Seanification

Star Wars: Revisited: reviewed

At the end of my analysis of the benefits and drawback of the Star Wars blurays, I mused that perhaps Star Wars: Revisited would be my only hope for a decent version of my favourite movies. This fan edit of A New Hope was a massive endeavour, undertaken by “Adywan”. While the end result is very impressive, it probably still isn’t the right version for me either.

The edit isn’t the easiest thing to obtain. For obvious reasons, it’s all a bit clandestine. Being somewhat inexperienced with downloading bootlegged movies, it took a bit of stumbling around before I could figure out how to get a copy of the edit. Eventually I had it sorted and let it download. Getting it burnt to a DVD was another challenge but I got that figured out too. If anyone needs some help in that area just drop me a message and I’ll see what I can do.

I had read through the long list of changes so I knew what to expect. I was aware from the start that while Adywan had in some instances been extremely faithful to the original edit, in others he was just as bad as George Lucas.

All of the clean-ups were extremely welcome. In particular the edits to fix up the broken music cues were a nice touch that few would notice. The smoothing of the conspicuous jump cuts were also a great change, and it is certainly a mystery why Lucasfilm hasn’t tweaked these already. Blackening Darth Vader’s and R2-D2’s lenses works well too; Lucasfilm seems more interested in making Ewok eyes more realistic than central characters’ eyes. One of the more impressive changes, although probably unnoticable to most, is an entire colour correction for the whole movie. Adywan has also cleaned up a lot of the lightsaber effects better than Lucasfilm managed.

The reversal of many of the Special Edition changes is also noteworthy. Han shoots first and Greedo not at all. CGI Mos Eisley extras no longer provide awkward comic relief or walk through the middle of otherwise nicely composed frames. The run in with Jabba no longer occurs. There’s still a bit of Special Edition in there, though for the most part it’s not offensive.

What does stray into the offensive side is some of Adywan’s additions. He’s added extra music to scenes that worked far better without them. Silence is often a conscious musical choice on John Williams’ part, and to go against that seems against the spirit of the edit. For the most part, musical additions consist of pieces composed for other movies, and even other scenes with their own very different pace. The Death Star is first introduced in an extended scene, featuring more Star Destroyers and a planet for the space station to orbit. However, the element that really irks me in this scene is the addition to this scene of the Imperial March, music which ordinarily does not feature in A New Hope at all. There’s also the Emperor’s Theme that plays in the Death Star meeting room, and later on during the lightsaber duel we hear Battle of the Heroes, a piece of music from the prequels! To be fair, Adywan also offers an edit called the “Purist” edit, which does not feature these musical changes.

Unfortunately, some of the other “enhancements” still exist in the Purist edit, though thankfully all the music changes are gone. It seems little, but adding sparkly electrics to the torture droid’s needle is only a short step from what George Lucas does. And giving Chewbacca a medal, as much as he deserves one, is completely in Lucas territory. It seems quite odd that Chewbacca still gets a medal in the Purist version. I guess our definitions of “purist” differ. Not that I think Chewbacca shouldn’t have received a medal, but giving him one is decidely not “pure” Star Wars.

In addition to the questionable musical accompaniment, Adywan has also recut the lightsaber duel to give it a bit more pace. In some ways it works really well: the quicker cuts make you believe the duel between the cripple and the old man is a lot more intense. But he’s also made some other odd choices, like fiddling with the lightsaber ignitions. Overall though, the new edit looks really good, but the music doesn’t fit well and ruins the scene.

On the other hand, some of the additions work really well. All the computer displays in the Rebel Base have been given a Lucasesque CGI makeover, and although I was dubious at first, it actually works pretty well. For starters, Adywan has fixed the Death Star superlaser position on the schematic that Artoo displays. To me, this was always far more noticable than the English lettering on the Death Star tractor beam switch that Lucasfilm did fix. The schematic itself now closely resembles the plans the Geonosians gave to Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones, so it’s also a far more palatable link to the prequels than, say, replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen. The briefing room scene has also had a CGI makeover, as has the Rebel command room during the battle itself. The new CGI displays in the latter work really well: they’re similar to the Rebel briefing before the Battle of Endor, and they give Leia and Threepio something to watch that actually conveys the drama of the battle.

