Kai Lord
Hero
I think its a great loss that we may never see another release of the original Star Wars trilogies on the highest possible medium. I know, you're shocked. But moving on I just watched the SW:SE in its entirety on my glorious THX certified dolby digital laserdisc for the first time in about five or six years.
I loved it! Some things I noticed:
1. In her hologram message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia says, "years ago you served my father in the Clone War." I had always remembered Luke referring to the events as "the Clone Wars", plural, and found it interesting that Yoda referred to it in the singular at the end of AOTC. But from the beginning Leia called it the "Clone War" as well. Only a geek of the highest order would spend a microsecond thinking about such things, but there you go.
2. I had also mistakenly remembered Obi-Wan to tell Luke that when he first met Anakin, "he was the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy," which TPM stupidly contradicted by just having him some punk pod racer kid. But that isn't what Kenobi said. Luke says "you fought in the Clone Wars?" And Obi-Wan says, "yes I was once a Jedi, just like your father. He was the best starpilot in the galaxy. He was a cunning warrior, and a good friend."
So as long as Episode III showcases Anakin being the best pilot ever its all good.
3. The new sunset over the Jawa canyon is beautiful.
4. The Dewbacks don't look *quite* as cool as I remembered them, but look good nonetheless.
5. The landspeeder effects were fantastically cleaned up.
6. I like most of the new Mos Eisley shots.
7. Don't like the two new aliens in the cantina. Give me back my Wolfman close-up!
8. The Greedo scene is still indeed dorky, but its over pretty quickly. Just as big a problem as the new shot fired is how painfully repetitive the dialogue is with the new Jabba scene. When Lucas couldn't include Jabba, he moved the "has no time for those who drop their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser" and "even I get boarded sometimes" to the Greedo scene. Its awkward to hear Greedo say the line, then Han reply, then Jabba say the exact same line, to which Han gives the exact same reply, with the exact same inflection even (as opposed to him saying, "yeah Greedo mentioned dropping the shipment but as I told him I sometimes get boarded too.)
In full Sherlock Holmes mode, I popped in my old copy of the "SW: Behind the Magic" CD-ROM and watched the entire work print rough cut of the cantina sequence (the one with Han's girlfriend snuggled up to him!) Sure enough, when Greedo sits down with him neither one mentions dropping cargo or getting boarded. As I said, Lucas obviously filmed the extra line as an insert after cutting the Jabba sequence.
9. But I still like Jabba. Its just cool to see a new scene with a 35 year old Harrison Ford playing Han. And I even like the addition of Boba Fett. Kind of makes him a "Feyd" to Jabba's "Baron Harkonnen."
10. Another interesting thing I noticed, as Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew in the background boredly looks down at the ground at the *exact* moment Han steps off Jabba's tail. With the new footage it plays like Chewie looks down at Jabba's tail as if to say, "Holy crap, did Han just *step* on him!?" A totally sweet coincidence that plays beautifully. Check it out if you can.
11. The Falcon taking off while Stormtroopers blast away is awesome.
12. The new Alderaan explosion is cool.
13. Leia's 12-gauge autoshotgun is still goofy.
14. But above everything, the new Death Star battle just plain rocks. Even by today's standards the new effects are spectacular. Its like seeing it again through the eyes of a child. Awesome. I hope the DVD includes even more updates in the final attack (seriously.)
So all in all, the SE is definitely a more entertaining viewing experience than the original SW, even with the few steps back here and there. I eagerly await the DVD set for the first and third films (ESB:SE is still a lost cause), the Lucas commentaries, and hopefully "a few new surprises."
I loved it! Some things I noticed:
1. In her hologram message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia says, "years ago you served my father in the Clone War." I had always remembered Luke referring to the events as "the Clone Wars", plural, and found it interesting that Yoda referred to it in the singular at the end of AOTC. But from the beginning Leia called it the "Clone War" as well. Only a geek of the highest order would spend a microsecond thinking about such things, but there you go.
2. I had also mistakenly remembered Obi-Wan to tell Luke that when he first met Anakin, "he was the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy," which TPM stupidly contradicted by just having him some punk pod racer kid. But that isn't what Kenobi said. Luke says "you fought in the Clone Wars?" And Obi-Wan says, "yes I was once a Jedi, just like your father. He was the best starpilot in the galaxy. He was a cunning warrior, and a good friend."
So as long as Episode III showcases Anakin being the best pilot ever its all good.
3. The new sunset over the Jawa canyon is beautiful.
4. The Dewbacks don't look *quite* as cool as I remembered them, but look good nonetheless.
5. The landspeeder effects were fantastically cleaned up.
6. I like most of the new Mos Eisley shots.
7. Don't like the two new aliens in the cantina. Give me back my Wolfman close-up!
8. The Greedo scene is still indeed dorky, but its over pretty quickly. Just as big a problem as the new shot fired is how painfully repetitive the dialogue is with the new Jabba scene. When Lucas couldn't include Jabba, he moved the "has no time for those who drop their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser" and "even I get boarded sometimes" to the Greedo scene. Its awkward to hear Greedo say the line, then Han reply, then Jabba say the exact same line, to which Han gives the exact same reply, with the exact same inflection even (as opposed to him saying, "yeah Greedo mentioned dropping the shipment but as I told him I sometimes get boarded too.)
In full Sherlock Holmes mode, I popped in my old copy of the "SW: Behind the Magic" CD-ROM and watched the entire work print rough cut of the cantina sequence (the one with Han's girlfriend snuggled up to him!) Sure enough, when Greedo sits down with him neither one mentions dropping cargo or getting boarded. As I said, Lucas obviously filmed the extra line as an insert after cutting the Jabba sequence.
9. But I still like Jabba. Its just cool to see a new scene with a 35 year old Harrison Ford playing Han.
And I even like the addition of Boba Fett. Kind of makes him a "Feyd" to Jabba's "Baron Harkonnen."10. Another interesting thing I noticed, as Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew in the background boredly looks down at the ground at the *exact* moment Han steps off Jabba's tail. With the new footage it plays like Chewie looks down at Jabba's tail as if to say, "Holy crap, did Han just *step* on him!?" A totally sweet coincidence that plays beautifully.
Check it out if you can.11. The Falcon taking off while Stormtroopers blast away is awesome.
12. The new Alderaan explosion is cool.
13. Leia's 12-gauge autoshotgun is still goofy.
14. But above everything, the new Death Star battle just plain rocks. Even by today's standards the new effects are spectacular. Its like seeing it again through the eyes of a child. Awesome. I hope the DVD includes even more updates in the final attack (seriously.)
So all in all, the SE is definitely a more entertaining viewing experience than the original SW, even with the few steps back here and there. I eagerly await the DVD set for the first and third films (ESB:SE is still a lost cause), the Lucas commentaries, and hopefully "a few new surprises."
but I stand by my appreciation of the good things in the SW:SE. Its not as important a film as the original (come on George, this is cinema history here!) but I do believe its more fun.
