Last year, when I heard that 20th Century Fox was going to re-release "Star Wars" in theaters, I was extremely overjoyed. Then I heard George Lucas was going to add new scenes. I thought "This can't be good". I then saw a preview of these scenes in the IMAX movie 'Special Effects", I became very worried. I became even more worried when I heard the new versions would be replacing the versions that have been around for the past twenty years. When I saw "Star Wars : The Special Edition", I thought it was anything but special.
My problem with this edition is too much was changed. According to George Lucas, he adjusted this movie because the original was not the way he wanted it. My idea of why he changed it is when the next trilogy arrives, he probably feels the effects of the original would pale in comparison to the new. One change I am glad they did. The original film was deteriorating and was restored for archival purposes. After this, the changes are not good. Although some of the changes were cosmetic, most completely changed the feel of the movie. Two of the most noticeably changed scenes are Mos Eisley and the Battle of Yavin 4.
Mos Eisley is the spaceport scene on Luke's home planet. Two of the most noticeable changes are the addition of new entrance footage, which really has no place in the movie, and the Jabba the Hutt scene. This scene originally had a burly Irish guy as Jabba. Lucas wanted a slug-like thing originally, so he now put a computer generated image (CGI) over this actor. The CGI looks nothing like Jabba. Also, Boba Fett was thrown into this scene for no other reason than to get the crowd cheering. There are for too many changes to this scene to talk about, but these two are the most noticeable.
The Battle of Yavin 4, also known as the Death Star trench battle, was changed with horrendous results. The original was styled after World War II dogfights and used camera effects created by Lucas, and heavy use of blue screen and models. Now it is nothing more than a use of CGI's to make a scene that looks sloppy. There are now too many ships and it also looks like something out of a low-grade action movie. The worst change that was made was in the resulting destruction of the Death Star. The original has become a classic scene of sci-fi movies and is more memorable, since the camera lingers on the cinder flames dying out. Now it is replaced with an idiotic explosion used for the destruction of Alderann, which looks very childish. Also, the camera barely gives the audience any time to revel in the accomplishment of the Rebels. For the most part, the new version of the battle looks like a MTV video, with dizzying cut scenes that make the battle lose it's cinematic value.
For all it's worth, this movie has been turned from a classic piece of sci-fi history to nothing more than a frivolous piece of eye-candy for children who wouldn't know a good movie if it slapped them in the face. This is most noticeable in Han Solo's confrontation with Greedo in the cantina. Originally Han knew the danger he was in and blasted away Greedo in cold blood, making him a very dark character who is later redeemed at the end. Now he fires in self defense at a shot that could not have been missed. This make him look like a "softy" instead of a scoundrel. What they should have done with this movie is to release this version on video and put the original in theaters. Possibly, they could have made double the money and leave fans happy.