And the battle itself? It’s definitely the highlight of the re-edit. Adywan has edited a lot more energy into the battle, as well as adding a lot more fighters. When the TIE Fighters first approach, there is a overwhelming swarm of them. It looks great. Throughout the battle, Adywan has also added the planet Yavin to a lot of the shots. I thought this would be distracting, but it actually works quite well as a reminder of the battle’s stakes. Adywan has also extended the battle itself with more fighting shots. These aren’t in the Purist edit, which is understandable, but I think they fit a lot better than some of the other things I mentioned above that he left it. In another nice little touch, we see the beams of the Death Star laser start to fire just before the space station explodes. I felt the changes gave the whole battle a lot more tension, and I really enjoyed them.

So overall, Star Wars: Revisited is pretty impressive. I’m certain I’d prefer the Purist edit, despite it losing the extended Battle of Yavin. But in the end, even the Purist edit isn’t the perfect solution to the problem of a “correct” version of Star Wars. Adywan has done an amazing job, but he’s crossed the line in some places and messed with things that shouldn’t have been touched, just like George Lucas. Star Wars: Revisited still isn’t the version of Star Wars I want to introduce to my kids… but it is a version I’d be excited to show them one day.

The dilemma of the Star Wars blu-rays

With the release of the Star Wars trilogy/saga on blu-ray, George Lucas has had yet another fiddle with the masterpiece. And once again I face the quandary that is repurchasing my favourite movies again.

While in the past I’d humoured Lucas’s “enhancements”, and maybe even supported some of them, I definitely think he’s crossed the line now. Making Greedo shoot first was awful, but it didn’t make the movie unwatchable to non-geeks. Adding the ghost of Hayden Christensen was even more awful, and certainly disrespectful. But with Vader now screaming “NOOOOO!” as he turns on the Emperor, the climax of the whole trilogy is completely ruined for everyone watching it, not just those who remember how it once was.

I currently own two sets of the Star Wars trilogy: the Special Edition VHS versions, and the 2004-release DVD versions. Yes, shamefully I don’t own any versions of Star Wars pre-Special Edition, but such a thing is getting increasingly rare to locate, especially in a decent format. Neither of these versions is particularly good: VHS is a sub-standard format, even without all the Special Edition changes, and although the DVDs are an improvement from that standpoint, they have poor colour and sound-editing, and they still contain all the Special Edition changes, and even more heinous ones like Hayden Christensen’s ghost.

The move from VHS to DVD was an obvious transition despite the drawbacks of the edits. However, the move to blu-ray is less so, particularly since I have been putting off buying a blu-ray player until Star Wars is released. Yet now, a new factor has entered into the equation: the birth of my first child next year. How am I to introduce this new young person to my favourite movies of all time? Are there any versions that decently represent the films?

None of the versions of Star Wars widely-available today are good enough. The closest thing is the untouched versions available on the bonus discs of the 2008-release DVDs. I was hoping (in vain) that they might also be included on the blu-rays. Yet from all reports, the prints of these versions is terrible and not cleaned up in any way. It’s as though George Lucas wants you to appreciate how much better the movies are with his alterations by not cleaning up the originals, thereby making them less-watchable.

So, perhaps the blu-ray versions aren’t so bad. Or at least, there’s a good chance they’re better than the versions I already own. I had a look at Wikipedia’s list of changes in Star Wars re-releases. Yes, there is an entire Wikipedia page about this shit. So let’s have a look at the changes to the trilogy, film by film.

