Movie Review: Star Wars
Instead of focusing on any of the new cinema releases this month, I’m choosing to review something much older, but no less significant. The Star Wars Saga defined not only one generation but several, and its recent release on Blu-Ray draws some of the attention back.
Lucas made the executive decision to not release the movies separately, so we’re left with the choice of getting either the original or prequel trilogy, or for the ambitious fans, both of them in one package with 40 hours of extra features.
All the classic Star Wars fans will most likely immediately jump to get the original saga, but don’t think it’s the exact theatrical release in sparkly-clean high def. Apparently Lucas chose to edit in a slew of changes that include but aren’t limited to adding some extra rocks in front of R2-D2 in a Tattooine scene, making the Ewoks blink occasionally, substituting of various dialogue for different takes across all three movies, and the big one sure to rile up every die-hard fan, the unnecessary insertion of Darth Vader yelling “NOOOOO!” as he saves Luke’s life at the end.
Why all the changes? I have no idea, and I don’t know why they couldn’t focus on changing things that STILL look bad, like the lightsaber effects in A New Hope. Other than a few minor “touch-ups,” this is exactly the same as the 2004 DVD release, but maybe a little crisper. The problem is, you don’t really want to be able to see a movie from 1979 in high def. You can just see more that’s wrong.
If you’re a financially-strapped college kid like I am and can only choose one, get the prequel trilogy. Sure, Episode III is the only movie worth paying for, but the other two still look really nice, even if only for the special effects. You can fast-forward through the Anakin/Padme love scenes and probably still enjoy watching the battles for the CGI more than you’d enjoy watching the choppily-animated battles on Hoth or Yavin from the other trilogy, no matter how classic they are.
Sure, the original trilogy is made up of three very solid movies, but that’s no reason to drop 40 bucks to see exactly the same thing you saw in 2004 with the DVD release. The high def overhauls are much more impressive in the prequels, and chances are you’ll enjoy watching them much more.
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