One thing I'd like to add is that I do not consider A New Hope a perfect film, well the the effects for the space battles are I think the best even today, they are certainly better than the best CGI today though I understand the it is WAAAAY harder to make it this way using actual models and forced perspective. But the textures are SPOT ON!Jingle Fett said:That's true, but the Blade Runner Final Cut was also the only version where Ridley Scott had full creative control over the movie. So in a way, it's almost like a completely new movie, whereas Star Wars is the same movie with changes. George Lucas had control from the very beginning--him making changes now is like saying "I never made the movie how I wanted so I'm doing it now" (when he fully could have) whereas in Scott's case it's more like "I wasn't given the chance to do the movie how I wanted and I'm doing it now".Treblaine said:
You are completely right about the majority of the Star Wars changes being zero-sum or negative, so I'd say that's also part of what pissed everybody off so much (whereas the Blade Runner ones were an improvement).
The other thing Blade Runner has going for it is the fact that the original theatrical release is still available in that special 5-pack. If the original theatrical versions of Star Wars were available on DVD, I would have absolutely no problem with the existence of the new versions since I could always just pretend they don't exist. Too bad it's only VHS
But the Special Edition did not improve in any meaningful way, it was just "fiddled" with.
Like CGI animals loitering in the background... why?!? What's the point? it's a distraction for how the CGI isn't even that good compared to, for example, the CGI in Jurassic Park of 3 years previous.
It's a testament to the cast and crew that THIRTY FIVE YEARS AGO they were able to so comprehensively include all these effects on what was - then - on a relatively small budget.
A meeting with Jabba that COMPLETELY changes his character and utterly weakens him. How can it possibly be the same character who pleads and cajoles with Han, accepts him talking back to him with almost deference. Even within the film it disrupts it as the threat of Jabba's retribution is supposed to hang over Solo to lead to a kind of conflict between him helping the rebellion and having a last minute change of heart. In 1977 he was cut for various reasons and he was originally a fat rather jovial human and a Tattoine local.
See the Special Edition Jabba was a non-threat, him being cut from the original film completely changed allowed for the sequels where Han is captured by Jabba's agent to suffer the awful fate of being frozen in carbonite in Empire and then the lengths his friend had to go to to rescue him in Return.
But what you could change, well you could make the Death Star a bit more interesting and have it really mean something as opposed to them just being on some other prison or military outpost. Like you could play around with gravity, how would gravity work for a gigantic sphere. It doesn't seem to be like a real planet as when the ship comes in to land at the level of the "equator" gravity seems to be parallel to the surface, but what would it be like with corners that bent up and around through 90 degrees with you apparently walking up and down walls.
The Millennium Falcon going to Alderaan to being captured, right through to the "Wookie Prisoner Routine" and trash compactor was perfect.
The problem is how do you get them from the trash compactor, to the Millenium Falcon even considering that the tractor beam is disabled, without making the Stormtroopers look like complete pushovers? I know it's fun to joke about "Stormtrooper level of accuracy" but the storm troopers are supposed to be intimidating. Now in the prison shootout the stormtroopers were a serious threat that forced the heroes to take a leap of faith. But if two guys, a gal and a wookie can just shoot their way out, couldn't they have shot their way in in the first place?
Something IMPORTANT needs to be done to tilt the odds in their favour, to show that the empire troops are an incredible threat and worthy of needing subterfuge to get this far.
I say this is the point where you have fun with gravity, how the Death Star clearly has a network of artificial gravitational fields. But how to tie this in more closely with Obi Wan's sacrifice and how while all these shenanigans are going on vader is supposedly always in the other room when he seem the perfect guy to fuck up best laid plans, he personally saw so the Millenium Falcon I'd like to see him clamp down the security situation in the Prison block.
I think what would work is a mass jail break, to demonstrate the Empire wasn't some reasonable authority, they were holding good people as prisoners
Also, I'm not a fan of the multiple deathstars thing.
Deathstar is supposed to be the ONE ALMIGHTY POWER! IF they can just build a second one by Return of the Jedi, why not build a third after that? Was all that was needed was killing the Emperor? If it was that easy why not focus on assassinating him? I say, have the secret to destroying the Death Star be its very mode of destruction, attacking the Huge Mega Laser will cripple it by turning its power on itself.
Give's meaning to Vader's words on the power of "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the potential of the Force." As it was a force guided missile that blew up the Death Star. Following on with the eastern teachings theme, it's like judo, turning an attackers strength against them.
But it will not totally destroy it, it will leave it a burning wreckage in space... orbiting Yavin with their assault troops and Star Destroyer factories still intact.
2nd movie the wreak is still orbiting and The Empire have regrouped against the Rebels (in what was essentially a desperate lucky strike at end of previous film) and attack in a mass planetary invasion, so Yavin spared destruction is invaded Hoth style. That clears up why the rebels left the lush planet of Yavin for Hoth, they invade the planet via the frozen north and swiftly the empire start exploiting the plaets resources to rebuild the Death Star and establish their dominance.
