I had a few minutes to kill, so I stopped in a Goodwill to check out their records and movies. It was a disappointing selection until I spotted the original trilogy packaged in a way I hadn’t seen before. In a three-pack of slim cases, this set claimed to have the 1997 Special Editions and the original theatrical cut of each film. I ponied up the $3.99, and here we are. After a quick Google search, I found out this was a legit release, and it’s the last time these have been officially made available.
I’m always looking for a good excuse to revisit Star Wars, so I watched all three theatrical cuts followed by the newest versions streaming on Disney+. I’m not going to get into every single difference (other sites have done that in much greater detail than I could ever do), but I did want to offer my reaction to these films from my perspective growing up with the Special Editions.
A New Hope
First off, this wasn’t even A New Hope back then, so there’s that. No one seems too bothered about that change; the main two issues with this one concern Han Solo. I’ve already mentioned Han shooting first and the added Jabba the Hutt scene.
I agree that Han shooting Greedo first does make him more badass, but having Greedo sneak a shot off first didn’t ruin that for me. In the Special Edition, I still thought it made Han look like someone who can take care of himself and is willing to kill someone, if need be. In no scenario was Greedo presented as a harmless person, so it’s not like Han was originally portrayed as some heartless murderer, and then Lucas ruined it. Then there’s the infamous “Maclunkey!” addition on Disney+. I suppose the issue here is the main issue fans have with most of these changes in general: it’s not necessary. Why change who shoots first? Why add a Huttese phrase? Clean it up, make the laser blast more impactful, whatever. But don’t fix what isn’t broken. It doesn’t ruin anything for me, but I can see why people hate it.
As for the Jabba scene, in general I’m okay with it, but only because I already knew who Jabba the Hutt was before I ever saw a Star Wars movie. If I had the chance to watch the first two films originally, only knowing Jabba the Hutt as a gangster who wants Solo, then the reveal of his appearance in Jedi would have been amazing. Without that experience, I don’t really care that he’s inserted into A New Hope. I don’t even mind that Boba Fett is tossed in there for fan service. The walking over the tail moment (which I remember Lucasfilm people being really proud of in behind-the-scenes material), does look janky, even on Disney+, but, once again, whatever.
As for everything else, I enjoyed seeing the ‘70s grime of the theatrical cut and all the rough edges of the special effects work. But, in general, I prefer the updated stuff. I know it takes some people out of the movie because it’s different from what they remembered, but that’s not the case with me. I’m glad I got to see Star Wars the way it was originally released, but I’ve made my peace with Lucas’s alterations long ago, so I’ll take the cleaned up version with its controversial changes.
The Empire Strikes Back
This is easily the least controversial Special Edition of the original trilogy. They mainly just cleaned up the space effects stuff (though I kind of like seeing the outlines in these original cuts). One of the main changes in 1997 was adding a scream as Luke fell near the end, and that’s gone from the latest version now, which makes me oddly nostalgic for the Special Edition version.
With this one, the changes made after the Special Edition caught some flak. The first is putting Ian McDiarmid in the Emperor scene and changing up the dialogue a bit. I miss the monkey-eyed old lady Emperor, but I’m okay with it. The changes in dialogue are minimal, but some argue it changes things regarding Vader knowing about Luke. Vader’s knowledge of Luke is a whole can of worms unto itself. The new version makes it seem like Vader is learning about it at that moment. I guess that’s okay, but shouldn’t he be more pissed? I get that he’s the Emperor’s bitch at this point, but how do you just brush off that the dude has lied to you about Padme for twenty years? But that’s a weak point in the series no matter what happens in this scene.
McDiarmid was added to create more similarities between the prequel trilogy and the original, and with that in mind they also changed Boba Fett’s voice from Jason Wingreen to Tamuera Morrison. I still like the original voice, but I understand it makes no sense at this point for Fett to not sound like Morrison. This is just another messy element created by the prequels that they tried to fix later. I get it, but I still like the old version more. Maybe he just had a cold that day that made his New Zealand accent sound more American? Who cares? It’s sci-fi; make something up.
But Fett’s voice and Luke’s scream aside, I still like watching the cleaned up version more.
The Return of the Jedi
Finally, some changes that truly annoy me. Even when I first saw the Special Edition at age twelve, I thought, “What the fuck is this shit?” when the CG muppets started a full on music sequence in Jabba’s Palace. Jedi has always been derided for being a bit too kiddie what with the muppet band and the Ewoks, but this is just too much, even for someone as forgiving as me. Not to mention, the original song during this moment is better! This change is unforgivable because it is only there to show off the CG effects of the time. Why else do we get that stupid close up of Joh Yowza (I had to look that up; I’m not dorky enough to just know that name) with spit dangling out of his stupid CG mouth? (By the way, the Max Rebo Band has its own Wikipedia page. God help us all.)
I guess I’m okay with them bringing back the original actress to film what happens after she falls into the Rancor pit, but was anyone really confused about what happened to her?
Speaking of pits, the Sarlacc has a beak and some tentacles added to it, but I preferred the simplistic hole with teeth. It honestly looks creepier than the CG monster they added to it.
Back to the music, most people are most upset with “Yub Nub” being taken out of the ending. This one didn’t bother me as much because, dare I write it, I’m not a big fan of “Yub Nub.” The new song is fine, and I definitely like the addition of prequel locations to the ending showing how the entire galaxy has been saved…only to immediately be fucked again by Disney, however.
The changes to the ending I dislike concern Vader in the more recent editions. First off, adding the “No!” as he kills the Emperor is just weak ass shit trying to make his crazy “Nooooooo!” at the end of Revenge of the Sith make a little more sense. It just makes him look stupid. I also don’t care for the addition of Hayden Christensen to the Force ghost lineup. It doesn’t make sense. Why would the younger version show up? There is an argument that his form is that of when he was last a Jedi, but didn’t he redeem himself in the end? So it should still be the older version. I also don’t like that look Christensen is giving directly to the camera. It’s just another way to tie the prequels visually to the originals, and it doesn’t work for me.
Because of these changes, I prefer the theatrical cut to any of the later additions. But it looks like such shit on the DVD I bought that I’ll still most likely watch the streaming version just because I’m spoiled by HD now.
Final Thoughts
Watching the theatrical cuts wasn’t all that impactful for me as a fan. It was definitely interesting, and I’m glad I finally saw them in this form. But my nerd mind has calmed down a bit these days (but not too much since I’m still writing articles like this), so I’ll just stick with the best looking version of the trilogy offered on streaming. But I’m glad I have some options since I have this set, the original DVDs of the prequels, the original Special Edition VHSs, the Special Edition DVDs, and the Blu-Ray release. It’s stupid that Disney doesn’t clean these up and put them on Disney+ or sell them on 4K, though. It must be a condition with Lucas or something that they can’t do it until he dies, or maybe ever, because they would surely make a profit if they just restored the theatrical cuts and put them back in theaters for a bit before releasing on home video. I hope it somehow happens in my lifetime, because I would love a chance to see an HD version of these instead of digging out my janky Goodwill DVD set.
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