Minus one billion (Off-Topic)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, December 20, 2015, 21:22 (3264 days ago) @ Funkmon
edited by Cody Miller, Sunday, December 20, 2015, 21:26

I'll chalk this one up to the extreme prejudice and stubbornness of old age. If you had seen the movies with some objectivity (at about the same time, within a couple years of each other) I'm sure you'd have a different opinion.

I feel like I'm more qualified than most to evaluate things like this objectively.

1. I've studied film history extensively.
2. I'm a literal professional when it comes to making films
3. I love to watch movies.
4. I am not old :-p

Many of the changes you say you like are but surface level details, which do not really have much impact on the story of draw the audience in any more. I am all for cleaning up visible matte lines, fixing matte paintings with incorrect perspective, etc. These fixes are nice, but nobody was really looking at the hallway when Han Luke and Leia were trapped before jumping into the garbage chute and thinking "man, the perspective is off… now I can't connect with the emotion of this scene!"

However many of the changes are not simple harmless fixes, but either significant alterations, pointless scenes or additions that significantly clash aesthetically with the rest of the film.

Every single change that was not simply a surface level detail or technical fix detracted from the films. Every single one. That is not an exaggeration, and it is not nostalgia talking.

Watch the climax in the original theatrical release. It is perhaps the most perfect action sequence ever made. Compare that to the special edition, which adds in different shots, recuts the timing, and in general just loses some of the excitement and tension. Editing is more powerful than you know, and a single simple change can cause a ripple effect to alter the experience significantly.

Surface level details are very easy to look at and say "wow, that looks better!". But there is way more to making a movie than just nice looking shots and technical acumen.