June 1, 2017
By Ryan Porzl
The original Star Wars Trilogy is one of the greatest trilogies and series of movies in the history of American film. They had everything from entertainment, great characters, great stories, excellent soundtracks, and special effects that were unheard of for their time that could be considered breathtaking. In 1997, George Lucas decided to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Star Wars by re-releasing the Star Wars trilogy into theaters but wouldn't release the classic films the way people remembered them but rather newly enhanced versions called "The Special Edition". These editions not only featured better sound and quality but new scenes and some alterations. While the films were hugely successful in theaters, they've been extremely polarizing in the two decades since their releases with many believing that Lucas soiled his masterpieces. Speaking of Lucas, the Special Editions would be the beginning of the end for his reputation as many would argue Lucas ruined the series with them, the prequel trilogy, among other things to the point where it wasn't until the sale to the Walt Disney Company and the release of Episode VII: The Force Awakens that many believed the series began a comeback. However, we're the special edition really that bad. I'm among those who doesn't believe so and to celebrate the recent 40th anniversary of the original Star Wars' release as well as the 20th anniversary of The Special Editions, I'll explain why The Special Editions are not only not bad but at times had benefits. Before I begin, I don't agree with every change they did. I agree that "Han Shot First" and he should always shoot first especially when he's defending himself from a bounty hunter named Greedo who's holding him at gunpoint trying to collect a bounty on his head. I think that's what you call "self-defense".
They add to the story. One of the coolest parts of the Special Edition is the additions of deleted scenes that weren't in the original movies but they add a lot more than people think. For example, in Episode IV: A New Hope or Star Wars, they added a scene where Jabba The Hutt and his bounty hunters confront Han Solo near the Millennium Falcon where Han convinces Jabba that he'll pay him back plus extra after taking Luke, Obi-Wan, 3PO, and R2 to Alderaan but just needs a little more time and Jabba agrees to back off. This may not seem like much but it's an important scene because we saw how wanted Han is when Greedo confronted him at the Cantina but we never see anymore bounty hunters attack the Falcon or anything despite the fact they know that Han flies the Falcon and they know what it looks like. Originally, it made no sense to have Greedo confront Han and then we never see anymore bounty hunters after that. With this scene added, we now see why. Also, the scene's ending was also great with Boba Fett being the last person we see which is important since he & Han have history and he would eventually be the one to collect the bounty in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. His appearance ending the scene makes him like a specter of things to come.
Another important scene added was right before the Death Star battle when Luke reunites with his good friend Biggs Darklighter. In the original movie, they don't show much that Luke knows Biggs much less is a good friend outside of Luke saying that Biggs was right, he was never going to get out of Tattooine and during the fight when Luke mentions how it'll be like Beggars Canyon back home. This new scene shows how good of friends they are, not only because they're happy to see each other and come off like longtime friends who reunite after not having seen each other for so long but we also see Biggs give his recommendation of Luke to the X-Wing leader, how they'll talk later, and then Luke reminds him that he told Biggs he would get out. The scene also made the Death Star fight scenes with them make more sense including Biggs telling Luke to pull up early on as he was flying too low and asked him if he was alright. There was the time where Luke went out of his way to save Biggs from a Tie Fighter and then when Luke had a Tie Fighter behind him, he actually said "Blast it Biggs, where are you?" before Wedge Antillies saved him. Luke's reaction after Biggs' death at the hands of Darth Vader meant more because if you just watched the original version, you would think Luke was sad because Biggs was the last to cover for him and he had no one left but that scene added to The Special Edition makes Luke's reaction mean more because we now know that Biggs was Luke's friend and he not only lost his friend but he lost him right after they reunited at long last. If you didn't read any books or be a hardcore Star Wars fan, you wouldn't know much about Luke and Biggs' friendship but that scene put back in lets you know. It explains why it's Biggs and not the X-Wing leader telling Luke to pull up and if he was alright and why Luke specifically asked for Biggs to help him.
Another big scene that may not seem important but was when they shown the galaxy celebrating the fall of the Empire at the end of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi including Tattooine, Cloud City in Bespin, and Coruscant. Now this might not seem like a big deal but it was as we now know that The Rebel Alliance wasn't a group of discruntled people who hate the Empire or some anarchists trying to take down an Empire but they were representing the majority of the galaxy who waited decades for this day to come and the Rebels were a voice of the voiceless while also showing how unpopular Emperor Palpatine and his Empire were.