Episode IV: A New Hope

• After Aunt Beru calls Luke to remind him about the translator droid, she says “Tell your uncle if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bocce.” In prior releases, this line began with “Tell Uncle.” [meh]
• Obi-Wan’s Krayt Dragon call has once again been changed. [meh]
• In the scene where Obi-Wan discovers R2-D2 hiding in an alcove, rocks have been digitally inserted into the frame to hide the droid, though no explanation for him getting behind them or out from behind them is added (in fact, they disappear altogether.). [worse]
• The shot of Han and Greedo firing at each other has been shortened by several frames from the 2004 DVD version so they shoot at nearly the same time. [better]
• Luke’s green lightsaber blade during the training scene aboard the Millennium Falcon from the 2004 DVD has been corrected, though the blade still appears more white than blue for the rest of the scene. [better]
• Just before Han blasts the final TIE Fighter during the Millennium Falcon attack, the missing part of the laser at the edge of frame has been fixed. [better]
• The audio errors during the Battle of Yavin in the 2004 DVD have been corrected. [much better]
• Sparks are added to certain moments of the lightsabers clashing during the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader aboard the Death Star. [meh]

With the exception of adding disappearing CG rocks, most of the changes are not too offensive. Though if they’re changing Greedo and Han to fire simultaneously, what’s the point? Han should just fire first if they’re going to go that far. All of the changes I’ve marked as “better” are fixing things that were made worse in previous re-releases, so wouldn’t be in the original versions anyway. Verdict: the blu-ray is a noticable improvement on both the Special Edition and 2004 DVDs.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• In the shot when the Wampa mauls Luke’s Tauntaun, the puppeteer pole can no longer be seen. [better]
• In an exterior shot of Cloud City featuring Leia waiting for Han in her apartment, a reflection can now be seen in Leia’s window. [meh]
• The scene when Chewie is retrieving C-3PO from the Ugnaughts has the blue light from the furnace recoloured orange and sparks added in the background. [meh]

Fortunately nothing too offensive at all, especially since The Empire Strikes Back is my favourite of the three. It was already the movie with the least changes anyway. Verdict: the blu-ray is not significantly better than 2004 DVDs edit-wise, though both are better than the Special Edition. The high definition of blu-ray gives it the edge, I suppose.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• A static long shot of R2-D2 and C-3PO approaching the door to Jabba’s palace has been replaced with an extreme long shot revealing more of the door, as the camera zooms in on the droids. [meh]
• There are now brighter flashes of light when Han is released from the carbonite. [meh]
• A CG Dug has been added to the scene in Jabba’s palace which features sleeping partygoers. [worse]
• A new closeup shot of Han striking Boba Fett’s jetpack has been added. [meh]
• The Ewoks’ eyes now have CG eyelids, allowing them to blink. [worse]
• When R2-D2 is shot by a stormtrooper, additional CG gadgets fly out of his body as he malfunctions. [worse]
• Some of the lightsaber errors from the 2004 DVD have been corrected and Luke and Darth Vader’s lightsabers now have white cores. The saber cross in front of the Emperor is now completely fixed from the 2004 release. [better]
• Darth Vader now says “No” while Luke is tortured by the Emperor’s Force Lightning attack, and then immediately screams “Nooooo!” as he picks Palpatine up and hurls him into the Death Star’s reactor core. [much, much worse]

Most of the changes here are inexcusable. Again, the only part that’s better is a fix to a problem they introduced in a previous re-release. Unfortunately, Return of the Jedi was already the most hacked of the three, what with Jabba’s palace getting silly, Hayden Christensen making a cameo, and the extended ending (which, if I’m honest, I do prefer). So the motivation to go out of my way to get a better version of it is already low, especially if the other two are passable. Verdict: the blu-ray is worse than 2004 DVD, which in turn is worse than the Special Edition.

Perhaps in a few years the original, unaltered but restored versions of the Star Wars Trilogy will at long last become available. Should I wait for them? They may never come. For the moment, at least, it looks like the blu-ray edition is, sadly, the best version available to me.

Or perhaps I should more thoroughly investigate the Star Wars Revisited fan edits, and just stop giving George Lucas my money….