The Special Editions of Star Wars have caused no small amount of controversy among certain fans of the franchise, but for me personally I prefer them to the original theatrical versions quite a bit.
With those pictures I tried to give a broad, but accurate sense of the kinds of changes that have been made. Obviously some of them have been more positive than others.
In no way am I claiming that all the changes were smart, I have my own issues with them as well. (Especially with how sloppily certain changes have been implemented.) Yes, some of them make you want to roll your eyes, and a couple make you want to vomit (I'm looking at you Max Rebo Band), but I feel like overall when you look at the big picture, we've had a net gain with the special editions that sometimes improves the movies subtly and other times substantially.
I really hope that Disney and Lucas continue to tinker with them for future releases, and don't give in to the demands of some fans and shelve them in favor of the original versions*.
*Which isn't to say that I want them to do the opposite. I think the theatrical versions should absolutely get released as well and I think it's ridiculous that Lucas has tried so hard to bury them. At the very, very least the original Star Wars ought to be released. It isn't just a good movie, it's actually important to the history of cinema and should be released even if only to serve as historical document.
With those pictures I tried to give a broad, but accurate sense of the kinds of changes that have been made. Obviously some of them have been more positive than others.
In no way am I claiming that all the changes were smart, I have my own issues with them as well. (Especially with how sloppily certain changes have been implemented.) Yes, some of them make you want to roll your eyes, and a couple make you want to vomit (I'm looking at you Max Rebo Band), but I feel like overall when you look at the big picture, we've had a net gain with the special editions that sometimes improves the movies subtly and other times substantially.
I really hope that Disney and Lucas continue to tinker with them for future releases, and don't give in to the demands of some fans and shelve them in favor of the original versions*.
*Which isn't to say that I want them to do the opposite. I think the theatrical versions should absolutely get released as well and I think it's ridiculous that Lucas has tried so hard to bury them. At the very, very least the original Star Wars ought to be released. It isn't just a good movie, it's actually important to the history of cinema and should be released even if only to serve as historical document.
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