I can't watch the special editions. He ruined the pace, he ruined the music in Empire with a pointless scene of vader taking a shuttle ride, he ruined the emotional peak of Jedi with a pointless overdub. It's so unfun. I grew up with videotapes taken off the original HBO broadcasts, I had every beat memorized. I can just tell, it's not the movie I watched anymore.
It's only natural, they are George's films, he does what he sees fit with them. It's strange watching the original theatrical cuts, because I'm just too used to the special editions, my childhood films.
@@angelainamarie9656I'm the opposite, I can't watch the original theatrical cuts because I'm too used to the special editions. I mean I'd be nice to watch the theatrical cuts, but I'm just as happy not watching those versions, special editions are how I watch these films.
What's crazy is he could have made a killing if he rereleased the original cuts on Blu-ray. People would've bought those so fast kind of like what happened with New Coke. He refused to do it out of pure spite.
@@angelainamarie9656you sound extremely pathetic. The special editions ruin nothing about the original trilogy. If a few tweaks in the special editions can make you hate Star Wars. I question if you like Star Wars at all.
True... which is why I want the OG trilogy to be entirely reshot to make the changes less jarring. 😃 Well at least all scenes involving Storm Troopers so they look like proper soldiers and not orcs wearing sci fi armor.
It was common at the time for the BBFC to mandate the removal of headbutts from films rated 15 and lower in the UK, presumably due to a fear of kids getting or giving concussions through imitating the action. I remembered there being a headbutt taken out of The Matrix Reloaded but it turns out that, among others, they’ve also been cut from GoldenEye, The Mummy Returns, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and, erm, Shrek 2.
Can't decide who your Brit leaders think is stupider, your wee impressionable but Clockwork-orangey violent kids, or the world wide mass audience. Having seen all those films on US television, I'm pretty sure the head-butt thing is gone in the American versions too.
😂 I didn't know that . Very strange as prime time BBC in the 80s had The Russ Abbott show with a Scottish character who's catch phrase was 'See you Jimmy' followed by a headbutt to the face of whomever was in the sketch that week.
Most people don't pay attention to changes in the prequels because the nature of those changes is so subtle compared to the changes made to the original trilogy for the special editions. I agree that artists should fulfill their artistic vision, and I also believe that there's no such thing as a "final" or "completed" film, yet I still take issue with the special editions because the nature of those changes really distracts from the groundbreaking work done back in the 1970s and 80s. I don't want to see CG creatures in a movie that was made decades before CG creatures were a thing. Star Wars was limited back then by the technology, but that allowed the story and visual effects team to get creative. Not that I prefer one trilogy over the other, they are both amazing in their own right using the technology of the time.
So Rian Johnson is right for making TLJ because it's his vision? Sorry, but SW is more like a folklore or culture that should belong to Americans and other nations, not a specific artist or company. It should be open source and public domain like Greek mythology.
@@user-yq9im9dk9zThere's no "right" or "wrong" with Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi. It simply exists, and yes, it is Rian Johnson's vision, not George Lucas's, which is why it fails at every single level as a Star Wars film.
No. Episode 1 and 2 are horribly lazily cobbled together, and nothing makes any sense. You probably defend them as a nostalgic childhood memory. The changes in the old films are never changing anything about the story, the pacing, the dialogue, never anything substantial. They did eliminate the groundbreaking and prize winning special effects. There is no artistic vision in the changes. It's just hubris and too much time at hand.
@@j.m.w.5064Episode 1 and 2 are fantastic films. Please give some specific examples of where you think they failed and we can have a calm, rational conversation about it.
I think Phantom Menace played better in the shorter theatrical version, but the additions don't really bother me. The one thing that does bother me? The removal of the "vote now!" chant. I don't know why, but that bugs me every single time; I loved that bit! And the moment feels naked without it.
Vote Now sounds like it would've been better to cohesively tie in the whole political thriller aspect of the prequals episode 1 in particular. I think that angle needed more explicit recongition in episode 1 especially even though I think senate politcs wasnt going to be everyones cup of tea needed some hand holding
I totally agree that it doesn't work as well without, as it's like they're just murmuring or something and not actually protesting. I always assumed it was because George decided that aliens shouldn't chant in English (Basic?) but that makes no sense at all anyway.