The Special Edition also heavily improved certain points of the movies with the best examples being creatures. In Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke was attacked by a wampa and eventually escapes it's cave after cutting it's arm off. The problem was in the original 1980 movie, we only saw the wampa's face and arm all the while it looks like a guy in a costume. It doesn't look real. However, in the Special Edition, we get full body shots of the wampa as well as shots of it without it's arm after Luke cuts it's arm off and it looks much better as it comes off like a beast instead of some guy in a costume. The same applies for the Sarlacc pit monster in Episode VII: Return of the Jedi as it was as bare bones as it got in the 1983 version. It was basically a pit with teeth around it and a tentacle. In the Special edition, it has a beak coming out of the pit and multiple tentacles. It actually looks like a detailed creature instead of a vagina with teeth. In fact, if it weren't for the fact the movie came out in 1983, you could think that they were being downright lazy. Other scenes include moments on The Death Star in Episode IV: A New Hope. When R2 shows parts of the tractor beam, certain home video versions of the original version doesn't have 3PO's narration and explanation to Obi-Wan on what he needed to do in order for the Falcon to leave but it was included for The Special Edition. So we get 3PO explaining what Obi-Wan must do as opposed to everyone just looking at pictures or clips. When Han and Chewie are running away from Stormtroopers, a blast door starts to close just as Han and Chewie escape. In the original, the blast door just happens to close for no reason but in The Special Edition, we hear Stormtroopers saying to close the blast doors which explains why the doors were closed and those specific doors out of all the ones they could've shut in The Death Star.
We also get some more details in the movie especially when ships fly around planets or take off. In Episode IV: A New Hope, we see details of Mos Eisley as Luke, Obi-Wan, 3PO, and R2 drive around before reaching the Cantina. We also get some nice take off scenes including The Millennium Falcon taking off into space as opposed to the original film where we already see it in the air. The same also happens when the X-Wing and Y-Wings take off from The Rebel Base in Yavin IV as they're not some specs already flying into space but rather, we see them take off and fly off. When Han and Chewie are pursuing stormtroopers in The Death Star, they originally run into a dead end with a half a dozen stormtroopers. In The Special Edition, we see Han and Chewie run into open area with dozens of stormtroopers which really gave Han a reason to show fear and realize that he bit off more than he can chew as well as a reason why he runs off. In Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when the Millennium Falcon was given permission to land we actually see it fly around Cloud City before landing as opposed to just landing. We also see this earlier in the film when Boba Fett in the Slave I is following the Falcon to Bespin as we get a close up of the Slave I. It may not seem like much or it may come off as padding but there's nothing wrong with adding more detail especially when at times, the movie looked bare bones. George Lucas has gone on record stating that he only got 30-40% of what he wanted from the original and it does show in the original.
It also freshens the movie up. While it can be considered sacrilegious to tamper with a classic movie like The Star Wars Trilogy, it can get boring watching the same film over and over again. The Special Editions give us a chance to watch these classics with some new stuff which can make a movie fresh after watching it a billion times. It's interesting to see deleted scenes put right back into the movies as though they were never taking out. It's also interesting to see such places and planets and creatures have more detail or getting to see them in a whole new way. At times, it could almost be interesting to not only enjoy the movie but to watch closely and see what's changed. Star Wars is not the only series to be altered though as we seen Television shows take certain scenes out or cut a long season premiere into two parts when the shows go into reruns. We've also seen movies get special addition treatment with better sound and picture but we also get movies like Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Hobbit trilogies have had "extended editions" where deleted scenes were added into the movie as though they were never taken out to begin with. We've seen the releasing of "Director's Cut" as well where we get a movie that the director had envisioned like Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. Granted, The Star Wars Special Editions take them a step further but it's not like it's the only series modified to fit the director's vision.
In the end, do I agree with all The Special Edition changes? No. Again, I do believe Han shot first and I don't think The Max Rebo Band needed nine additional members at Jabba's Palace but did they destroy or make the Star Wars movies bad? No. It's perfectly understandable for people not to want to see a classic tampered with especially if they grew up adoring it but The Special Edition movies do have some perks that make them enjoyable and add to the classic movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment