Okay. I love Star Wars, and George Lucas deserves all credit for being one of the most visionary filmmakers of all-time, but why can he not just leave his classics alone? There is a shocking new trend in Hollywood that has cropped up over the past decade or so, with filmmakers revisiting their classics and tampering with them to try and meet their "visions," starting back with George in the '90s when he did the Special Edition of the original Star Wars trilogy. In all honesty, the Special Editions are small potatoes in regards to what came next. Over the years we have seen guns stripped from E.T., replaced by walkie talkies, old Anakin replaced by young Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi, and now we've got the Lion King and Titanic being re-released in 3-D. But wait, more changes are to come to the Star Wars saga as George continues to try and "perfect" his story that, to majority of fans, has been perfect for over 30 years!
George Lucas is finally releasing the Star Wars movies on Blu-Ray, but you know what, I wont be buying it after getting wind of these latest changes. Now, get this. Ewoks will now blink. A dug like Sebulba will blatantly appear in Jabba's palace. Puppet Yoda in Phantom Menace (one of the last movies to utilize great puppet tech.) has been replaced by CGI. Oh, yeah, and to really make fans not wanna watch the end of Return of the Jedi: not only did George start by replacing the Yub Nub ewok song in the Special Edition, then switching out Anakins with the DVD release, but now he has added Darth Vader's much hated, "Noooo!!!" from the end of Revenge of the Sith to when Vader saves Luke from Palpatine. Take a look:
Now, compare with the original scene:
The original scene is so much more powerful! Film is a VISUAL medium. The original scene does so much through the shots and editing that there is no need to add anything to that moment. It was emotionally powerful as it was. And get this, he's even changing things just for the heck of it, like Obi Wan's screech in A New Hope that scared away the Sandpeople. Why change it? There's no justification.
You know what is stupid? I was actually looking forward to buying these movies on Blu-Ray, but I just don't think I can justify the price of the set now. Sure, these changes may seem minor, but when you have grown up with these movies as they were initially made, there is nothing but frustration when someone wants to change even the most minor of details. I mean, you replace Jeremy Bulloch's voice as Bobba Fett with the DVD release in 2004, and I grinned and bore it, even Hayden Christensen replacing Sebastian Shaw at the end of Jedi, but a CGI Yoda replacing puppet Yoda? If you replace puppet Yoda in Empire and Jedi, that is it George, I am done defending you.
Just leave these movies alone, George. I beg of you. I have defended you so many times to friends in arguments, giving you the benefit of the doubt, but enough is enough. Just stop! You have stuff going with the likes of Red Tails and the Clone Wars show, there is no need to go back and change these classic films just because you want to. Fans don't want this. I don't want this. Realize this, please, George, before the damage is irreversible. You don't see people adding things to Casablanca or Gone With the Wind, and you wanna know why? Cause they're CLASSICS! If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and irregardless to your perfectionist tendencies, the Star Wars movies are perfect to so many film fans around the world. Just do something for the fans. For once.
Sorry, George if you read this. I still love your movies, but I just have to let you know that I am disappointed.
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