Star Wars, the fourth
So yes, I bought the complete saga on Bluray today. I’ve just finished watching A New Hope, and yes, I still notice all of the 1997 Special Edition additions, and there’s even a few more that are brand new for this release, but it really doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the movie. I’m no colour-timing nit-picker, but the movie looks better than ever to me.
Like I said, I’m a big enough nerd to pick out all of the changes, but they really never had a chance of ruining the movie for me. I can’t remember exactly when I first saw ANH, but I seem to recall myself being somewhere around the age of 7 or so. I want to say I first watched a VHS copy that was taped off cable at a friend’s place, and soon followed by my own copy of the pre-special edition of the trilogy on VHS, no doubt because of the massive advertising campaign at the time.
One way or another, I’m pretty sure I wore down at least one or two VHS tapes watching it over and over. And for me, the original trilogy still holds all the allure and wonderment as it did the first time I saw it. So Greedo shoots first, or there’s a few more aliens around Mos Eisley, but it doesn’t matter. My first viewing are burned in to my brain as the way things are, and the way they’ll always be.
But I can appreciate the things the new HD transfer brings. Darth Vader is even more menacing, Princess Leia is even more beautiful, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, Chewie is ever more emotive, now that you can see his eyes more clearly.
Everyone who holds a strong opinion of the further alterations has obviously seen all of these movies more than once. To them I say, enjoy these movies. In nearly any format, I think they’ll bring back the feelings and memories from the first time you saw them, and you might even notice some things you missed the first time around.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go pick up some new power converters from Tosche station.