1:41 "...And we all know Georgie boy loves messing with his movies AFTER they have finished showing in the cinema." May 1977: Timing of end credits and a couple of compositing errors fixed last minute before premiere, earlier version shows up on some premiere prints. June 1977: Changes SFX and Dialogue for the mono mix of Star Wars. May 1980: Adds new VFX shots to ESB, recomposites the majority of the Battle of Hoth, directly after the premiere, so the changes don't show up on most 70mm prints. June 1980: Slight dialogue changes for mono mix of ESB. April 1981: Reissues SW with "Episode IV: A New Hope" crawl - while original prints have basically been running continuously for the last four years. May 2002: Slight fixes to AOTC only visible in digital cinemas, shortened cut of the film premieres on IMAX due to technical constraints. He also loved messing with his movies WHILE they were still in cinemas.
Do you know if the recomposite of Battle of Hoth has something to do with the blue screen compositing. Is it about how some areas that are at the edge of the mask are more shadowed? Where did you find the info for this, I’m talking if there’s somewhere you can point me. Thanks
@@abnorth2276 Exactly! The process would usually result in black outlines around bluescreened elements. Especially apparent for the snow battle. Messing with the transparency made the outlines thinner though. That touchy optical printing process for effects shots was done once for the 70mm premiere of the film, and then various shots were re-printed to match a little better after Lucas demanded a couple extra changes for the 35mm wide release. Of course, all those Hoth effects were redone again digitally in 1997, so neither theatrical versions from 1980 exist in HD officially, but luckily TheStarWarsTrilogy forums have some film prints in their collection and have catalogued all of the differences.
This is what is so ridiculous to me. George was tinkering with the films at all stages. He's probably still editing his own personal versions at home. And we'd see more official versions if he still owned them. Damn!
@@SoulbentAnime Lucas paraphrased an old quote in 1997. "Films are never completed, they are only abandoned." I'm sure just about anyone who has sent out a work of art will spend hundreds of hours tinkering with it before sending out it to the public, only to look back at it later and think "I wish I could change that."
Obsessive. Considering these are Lucas's finest crowning achievements, I can see why he likes to continually tinker with them rather than coming up with new movies.
What annoys me is that he went back and changed all sorts of things that didn't *need* to be, and somehow he never put Sebulba in his pod racer near the end of the race! Everytime I watch that scene, my eye trains on that empty seat! Why? Why?! Why couldn't you just put the bunny back in the box?! I've actually never minded the changes made to any of the movies. In fact, my lifelong friend and I are apparently different than most fans because we were very excited for the Special Edition releases. We were even excited to see what was changed with each re-release of the trilogy! We didn't necessarily like every change (at least 1 in each of the OT movies makes us groan), but it just made it fun when they popped up unexpectedly on our first viewing each time. (The entire room jumped on Star Wars Day the first time we heard the newest version of the Kraytt Dragon roar come through our surround sound! 😂) It was an experience you never really got with other movies.
The one change I absolutely hate from all star wars, is the dumb greedo shot first crap. That is so dumb and makes no sense why greedo would miss from that distance
A little while ago I saw a video that compared each version of the Podrace scenes along with deleted scenes that still didn't make it into the later releases. The most noteable cut thing was that one of the racer's wife & kid showed up with quite a few shots of them reacting to the race. The racer in question was the one who crashes inside the tunnel & explodes, so at some point George must've realized that it was pretty dark to have the guy's family on screen. I don't remember if there's a shot of the family crying but just knowing they're there changes how you perceive that moment. With the recent announcement of the 25th Anniversary theatrical run happening this year, there is a none-zero chance of them restoring more deleted scenes and bringing back the guy's family.
The cgi Yoda was a necessary change imo. The episode 1 original Yoda looked like A DAMN DRUNKEN FOSTER BROOKS!! Kids, Google Foster Brooks and you'll get it.
Same. The replacement of the horrendous TPM Puppet Yoda with CGI Yoda was a good change. TPM Puppet Yoda looks ver uncanny and age breaking compared to his superior ESB and ROTJ puppet appearances💀
The headbutting thing affected so many UK films. Batman (1989) decided to keep the headbutting so was rated 15. Goldeneye had headbutting scenes removed and released as a 12
Now you need to make a whole video of naming unnamed buildings in the background and getting a strike if it's already named something else in the lore.
