Star Wars Original Trilogy Debate

[kennermike]

which is perferred the original theatrical releases 1977,1980 and 1983 or the special editions from 1997
Im a purist I only watch the originals on DVD before Lucas went crazy and started enhacing everything in sight I have CGI up to my neck by now.old school is better more cinematic
the originals did finally come out on dvd in 2004 after 8 years of twisting Lucas arm since his 1997 editions they are 2 disc sets one has the SE the other the original cut

[BlackKnight]

The newer Version's were much better Film's ,.. Remastered & Visually more Stunning, The Film's were Crisper,.. & a New Hope had a ton of new stuff that made the Movie Better imo. I am under the impression where this thread will go,.. so whatever.

[MegoMark71]

I like where lucas started and he did an awesome job with SW but after that it got a bit out of hand, i do like most of what he did but i love the originals simply cause it is the original. Same reason i'll take a mint on card mego kirk over an emce one any day even though i like the emce figs just fine.

[toys2cool]

I only watch the originals

[vulcan2074]

I LOVE The Originals. They were perfect the way they were. I Hate the Special editions, they suck
Sammy

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I MUCH prefer the originals. The pacing seemed off with the re-edits, and some of the touch ups felt awkward. Stuff like Greedo shooting first, even though his blaster is pointing in a different direction from where the bolt ends up; and Luke screaming as he falls away from Vader in cloud city, even though he had a look of acceptance when he started falling.

>Remastered & Visually more Stunning, The Film's were Crisper,..

THAT part was fantastic! Good cleanups on the old versions, and they fixed some of the problems off the old transfers; like how the film register ws different for the meteors in Empire on the home version.

Don C.

[MIB41]

I have to agree with Jason. As much as I distain tinkering with the original concept, I think Lucas did a good job of cleaning up the dated effects. That's not to say I liked the added footage of Jabba in a New Hope or the new dance sequence from Jedi. Lucas took too much liberty there and I wished he had backed away because the effects they used to create the figure of Jabba look even more dated than Jar Jar Binks. So in attempting to advance the look of a New Hope he, in effect, set it back again by adding that sequence. Of course the changed dance sequence in Jedi is kind of a moot point because it only underscores the pointlessness of the moment even more so than the theatrical version. I guess it's true. You can't shine a turd. I won't lie though. I still watch Jedi when I get the Star Wars itch. Not because I'm crazy about that particular film though. It's just that you have to watch it after Empire for closure. I just keep hoping it works out better somehow. I'm still waiting...

[Nostalgiabuff]

I like the DVD versions of the Special editions....with the exception of Greedo shooting first and the scene they put in just before the Death Star attack where Luke and Biggs are talking and the comander asks Luke if he can handle an X-wing. The scene just does not flow well with the movie or the character...IMO.
I can't tell you the last time I watched the original theatrical versions......probably sometime in late '96 or early '97

[HardyGirl]

I only watch the originals

Ditto. I did see Attack of the Clones, b/c a friend asked me to go. I didn't like it one bit.

[rche]

There were some versions that were cleaned up that did not have extra footage. Just before the special eds, they released the black boxed vhs and laser disc versions. These were taken from the final laserdisc set 'The Definitive Collection' released in 1993 and again in the fall of 1995 with the black covers showing a stormtrooper, yoda, and vader.

So, if you are an 'original' original trilogy fan, that is the set to get for clean and widescreen. However, the 2006 dvds are pretty darn good. I'm not sure, but I think these were mostly taken from the above laserdisc edits.

[Brue]

There are remakes???

[Gorn Captain]

Instead of joining this "new" debate, I'll just re-read some old threads, where we ended up in a heated fistfight, as was to be expected.

"It's Star Wars Deathmatch, folks!"
"In the left corner, Mr. Old School. Loves wobbly effects, rubber monsters, and feels that four TIE fighters are more than enough to chase the Falcon!"
"In the right corner, Prequel Man. Loves watching a zillion pixels, Jar Jars, and feels that two hundred TIE fighters are good, but three hundred are better."

"To the death, combatants!"

I think we're caught in a time loop.
Can we give this debate its own section?

[addicted2Mego]

I have been a star wars fan since i saw them in the theaters with good old dad and my younger brother in 70MM,When me and my brother went to re-live the past and see the special editions we would look at each other and say what was that,luke just screamed or the blaster shot should have took hans head off..greedos an assassin how could he miss from across the table at point blank range.Like they say if something's not broken...would have liked to see IMO:

go over Tarkin and his croonies Sideburns

change leias white getup she was wearing for like 3 days.Even though she never changed with her escape from the death star or back on Yavin,she only added on makeup.This is a princess we are talking about!

added some meat to walrusmans arm like the wampa,not just a bloody hole.

seeing ben chopped in half like darth maul


seeing more boozehound fights in the cantina

i would have liked to see more of the force being used in action in ANH

tusken raiders kicking the crap out of luke in ANH and ben coming in with lightsaber wielding to fight them off even at his age.He did fight vader!

seeing the attack on owen and beru.

Darth Maul should have lived to be in AOTC.


The list goes on and on,30 year old classics ruined by technology.I will always enjoy the first versions and nothing else.

Oh yeah BTW Jar-Jar was the worst science fiction character ever created!

[Iron_fox85]

original..my freidn likes the edition better because to him it makes more sense and conntects better with ep 1,2, and 3...i have to agree...lucas made the edition to make the story--make sense so to speak.

and i like jar jar......

[addicted2Mego]

I guess Jar-Jar was the comic relief just as R2 and 3PO were in the originals..gotta have a clown somewhere,even in space i guess.