The Spaceport

Close your eyes and clear your mind. Try to think of the ultimate form of entertainment. It's a comfortable chair and a bucket of fresh buttery popcorn. It's a great movie that you have an urge to watch over and over again. This isn't any ordinary movie tho -- every time you watch it, something is changed or added, even the storyline is remanufactured a bit, changing your perceptions of characters. Sometimes the end is even altered resulting in a completely different outlook on what you thought certain characters' destiny was.

Wouldn't it be great if something you deeply loved could keep changing like that, always making for a new experience? Wouldn't it?

Well, if you don't know whether or not you'd care for that, go out and purchase a few versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy. It comes in Classic, Special Edition, and now the Specialer Editions. In a few years, we'll be able to be among the first to own the Specialest editions, but we'll have to wait on that for now. I know I'll be first in line to get my re-re-retouched copies of these ever-evolving cinematic masterpieces. Let's all thank uncle George and Co. for giving us diehard fans a couple years to recover from our Hyperspace and Specialer Edition debts before the DVD re-release in what is expected to be 2007.

I apologize if I sound a bit sarcastic or unappreciative, but sometimes it's best not to mess with a classic. Restoration crews restored the Sistene Chapel paintings, but they didn't replace Adam with a younger version of himself or remove the bags under God's eyes.

In 1997, when digitally remastering the Star Wars Original Trilogy, Lucas decided to take things a step further by re-introducing some deleted scenes and by re-touching scenes to achieve a different outcome. For example, the inclusion of the deleted scene with Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett speaking to Han at the Millenium Falcon, and the alteration resulting in Greedo shooting first at Han in the Cantina (both in A New Hope). Much controversy was created when these changes were released. Removal of annoying matte lines and other visual improvements were made along with the story changes, and it wouldn't stop there.

So, from that point on, fans were divided.

Now, in September, the Original Trilogy is being released again, this time on DVD. For this release, several aesthetic improvements are being made -- lightsabers retouched, Boba's voice replaced with Tem Morrison's to add continuity, and the stop-motion is getting a clean-up. But, as Lucas's mind is always set to edit mode, we will be seeing Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine (with altered dialog) and Hayden Christenson replacing Sebastian Shaw as a ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi. Also, hold onto your blast helmets, but we're going to see and hear Gungans celebrating the Empire's downfall in an insert of Naboo.

Aside from the fact that the films and story were fine as it is, this raises two daunting questions:

Is Lucas adding these changes to better suit a prequel storyline that wasn't going to fill out completely otherwise?

Lucas has always claimed that he's had this story in his head since before the Original Trilogy was in the can. He talks of making notes and such, and how he knew that he couldn't make the prequels with his limited technology. But, with the inclusion of Hayden in Jedi, we now know that Lucas's ideas of becoming one with the Force and retention of identity have shifted. Everything that has been debated for decades is now all up in the air again. For those who aren't spoiler hounds, Revenge of the Sith's ending involving Anakin's demise will turn everything upside-down in the Force-ghost department. We aren't here to talk about spoilers, tho.

So, did Lucas have all this planned out? Absolutely not. He's making much of it up as he goes along, and making changes to the Original Trilogy when necessary to fit his constantly changing "vision". This, in part, is responsible for the lagging quality of the Prequel films. Instead of worrying as much about who his characters are and making the audience care about them, he's focused on making sure those characters get where they need to be to merge together Episodes III and IV. The prequels are too destination-driven, marching hard and fast making sure to connect the dots with obvious precision. Lucas didn't allow himself enough time to make us care, and the Original Trilogy is now suffering changes because of it.

Do any of these changes actually improve the films' quality?

The aesthetic ones? Certainly! I'd much prefer old Ben not to be fighting Vader with use of a metal rod with a light bulb affixed to the tip. I'd prefer the Rancor to look as if it's in the same physical space as Luke. I'd even prefer Tem Morrison to voice Boba's few lines so my future children don't wonder how his accent changed.

But to throw in Hayden as a replacement for Shaw, and to include Gungans in an otherwise enjoyable film (barring the Ewoks, of course -- hell, there's something Lucas could have removed without a fan uprising) is ridiculous and unnecessary. I don't see how these improvements help at all, it's the Prequel films Lucas should be concerned about improving -- not the Trilogy that people already had a passion for.