I like that you briefly mentioned the state of mind of Lucas when doing these changes. I think that we tend to judge them from our perspective of audience/consumer, unhappy with an alteration of something that we bought and that we think was ours. But it's misunderstanding the creative process of an artist. I can totally understand that a creator will always notice multiple details to change to his creation. And whether or not the product is already sold doesn't change the fact that it's his baby and he wants it to be perfect. The minor decisions like replacing a medium shot with a wide one, or inverting the sequence of shots like in the Coruscant chase, or removing the transition between scenes, is the kind of seemingly insignificant decision that you have 50 times per day when editing a movie. And it's perfectly normal. You think that if you rearrange the shots, the scene will have a better rhythm, or a more logical progression, or that it will let the audience breathe more, or in the contrary it will add a bit more tension. Maybe you will come to think that removing the transition between Obi-Wan and Anakin's hand makes them emotionally closer from one another, as if Obi-Wan's thoughts were focused on him, since it will appear to be two connected parts of the same sequence, and not two separate sequences. But later in your process you realize that this suggested connection makes Obi-Wan seem aware of Anakin's survival and struggling to get off of the lava. Or maybe you consider that the immolation scene was supposed to be Obi-Wan's accepting that Anakin is no more, and you don't want him to show after-thoughts. So you revert it, to better illustrate the divergence between the two of them. That's normal filmmaking. The only difference between those few changes and the many many similar tiny adjustments that was made during the main editing phase before the original release, is that we as an audience know they occurred, since we can compare the versions. And it feels odd or gratuitous. But from a creator's point of view, there is no less reason to do those tiny changes, than there was to do the hundreds of hundreds others that they did before, and that you don't know about.
The removal of head butt was common in the UK because you couldn't be rated PG in the UK if the film contained head butts. It would get a 15+ rating. The studio wanted PG.
I grew up watching the phantom menace on VHS so I am familiar with the yoda puppet and the original pod race. I agree that fans of the prequels should mostly be happy with the changes, and I am too, although it does seem to me that the extended podrace shots look slightly more fake than the original ones, making me wonder if less time was spend on the visual effects in those scenes, or if they were cut because they looked slightly less realistic than the others. As for the changes to attack of the clones, I don't mind slight re-editing and scene extensions because I think they work great for that film.
I Am Pretty Sure When He Sold *STAR* *WARS* He Asked *DISNEY* To Never Unaltered Versions Of *OT.* & That’s Good, Because It’s His Films, He Can Do Whatever He Wants To Do.
That’s pretty petty. I know what fans want but I think it’s really important we don’t give it to them. I don’t buy that logic. Many filmmakers don’t even get to say what goes into the original theatrical cut of their movies. So because money you mean? I mean that’s legally true but things that are hugely culturally significant being preserved in their original forms makes sense if you value art or culture at all
When I go to the 25th anniversary showing of The Phantom Menace, I'll be looking to see if there's a puppet Yoda because he was always CGI in the DVD and Disney+ releases that I've seen.
The headbutt was removed from all UK releases of Attack Of The Clones, including conventional cinemas. Ironically the TV trailer actually showed it. As someone already pointed out in the comments, in the UK, the BBFC would automatically give an '18' rating to any film where a headbutt was shown. When Attack Of The Clones was released on DVD, I ordered an import copy from Australia (region 4 but still PAL) just so I could have the film uncut. Fortunately the cut was waived in the blu-ray version. As for the lack of foaming at the mouth regarding changes made to the prequels, it's really pretty simple. The movies from the original trilogy were classics. The prequels aren't.
The theatrical version of TPM had more fanfare leading up to the pod race. There were several changes made to the battle between Darth Maul and the Jedi. There was a moment between Qui-Gon and Maul where they pause and Qui-Gon looks as though he can see through the Sith plot. Obi-wan jumps up one platform layer two times.
The problem isn't that George changed the movies. The problem is that he made the originals near impossible to get. Plenty of movies get changed after their theatrical run. How many versions of Blade Runner are there? But usually, the original is still there. That's the problem.
_How many versions of Blade Runner are there?_ Yes, because Blade Runner belongs to the studio, and the director doesn't have a say. Just like Fox released an "assembly cut" of ALIEN³ even though David Fincher disavowed the movie completely and turned down the opportunity that the studio gave him to re-edit the film with more creative control this time around. Lucas, on the other hand, owned Episodes I to VI. They were HIS movies, that he wrote, directed/co-directed/ghost-directed, supervised from A to Z, and financed with his own money.
