Rating: 
Summary: Why?!
Review: Why does George Lucas insist on not listening to his fans??? First it's Jarjar, and now this....... Would it be so hard to make a box set with the original movies in it? Why does Lucas keep making stupid mistakes? The trilogy should be watched with the original footage. Who wants to see those stupid extra scenes...they don't even look good. Jabba becomes a sissy. The computer animation they added looks terrible - it looks so out of place. The dancers in Jabba's place look STUPID!!!! What a let down. Probably won't even buy the trilogy now. Boo hoo! Smarten up Lucas!!!
Rating:
Summary: Lucas is wrong, these Special Editions are a cultural crime
Review: With the special edition, you'll never see a more wacky hive of scum and villany. I've never seen a more clear example of falling in love with one's own footage. With Lucas' refusal to release the original remastered theatre print editions, he is betraying the trust of an entire generation of people whose lives were shaped by these films. The special edition changes them substantially. There was a pleasant balance of slapstick in the original, and now "A New Hope" is uncomfortably brought down to the level of "Return of the Jedi" with additional cutsey animal/droid/human/hut antics. It's not the money, we all know it would make bank. It's 100% Lucas' ego. No, I'm sorry, I believe Lucas has no right to tamper with or hinder the release of this work; it has become far, far bigger than the man himself. I look forward to independently produced (and of *necessity* pirated) DVD's of the cleaned up originals. And if Lucas ever manages to escape the fog of megalomania, I'd be happy to pay him almost anything to never have to see Han step on Jabba's tail again. Please please please! It is especially sad to note that, with the capacity of DVD, both editions of each film would have fit on the same DVD but for the selfish, willful petulance of one man.
Rating: 
Summary: I love Star Wars, but I am so over George Lucas...
Review: Lucas has been raised upon the shoulders of fanboys for ONE movie he directed, "Star Wars; A New Hope". He can't write well and he can't direct. Why did the first 3 (yes the FIRST) do so well? Fox had control. He didn't write the screenplay for "Empire" or "Return" nor did he direct either of them. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" you say? Sorry, but Lawrence Kasdan (writer of Empire Strikes Back and ROJ) wrote the screenplay and Spielberg directed it. Lucas deserves credit for the idea and many details but it ends there. With SW he knew what the story was, but he didn't tell it-better men did, which is why the original Star Wars was the franchise it was, and not a laughable joke like "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" and most likely the next one. George Lucas has contributed to filmmaking like no other, with THX and ILM etc.-there is no denying that-- but the creative genius is in reality nothing more than an overrated idea man, who wants us to believe he's this maverick who had his whole story figured out. I guess that's why Luke's sister kissed him full on the lips in the Empire Strikes Back. Go ahead; argue that Leia didn't know Luke was her brother when she kissed him. Guess what, neither did Lucas until he began developing Return of the Jedi-but he continues to assert that it was all part of a well laid plan. Not. A reviewer here decided to make comparisons to Lord of the Rings, stating that Lucas used elements of Tolkein's writings. I don't know about that, but I do know that Middle Earth (one continent on one planet) has more character, depth and creativity than Lucas' whole "universe". One reviewer here asserts "It's Lucas' universe and he can do what he wants with it". Yes he certainly can and boy did he ever, but let's be honest. Lucas' worlds have little depth. One whole planet that is a giant planet-sized city, one that is nothing but a swamp, one that is nothing but ice, one that is nothing but a forest, one that is nothing but a desert, and one that is nothing but water and so on. The entire Star Wars universe, spanning galaxies far, far away is really just Earth all spread out in space. The truth is to create whole planets with more than one land or sea variety would be too much for Lucas to wrap his brain around, and he probably doesn't have the patience, or the brains to work it out. So let's not compare him to JRR Tolkein, okay? Tolkien died while still developing middle earth. If Lucas croaked and didn't leave some kind of condition in his will saying no one but he can make Star Wars material (he probably did), then SW might have a real future. Now Lucas has to make a third prequel, and just get it over with. Hopefully he will have learned that, yes, he does suck and his own Star Wars fan base is telling him so. As dull as he is, especially when he forces us to fast forward through his "making of" junk that he strategically placed before the actual movie starts rather than after (the VHS trilogy), he still can corral grown-up children wanting to relive their childhood and force their kids to sit through two HORRIBLE Star Wars "prequels". I watched "making of" materiel of Lucas shooting on a set with his little kids running around the set everywhere, getting in everybody's way, but who could argue with him? If George Lucas wasn't such a control freak, and allowed better people than him to take over the production of these movies, and perhaps allowed others to continue his work they'd probably have been as great as Empire and Return, but no. It's HIS, and HE must control ALL aspects of his masterpiece, which is why the new films suck so bad regardless of the visual aspect. He's made enough money from Star Wars. How much is enough? I own the original Star Wars trilogy, and I have no need of his special edition. I like the trilogy better when it had no connection with the crappy prequels. Adding CGI to the original Star Wars is the same as putting a bunch of CGI in The Wizard of Oz, and it doesn't serve the story and it frankly stains a movie that was fine the way it was, but Lucas wants us all to see his vision, so he'll jam it down our throats. I'm inclined to spew it back up at him and forget that there ever was a Star Wars. Naturally, this didn't help anyone so click away on how it didn't. I know that it's all just sci-fi dorks flaming over how I mock one of their gods.
