The success of the return of the "Star Wars"
trilogy earlier this year proved one thing:
The Force is still with us.
If, like me, you are a hard-core "Star Wars"
fanatic, you probably hated the notion of
George Lucas going back and using today's
CGI technology to update the originals.
However, I suppose I can't blame him for
wanting to improve on the technology he and
the guys at Industrial Light And Magic had
pioneered.
Among the many remastered scenes in "Star Wars"
or "A New Hope" for you hard-core fans like
myself, is the meeting of Jabba the Hutt and
Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Originally, Jabba
was fairly stationary and was played by an
actor, but thanks to today's CGI, we get to
see him walk.
Also, the finale of the first film is much
sleeker now with the X-Wing Fighters zooming
across the galaxy even faster.
"The Empire Strikes Back" has to be the
slowest in the trilogy. Changes include an
expanded sequence showing more of the ice beast
on the planet Hoth which is a bit bloody for
a PG movie. Also, the Cloud City scenes are
given more life and intensified color.
In "Return Of The Jedi", a music video-like
animation replaces the puppets originally in
Jabba's lair. And the Ewoks' nice, but somewhat
annoying ending celebration song is missing.
I loved "The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition",
but the originals will always be tops for me.
You have until Nov. 30th to buy the movies on
video. (As of the original printing of this
article anyway. The set is still available
but in limited supply.)