he did his own thing with this trilogy if he releases both the original and special editions on Blu-Ray and DVD. (I know they released the original alongside the special editions in 2006, but they were not the best quality.) By Mr. Lucas not giving the fans or people who want to see the original trilogy a chance to buy them, he's betraying the fan's memory of these films and the impact they had on pop culture. I can understand why people accuse him of ruining their childhood to a point. Side note, this is what annoyed me about Disney editing MMPR at the time when they had rights to Power Rangers. They add new effects to the show, which makes it look even goofier than it already is. By Mr. Lucas not releasing the original trilogy and changing them it makes him look worse as a director and insecure about his work. He shouldn't be embarrassed by his work because it was well-received and the franchise continues to grow and gain a large fan base. I can understand him not being happy with what he had to work with at the time, but what happened to less is more?
I understand that he's upset that studios don't let directors have their way with their movies; however, they don't always have the best vision for the film or know how to put it on paper. He showed that when he had his way with the prequels, and look at how they turned out. Heck, he was behind schedule releasing the first Star Wars movie. Another reason why Mr. Lucas is doing his own thing with the original trilogy bugs me is that he's being a hypocrite. How can he tell people you shouldn't alter films or history when he's doing it? Mr. Lucas is a polarizing figure to me. It's hard for me to respect someone who acts like a victim, carries himself as if he worked on Star Wars by himself, and doesn't admit to the fans that he made mistakes. What's messed up about that is some of the people who helped him bring Star Wars to the big screen are dead.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Start this video at 3:33 and end it at 3:56.
Do you see what I mean about him playing the victim? Did he forget how popular Star Wars was at the time? Whenever fans ask him about releasing the original trilogy, his response was Grow up, these are my movies. WOW! I guess he never heard of the saying Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Well, he did listen to the fans when it came to Jar Jar Binks by limiting his screen time in the last two films. As far as him signing his rights to this IP, I don't have enough information to comment on that. It would be interesting to see how this franchise is handled in different hands. I hope he didn't do it because fans gave him a hard time with the prequels. That's all I have to say about Mr. Lucas now. Let's get back to the subject at hand.
If there was anything in the original trilogy that need to be altered is the picture quality; this change helps me see the details in the movies. Well, they drop the ball with the colors in the movie. I also like the additions to the Death Star X-wing attack because we get to see more X-wings. The same thing goes for Cloud City; the additions made the city look better. Look, I don't mind Yob Nub as the victory celebration score, but I think John Williams score is better because it makes the ending feel like an ending to this franchise. The Emperor looks better now than he did the first time around in episode 5. My favorite change in the special editions is Han running into an army of stormtroopers because his reaction to running into five of them is over the top when you look at it in hindsight. Including one of Luke's friends in the last act of Star Wars was a good idea because it reinforces what he said about them going off doing their thing. I kind of wish we saw him sooner, and Luke have a reaction to his death.
Those are the special edition changes. I like what do you think?
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