Yar, you be here: Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition) > Customer Reviews

Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (265 - 267 of 272 Reviews)

I'd like to see the originals on DVD too, and here's why.
Obviously, we are all aware that this DVD release is of the "special edition" movies and not the originals. I would like to make several comments about that.

First of all, one has to be puzzled by the mind of Star Wars' creator, George Lucas. He created three movies that consistently rank among the greatest and most influential movies of all time. The trilogy has spawned a marketing empire and set the tone for decades of science fiction films, few of which have come close to achieving what these films did starting way back in 1977.

Undaunted by this extraordinary success, Mr. Lucas was apparently not satisfied with the movies, re-releasing his special editions of them in 1997 with added footage, enhanced sound, and new CGI effects. (Rumor has it that he is re-working them again for the DVD, but time will tell if that's true or not).

While we would all like to re-work things we have done in the past, Mr. Lucas actually had the luxury of doing it. Good for him. I'm sure writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers go through that all the time, wishing they could change something they created in their youth. But I would like to say, on behalf of anyone who agrees with me, that the original films were really good. They weren't perfect, but I don't care. I like them just the way they were.

Now, what is clear from reading other reviews is that fans are divided as to whether Mr. Lucas' new changes have enhanced or detracted from these classics. I happen to the think the Star Wars special edition detracts from the original, while the two other special editions added some nice touches.

Whether you like, love, or hate the special editions, what we all should agree on (with the possible exception of Mr. Lucas and those who profit from endless re-releases of these films) is that the original versions should also be made available on DVD.

Let's put this in perspective. What if the DVD releases of Casablanca or The Seven Samurai were colorized, and you couldn't get the black-and-white versions? How about a special edition of The Godfather: Would you really want to have scenes altered in a classic like that (maybe they can make Moe Green pull out a gun and shoot first before getting shot in the eye)? For that matter, let's just shelve all science fiction movies made before the advent of CGI until we can add new special effects. Sound ridiculous? It is, whether you shelve a thousand movies or just three.

While alternate versions are interesting, fun to watch, and sometimes improve on the original movies, they do not necessitate burying the original movies in a vault. George Lucas has created something that is a part of film history, something that has become a part of millions of people's lives. Why he insists his 1997 vision is so much more evolved than his 1977 vision is inexplicable. Let's face it: there's absolutely no reason to hold back the original movies apart from money or foolish pride. DVD is the perfect medium to give loyal fans everything they want. Give us both versions of these movies please.

The "Holy Trilogy" reworked
There's not much praise I can give to the new effects in this movie; the only ones that are really effective are the ones in the extended assault on the Death Star in "A New Hope." It's great to see the X-wings soaring around at break-neck speed like we always knew they could, and we get marvelous new angles of the Death Star's variated surface. I would have to say that this is where it should have ended though.

It's tough to take all three movies into account at the same time because of the strength of one, the brilliance of the other, and the somewhat troublesome last one. It's sort of common ruling that "Empire Strikes Back" is the best, "Star Wars" the second, and "Return of the Jedi" the last. Now, considering what "Jedi" is up against, it's still a great movie, just not "Empire Strikes Back" quality. Forgive me for saying this too, but were it not for "Empire Strikes Back" I don't think we'd be talking about Star Wars like we do today, and George Lucas's ghastly new movies would be only sidebar mentions in movie-mags.

Overall, the quality of the tapes isn't very good. The picture is exceedingly bright, to the point where we can't make out details in the background. The special effects are sort of a first-generation attempt at modern movie sophistication ("Matrix" anyone?) and were interesting at first glance, but considering how far we've come since then, they've become almost corny in appearance. What's up with Jabba the Hutt? He looks now like a concept effect and not a finished product. And why couldn't they clean up the lightsaber effect? If so much of the movie's old effects weren't good enough to remain, why was the painted-on blade allowed to stay? (which is the only good thing about the new movies vs. the old ones). And what's interesting too is how they still don't stack up to those highly detailed models they made back in the 70's and 80's. Give me a Star Destroyer cruising past before I see Jabba the Hutt slithering on by.

The performances haven't changed except for Han Solo shooting first (an unforgivable transgression by Lucas, must all our heroes be virtuous and unspoilt?) Frank Oz's performance as Yoda was allowed to remain, which we should all thank our lucky stars for. I suppose Lucas didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with Oz since he needed him for the new trilogy.

All in all, I prefer the old versions to the revamped versions, which I can still find at my local used-book and movie outlet. I would recommend going purest and getting those instead of these "special edition" versions.

Original movies great, changes bad, and why not on DVD???
I really don't understand what George Lucas is thinking. The cynical view is that he keeps tweaking and releasing these movies as an easy way to make a quick buck. It certainly looks that way to me.

Most people want George to leave these movies alone. What is the point of adding dumb new scenes that ruin the pacing or change endings or songs? The movies were fantastic as they were originally released; that's why they did so well. Did Da Vinci keep messing with the Mona Lisa years after he painted it? Luckily for us, he did not. George should follow his example.

This idea of making changes to great films years after they were released has got to stop. It's a disease that is rotting great films in the name of greater profits or (even worse) political correctness (like the mess Spielberg made out of ET). I no longer respect either Lucas or Spielberg because of these revisionist efforts. Why don't they concentrate on creating new art and leave completed works alone?

And finally, why is this coming out on VHS AGAIN? Why isn't George releasing these movies on DVD? Again, the cynical view suggests that it would take more time and effort to fill the DVDs with all the goodies we expect, and that would cut into his profit margin. He has claimed in the past that he is not releasing these movies on DVD because he would rather spend his time and effort on creating new films. But if that's true, why does he take the time to modify Episodes 4-6 every few years? It just doesn't add up.

Needless to say, I will not be buying any Star Wars movies on VHS ever again. I have the original films on VHS, and they are precious because I expect the only way to get these movies today is at an auction.

If George Lucas releases the original movies on DVD, and puts all his cute little additions and changes in an "extras" section so we can view them separately and rejoice that they're not in the film, then I'll buy these movies one more time. Otherwise, I'll just have to live with the tapes I have.

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91

Next Page