Rating: 
Summary: The way Lucas wanted it ~
Review: I am sorry that they are not releasing both versions, but George Lucas told us all that the special edition version was the version he originally wanted to release. Do the additions of some scenes not in the original really take away from the movie? It's not like they went back and brought the actors back in to re-shoot a bunch of the scenes. Most people are clamoring for more deleted scenes and extra material...these are the same people who say that Lucas has destroyed the movie by adding material to it. I agree with the person earlier who said..."thank god, now I can get rid of my VCR." Those of you who think that this re-release of the special edition is sacreligous, shouldn't buy it...go watch it on your Betamax or laser disk player, afterall you were probably pissed when they put it on VHS and released the THX version that changed the sound. I personnaly cant wait to show it to my kids who will be able to enjoy it for years and years...BRAVO George Lucas for getting off your duff and releasing it...finally!
Rating:
Summary: Not much left of the magic...
Review: 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...' there were three great movies. Movies with incredible special FX - incredible great handmade stuff! Now Lucasfilm want to sell us (what they call) the same movies again. And still they have incredible special FX - incredible bad CGI this time!
Come on, Lucasfilm. Anyone can handle CGI today, this is nothing special! Can't you see and feel the original magic dying, when you try to mix the outstanding originals with really not so special CGI-FX??? Don't you realize, you're destroying the historic integrity of the movies when combining 20+ years old story, footage, music, performance, whatever with todays computer FX and new scenes? For me that simply does not work...
Have a look at all these amazon-reviews. Go to www.originaltrilogy.com or www.theforce.net and read the forums. Can't you see, that what you're doing is not exactly what really a lot of people want? Are you not afraid of killing the franchise?
Sadly I can't prevent what you're doing, I can only mourn the loss of three great pieces of cinema history. So go on with whatever additional changes you have in mind - but don't count on my money, you won't get it that way...
Rating: 
Summary: new versions?
Review: I look forward to the new version of return of the jedi where the ewoks are replaced with cgi gungans as per Lucas's original plans, it will help with continuity. That will be great. Hey guys, i'm just kidding with you! It's a scary thought though!! I'm looking forward to this mother of all dvd collections, it will rock my subwoofer!!