Third movie, this time it's ALL IN, the rebel mission is to retake Yavin and totally destroy the Death Star which has now been made the seat of government for the Empire, moved from Courisant and the disbanded Senate. Yavin is Endor, substitute Ewoks for local resistance who stayed behind (by choide or not) when the Empire invaded and have somehow stayed alive and key to destroying their surface defences. Yeah, little furry friends are gone, replaced with humans, Wookies or whatever you can believe could be a serious match for Stormtroopers. That's also part of "y u suck so much" on stormtroopers, it doesn't make Ewok's look endearing by defeating stromtroopers, it makes them look monumentally incompetent.
So three planets/moons, Yavin, Hoth and Endor, are condensed into a single planet: Yahodor (maybe just call it Endor, I think it's the best planetoid name).
You can see what I'm doing here, I'm fixing the common comedic tropes of the series as in:
-why are stormtroopers such bad shots/fighters?
-why space station blow up from one tiny uncovered port?
-why Ewoks suck so much?
And expand on:
-Vader is a Magnificent bastard, if only he was on our side (Rommel/Jack-bauer type character)
-Empire are ultimate bullies to everyone
-Han Solo's internal conflict over The Empire and Rebels.
The problem is how do you get them from the trash compactor, to the Millenium Falcon even considering that the tractor beam is disabled, without making the Stormtroopers look like complete pushovers? I know it's fun to joke about "Stormtrooper level of accuracy" but the storm troopers are supposed to be intimidating. Now in the prison shootout the stormtroopers were a serious threat that forced the heroes to take a leap of faith. But if two guys, a gal and a wookie can just shoot their way out, couldn't they have shot their way in in the first place?
Something IMPORTANT needs to be done to tilt the odds in their favour, to show that the empire troops are an incredible threat and worthy of needing subterfuge to get this far.
I say this is the point where you have fun with gravity, how the Death Star clearly has a network of artificial gravitational fields. But how to tie this in more closely with Obi Wan's sacrifice and how while all these shenanigans are going on vader is supposedly always in the other room when he seem the perfect guy to fuck up best laid plans, he personally saw so the Millenium Falcon I'd like to see him clamp down the security situation in the Prison block.
I think what would work is a mass jail break, to demonstrate the Empire wasn't some reasonable authority, they were holding good people as prisoners
Also, I'm not a fan of the multiple deathstars thing.
Deathstar is supposed to be the ONE ALMIGHTY POWER! IF they can just build a second one by Return of the Jedi, why not build a third after that? Was all that was needed was killing the Emperor? If it was that easy why not focus on assassinating him? I say, have the secret to destroying the Death Star be its very mode of destruction, attacking the Huge Mega Laser will cripple it by turning its power on itself.
Give's meaning to Vader's words on the power of "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the potential of the Force." As it was a force guided missile that blew up the Death Star. Following on with the eastern teachings theme, it's like judo, turning an attackers strength against them.
But it will not totally destroy it, it will leave it a burning wreckage in space... orbiting Yavin with their assault troops and Star Destroyer factories still intact.
2nd movie the wreak is still orbiting and The Empire have regrouped against the Rebels (in what was essentially a desperate lucky strike at end of previous film) and attack in a mass planetary invasion, so Yavin spared destruction is invaded Hoth style. That clears up why the rebels left the lush planet of Yavin for Hoth, they invade the planet via the frozen north and swiftly the empire start exploiting the plaets resources to rebuild the Death Star and establish their dominance.
Third movie, this time it's ALL IN, the rebel mission is to retake Yavin and totally destroy the Death Star which has now been made the seat of government for the Empire, moved from Courisant and the disbanded Senate. Yavin is Endor, substitute Ewoks for local resistance who stayed behind (by choide or not) when the Empire invaded and have somehow stayed alive and key to destroying their surface defences. Yeah, little furry friends are gone, replaced with humans, Wookies or whatever you can believe could be a serious match for Stormtroopers. That's also part of "y u suck so much" on stormtroopers, it doesn't make Ewok's look endearing by defeating stromtroopers, it makes them look monumentally incompetent.
So three planets/moons, Yavin, Hoth and Endor, are condensed into a single planet: Yahodor (maybe just call it Endor, I think it's the best planetoid name).
You can see what I'm doing here, I'm fixing the common comedic tropes of the series as in:
-why are stormtroopers such bad shots/fighters?
-why space station blow up from one tiny uncovered port?
-why Ewoks suck so much?
And expand on:
-Vader is a Magnificent bastard, if only he was on our side (Rommel/Jack-bauer type character)
-Empire are ultimate bullies to everyone
-Han Solo's internal conflict over The Empire and Rebels.
But that's a lot of changes, more in the realm of remake and tweak. The problem is Star Wars is pretty much 85% perfect, only 15% (in sections) is imperfect. To remake it would walk the dangerous ground of trying to either do either a direct copy of great scenes or try to come up with an equivalently good take on it.
