The Two Faces of "Star Wars"

[IrishJedi]

Han stepping on Jabba's tail was actually "improvised" by ILM as a way of getting around the fact that Han walks behind him. They did it almost as a joke. What is pretty telling, actually, was Lucas' reaction upon seeing it, which is on the "Making Magic" CD-ROM (paraphrasing):

Lucas: [laughs] "That's great!"

ILM: "You like that? It's not too over-the-top is it?"

Lucas: "Oh, no... you can never go too over-the-top with these movies."

That says it all as far as STAR WARS post-1996 is concerned. Next thing you know, we have "Jedi Rocks", Jar Jar and farting camels...

 

[Blackhole]

I'm fine with all the changes, because I have the originals, which will always hold a special place in my heart, but if I ever get annoyed with the changes, I'll watc h the first cuts instead...

Phew...

 

[Wor-Gar]

It's interesting how Lucas' ongoing tweaks really highlight just how ahead of it's time the OT was.

This is very true.

We've come so far in 30 years, and yet the OT really holds up well -- even with the tweaks, very little was changed. For those of you who weren't around when Star Wars first opened in 1977, can you imagine how blown away people were back then by what they saw?

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Han stepping on Jabba's tail was actually "improvised" by ILM as a way of getting around the fact that Han walks behind him. They did it almost as a joke. What is pretty telling, actually, was Lucas' reaction upon seeing it, which is on the "Making Magic" CD-ROM (paraphrasing):

Lucas: [laughs] "That's great!"

ILM: "You like that? It's not too over-the-top is it?"

Lucas: "Oh, no... you can never go too over-the-top with these movies."

That says it all as far as STAR WARS post-1996.

Yeah, I'm fully aware of that. That improvisation and Jar Jar Binks are proof that you can indeed go too over the top with these movies.

 

[Khev]

Han stepping on Jabba's tail was actually "improvised" by ILM as a way of getting around the fact that Han walks behind him. They did it almost as a joke.

And thus we see the dark side of CGI. All they had to do was cut to Chewie when Han starts walking around Jabba and then cut back to Han when he was on the other side. Instead the new technology actually *created* an awkward and out of place scene instead of helping to avoid it.

 

[MaulFan]

This is very true.

We've come so far in 30 years, and yet the OT really holds up well -- even with the tweaks, very little was changed. For those of you who weren't around when Star Wars first opened in 1977, can you imagine how blown away people were back then by what they saw?

I wish I could have been part of that generation. I'd say Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park were the big ground breakers of my generation, the first films to really push CG, and certainly as far as computer art goes, my inspiration to this day, Toy Story.

All in all, with most of the effects and colors cleaned up on the DVD release, I think Jedi's space battles and effects could hold their own even today. Sure in HD or on a big screen the models aren't as detailed as a CGI ship could get, but look at the opening of ROTS, that battle and the Jedi battle are damn close in visual quality and there's 20 years of technological advances in between. I have my issues for things that ILM does sometimes, but they've always really been ahead of the effects game.

 

[creature4000]

I hated the special editions.. Some things like touched up explosions and lazers were fine... but the CG Jabba in ANH and Max rebos band in ROTJ were freaking retarded!!!

 

[LOTRFan]

2. The ever-changing and fluid George Lucas Digital Filmmaker version. This includes the prequels and any version of the OT from 1997 hence.

Agreed, and the man loves his gadgets.

 

[Vader AL]

i HATE the jabba addition to ANH. it takes away from hearing about Jabba but not seeing him in the first 2 movies leading up to actually seeing him in ROTJ. it should have been in the deleted scenes, not in the actual movie.

my kids will watch the unchanged versions the first time through and in the correct order...backwards; 4,5,6 then 1,2,3.

 

[LOTRFan]

i the jabba addition to ANH. it takes away from hearing about Jabba but not seeing him in the first 2 movies leading up to actually seeing him in ROTJ. it should have been in the deleted scenes, not in the actual movie.

Not only that but much of the dialogue is a repeat of the scene with Greedo -- proving that Lucas would rather insert gags than substance.

 

[Amanaman]

Everyone should read this free book
https://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/book.html

The author asserts that the "molding" of the audience's perception of SW from that simple, swashbuckling space adventure to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" has been a subtle experiment by Lucas. It may not necessarily be the truth, but it's an interesting way of looking at it.

It rips apart the relevance of the "Journal of the Whills" and any wild fanboy theories about how Lucas had things "planned all along," with plenty of (contradicting) old quotes to back it up.

The PT, love it or hate it, ushered the franchise into the era of high end SW collectibles that we all enjoy now. The unaltered OT will always be my first stop when I want the purest form of SW, though.

 

[Khev]

With these recent polls and discussions (in addition to the overall debate that has raged since 1997) I have come to the conclusion that there are really very simply two separate versions/visions of STAR WARS:


1. The Classic, Nostalgic and Untouched version. This is, quite simply, the Original Trilogy pre-Special Edition.

2. The ever-changing and fluid George Lucas Digital Filmmaker version. This includes the prequels and any version of the OT from 1997 hence.

To me saying there are only two faces of SW implies that the OT is one seamless trilogy planned from the beginning. It isn't, and even shares some of the same retroactive story "adjustments" of the PT. Lucas had ideas about Vader being Luke's father and there being twins *somewhere* in the story but ANH wasn't written with the Vader/Luke's father in mind nor was ANH *or* ESB written with Luke and Leia being siblings in mind.

When I watch each movie I see it as the story as it was presented upon that particular movie's first theatrical release.

 

[IrishJedi]

To me saying there are only two faces of SW implies that the OT is one seamless trilogy planned from the beginning. It isn't, and even shares some of the same retroactive story "adjustments" of the PT. Lucas had ideas about Vader being Luke's father and there being twins *somewhere* in the story but ANH wasn't written with the Vader/Luke's father in mind nor was ANH *or* ESB written with Luke and Leia being siblings in mind.

When I watch each movie I see it as the story as it was presented upon that particular movie's first theatrical release.

If you want, you can add a 3rd: The original "STAR WARS", without the Episode IV or "A New Hope" on its opening crawl, etc.

I just lump the original versions of all of the OT films together because, to me, they are synonymous. Afterall, I was only 5, 8 and 11 when they were released so I was none the wiser to Lucas' ultimate plan and how it had evolved. And I'm sure most of our generation sees it that same way.