Quote:
course the whole reason was for the "new edition" with all of Lucas' "improvements"
It seems that everything that Lucas did post Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade gets, at best, a snarky response.
So in thinking about the special editions, some of the additions were improvements over the original versions of the OT. I say that as having seen the originals in the theater when they came out, as a fan who was (often derisively) called Mr. Star Wars in 6th grade, and who had an entire wall in his room covered with original release Topps Star Wars trading cards.
Improvements that I see in the SE:
Star Wars
- Most of the additional activity going on in Mos Eisley. For a bustling space port, the original vision was rather non-bustling.
- The addition of more stormtroopers and a shuttle taking off when the stormtroopers track down the jettisoned escape pod, "Someone was in the pod" sequence
- Han Solo chasing a couple of stormtroopers down a hall in the DS, coming around the corner to find an entire detachment of troops waiting for him. The original, the hall was a dead-end.
- The Millennium Falcon's departure from Mos Eisley was more impressive in the POV above the launch bay and we see the Falcon actually lift out rather than the original's POV from the street outside the launch bay and we see a more distant shot of the Falcon blasting away
- There was a lot more activity in the DS attack sequence. They weaved in new shots of X-Wings, etc with the original miniature shots to perfection.
The Empire Strikes Back
- The Millennium Falcon's approach into Cloud City, accompanied by the cloud cars, was a new tracking shot until the Falcon reached the landing pad
- Removing entire wall panels in the halls of Cloud City and replacing those walls with windows. That makes sense from an architectural sense - why would you not want to see all those sunsets among the clouds?
Return of the Jedi
- Added tentacles to the Sarlacc
The Bad and Ugly of the SE:
Star Wars
- Han shot first
- The addition of Jabba the Hutt didn't work with the original footage that Lucas shot with a big fat guy as Jabba, and then replaced fat guy with the slug he introduced in Jedi. I did like seeing Boba Fett in this sequence, but overall, the entire thing was a bunch of crap
- Didn't need the skiff speeding into Mos Eisley and nearly hitting that giraffe-critter, and a damned Jawa fell off
The Empire Strikes Back (edited)
- Removing "bring my shuttle" as Vader is leaving Cloud City
- The original version of the SE had Luke screaming as he fell down the shaft after losing his hand and hearing the big revelation from DV
Return of the Jedi
- When we first see Jabba's sail barge, there is a terribly animated figure walking across the barge's deck, and we also see a herd of Banthas in the distance that I didn't think was very well done