	Guest editorial by: Phillips Close your eyes and clear your mind. Try to think of the ultimate form of entertainment. It's a comfortable chair and a bucket of fresh buttery popcorn. It's a great movie that you have an urge to watch over and over again. This isn't any ordinary movie tho -- every time you watch it, something is changed or added, even the storyline is remanufactured a bit, changing your perceptions of characters. Sometimes the end is even altered resulting in a completely different outlook on what you thought certain characters' destiny was. Wouldn't it be great if something you deeply loved could keep changing like that, always making for a new experience? Wouldn't it? Well, if you don't know whether or not you'd care for that, go out and purchase a few versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy. It comes in Classic, Special Edition, and now the Specialer Editions. In a few years, we'll be able to be among the first to own the Specialest editions, but we'll have to wait on that for now. I know I'll be first in line to get my re-re-retouched copies of these ever-evolving cinematic masterpieces. Let's all thank uncle George and Co. for giving us diehard fans a couple years to recover from our Hyperspace and Specialer Edition debts before the DVD re-release in what is expected to be 2007. I apologize if I sound a bit sarcastic or unappreciative, but sometimes it's best not to mess with a classic. Restoration crews restored the Sistene Chapel paintings, but they didn't replace Adam with a younger version of himself or remove the bags under God's eyes. In 1997, when digitally remastering the Star Wars Original Trilogy, Lucas decided to take things a step further by re-introducing some deleted scenes and by re-touching scenes to achieve a different outcome. For example, the inclusion of the deleted scene with Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett speaking to Han at the Millenium Falcon, and the alteration resulting in Greedo shooting first at Han in the Cantina (both in A New Hope). Much controversy was created when these changes were released. Removal of annoying matte lines and other visual improvements were made along with the story changes, and it wouldn't stop there. So, from that point on, fans were divided. Now, in September, the Original Trilogy is being released again, this time on DVD. For this release, several aesthetic improvements are being made -- lightsabers retouched, Boba's voice replaced with Tem Morrison's to add continuity, and the stop-motion is getting a clean-up. But, as Lucas's mind is always set to edit mode, we will be seeing Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine (with altered dialog) and Hayden Christenson replacing Sebastian Shaw as a ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi. Also, hold onto your blast helmets, but we're going to see and hear Gungans celebrating the Empire's downfall in an insert of Naboo. Aside from the fact that the films and story were fine as it is, this raises two daunting questions: Is Lucas adding these changes to better suit a prequel storyline that wasn't going to fill out completely otherwise? Lucas has always claimed that he's had this story in his head since before the Original Trilogy was in the can. He talks of making notes and such, and how he knew that he couldn't make the prequels with his limited technology. But, with the inclusion of Hayden in Jedi, we now know that Lucas's ideas of becoming one with the Force and retention of identity have shifted. Everything that has been debated for decades is now all up in the air again. For those who aren't spoiler hounds, Revenge of the Sith's ending involving Anakin's demise will turn everything upside-down in the Force-ghost department. We aren't here to talk about spoilers, tho. So, did Lucas have all this planned out? Absolutely not. He's making much of it up as he goes along, and making changes to the Original Trilogy when necessary to fit his constantly changing "vision". This, in part, is responsible for the lagging quality of the Prequel films. Instead of worrying as much about who his characters are and making the audience care about them, he's focused on making sure those characters get where they need to be to merge together Episodes III and IV. The prequels are too destination-driven, marching hard and fast making sure to connect the dots with obvious precision. Lucas didn't allow himself enough time to make us care, and the Original Trilogy is now suffering changes because of it. Do any of these changes actually improve the films' quality? The aesthetic ones? Certainly! I'd much prefer old Ben not to be fighting Vader with use of a metal rod with a light bulb affixed to the tip. I'd prefer the Rancor to look as if it's in the same physical space as Luke. I'd even prefer Tem Morrison to voice Boba's few lines so my future children don't wonder how his accent changed. But to throw in Hayden as a replacement for Shaw, and to include Gungans in an otherwise enjoyable film (barring the Ewoks, of course -- hell, there's something Lucas could have removed without a fan uprising) is ridiculous and unnecessary. I don't see how these improvements help at all, it's the Prequel films Lucas should be concerned about improving -- not the Trilogy that people already had a passion for. --Phillips Archives