Rating:
Summary: excuse me star wars purists buy a cure i like se trilogy
Review: i was mad at people for the phantom manace for criqueing the movie i thought it was and is a very good movie. i am die hard purist too but trying to compare star wars with the matrix and for minor points with scenes or lucas marketing strategy. excuse me excuse me WTH WHO CREATED STAR WARS LUCAS,HE CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANT TO IT. FANS TODAY ARE CRAZY WHINY PANSIES.besides i found the se edition vhs of star war quite enjoyable. beside purists should deal with change better than whining about minor points. cretans
Rating:
Summary: this is not star wars
Review: I am not sure what troubles me more,..we are being dictated to by Lucas that if we wanna watch star wars we have to watch it with vile filth added, or that people are so blinded that they actually give this abomination a positive rating. WHO CARES if it is the original series, that moron lucas has poisoned it with his twisted "VISION" that has brought us to the level of Jar Jar binks. Lucas has clearly gone totally insane, and Martin Sheen should be sent up the river to "terminate his command". This is not the star wars we know and love, this is not the revolutionary movie series, it's ruined,..everything good about the series,...POOF>>GONE. This "special" edition(special as in RETARDED) is just the beginning to his madness. It was from this garbage he brought us his part 1&2 which ran the whole story and mythos of star wars straight into the ice berg. Lucas has either fallen into the deepest depths of cenial dementia, or shuffles around lucas ranch with tissue boxes on his feet talking about his "Spruce Falcon". WHY WHY WHY are people so deluded into buying his garbage,..why send him the message of, "well it's Total garbage, but we will buy it anyway", TELL HIM what this crap is by NOT buying this travesty. Let him know we want the REAL Star Wars, not this tripe. I remember as a child seeing an interview with him and he said something Most of hollywood has forgotten including him,.."special effects are NOT what the movie is about, the movie is about the CHARACTERS moving through a STORY". Now it seems all he cares about is blowing stuff up, or making crazy racially objectionable aliens. (don't know what I mean, watch episode 1 again, then hit your local chinese restaurant,"oh U hona us wid yor bresance"). No,...tell him you want the real thing, what we fell in love with years ago, not this paste board mask. With this action Lucas has propped himself right up with the Darkest sides of movie making, throw him into the long shaft and his special editions in with him.
Up yours George
Rating:
Summary: Will the REAL Star Wars be released on DVD?
Review: This isn't even the "special Edition" releases from 1997, these are modified versions of those!! (look it up on the net if you don't believe me... there's a mix between fact and rumor, but this new dvd release will be different, can't the creators leave things ALONE?!) Apart from a few re-inserts of the hairy beast from "Empire Strikes Back", there's not a reinserted scene amongst the three movies that's worthwhile. The original revamped Star Wars was a cute fad. Empire had a few clips put back in, along with updated fx that made no sense. Amusingly, one thing they never bothered to do with "Empire" was to have the guy who played the Emperor in parts 1, 2, (likely) 3, and 6 re-do the lines! What the heck?! (maybe they did for this "special, special edition"?) "Return of the Jedi" was a total waste; notably with the extended bar scene that made no sense, complete with using new critters and new music which did not gel when cut with the original footage. Once again, were the creators mixing LSD with crack or something?! The updated fx look nice, but are mostly pointless. There's even a scene in "Empire" that makes it look as if Leia, R2D2, Calrissian, et al, are running on the OUTSIDE of a building when, in the original, they were clearly running down a corridor on the inside. The point of the updated fx is to make the Eps 4-6 trilogy look more like the 'video games' that eps 1-3 are. That's sad, as eps 1-2 (and likely 3) contain so many computer graphic images that any meaning (if there ever was any) was lost. EVen then, eps 4-6 with the new fx still seem comatose to the vulgar, vomit-inducing business of eps 1-2 (and probably 3). I'll stick to my ancient THX Laserdiscs from 1990, thanks all the same. I like model ships. They look real and look as if somebody tried to make an effort. Computer images, while advanced, still look fake - and if I could see flaws during Ep 2 on the big screen, I'm going to see many more flaws on the little screen. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Not the real Classic Trilogy
Review: These are not the Star Wars films many of us fell in love and grew up with in the late '70's and early '80's. These are the dreaded so-called "Special Editions" which feature new CGI effects which stick out like a sore thumb when they are combined with the original scenes. The Original Versions were not perfect, but the changes made to them did nothing but hurt the films. It's a shame that Lucas has turned his back on many of the fans. Without our money over the years, where would he and Star Wars be? There would be no Special Editions or Prequels. It is just so sickening how many people do not care about the preservation of motion picture history. These versions are not the ones that became cultural phenomenons and won Academy Awards. I think it is great that Lucas is expressing his artistic vision. I have nothing against that per se. However, I am against it when he tries to cram it down our throats and expects us to shell out our money for it. This is the 21st Century. DVD will allow you to include multiple versions of a film on the same disc. Look at the Alien Quadrillogy Boxed Set for a great example of how things can be done. If he included both versions, everyone would be happy. I will definitely have to pass on this release. I have the LD's, so I guess I will have to make DVD's of those instead. Lucas will not get another red cent from me until he wakes up and does what is right.
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