@@Megrez-Alberich and yet the original cut of that movie is still available. In this context the person specifically in control of the film is irrelevant,. How the director feels about the theatrical cut of the film is irrelevant. I'm talking specifically about the fact that fans went to the cinemas, saw a specific version, and now want to own THAT version on home video. Sure, Lucas had full authority to butcher his original movies to his heart's content. I'm not saying he didn't, or that he shouldn't have. I don't care if he released 100 different versions of the film. He didn't need to take the theatrical cuts out of circulation. That's what makes the situation with Star Wars fundamentally different to most other movies with post-theatrical cuts, and that's why Star Wars fans are so unhappy with the special editions.
@@link1565V2 Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the frustration and the resentment towards Lucas. I'm just telling you why there are 5 different versions of Blade Runner: it's because the studio decided to release many versions of the film and Ridley Scott didn't have a say in the decision. Contrary to Lucas who could do whatever he wants with SW ep. I-VI because they belonged to him. Should Lucas have released the original, unaltered trilogy in high definition on a modern format? Yes, absolutely! But he's under no obligation to do so if he doesn't want to. That may be unfair and infuriating, but an artist's rights should always come first. Demanding that Lucas release the unaltered OT on Blu-ray and claiming that he owes it to the fans is nothing else than entitlement.
@@Megrez-Alberich I would argue that something like Star Wars is bigger than the creator and there is a strong historical archiving argument to be made regarding releasing the original versions in an easily accessible format. I think you're missing the point about why I brought Blade Runner up. The point is that, yes, there are multiple versions, but the original still exists. Blade Runner was just the first example that came to my head as a movie with multiple versions. Also, from everything I've seen Ridley Scott was involved with most if not all of the alternative versions. So I'm not sure what you're on about there. Regarding Star Wars, what's most frustrating to fans is that it seems fairly clear that Lucas made it part of the contract with Disney that they also cannot release the original cuts. The way Disney are bleeding the franchise, there's no way they don't see the financial upside of a theatrical re-release of the originals, followed by a home release. Hell even as another incentive to get people to sign up to D+. And for the record, I personally don't really care all that much about the subject. For the most part I like the special editions and the way they better fit with the prequels. But I also respect that millions of fans want to see a version of the movie not filled with pointless CGI obstructions and additions.
Idk I know the phantom menace yoda design is weird because it doesn’t match the original that well and doesn’t go well with the digital yoda of episode 2 and 3 but honestly I don’t mind the yoda puppet. The fact that they went the effort to make a yoda puppet for episode 1 shows how a lot of that movie was practical and used a lot of classical techniques for special effects alongside late 90s cgi. The movie stands out compared to the other 2 prequels which are way more digital and sanitized
Let's be honest, the real reason most people don't talk much or complain about the prequel changes is because most of the people who complain about the changes made to the original trilogy(and demand that Lucas release the original versions) don't like the prequels in the first place and hence don't care about what Lucas does to those movies.
I prefer puppet Yoda simply because he resembles the original trilogy version of the character, but watching the prequel trilogy exclusively, it makes more sense to make him cgi I guess
There was a rotoscoping error at 5:38 where Maul’s lightsaber is momentarily obscured, and the animator got confused and rotated it the wrong way, causing it to pass through his leg. This error is easily confirmed by watching frame by frame, and can even be spotted in real time as an unnatural jerk. It has annoyed me for years. I wish Lucas had fixed it.
There’s also a difference in the DvD and VHS version of Phantom Menace. In the DvD version there’s a scene with an alien trying to sell frogs in the bleachers during the pod race, that scene isn’t in the VHS version
I don't object to the relatively minor tweeking Lucas did for the prequel trilogy as the changes don't affect the film experience negatively. The special editions of the original trilogy on the other hand are inferior films, imo.
Lucas went CGI crazy when he was doing the prequels. I knew that he made the change to Yoda, but by that point I had gotten so irritated by Lucas, that I was not surprised. The fact that he had a TON of CGI in the Prequels, and he made the horrible changes to the original trilogy, I kind of gave up on him. There were a COUPLE of changes in the special editions, but the majority was just terrible. Really wish that Disney would do what fans are currently doing and restore the originals to what they once were, and then digitally enhance them, but that's it. But it is difficult to find original releases of the film in the 35mm format. From what I understand 4k77, 4k80, and 4k83 are trying to restore, but it would be awesome to have the tech that Disney could bring to that table. Till then, I'll just send reactors links to a youtube channel that shows the changes that were made through the MULTIPLE versions/changes that Lucas made after release.
Does anyone else remember in the theatrical release of TPM when anakin crashes on the trade federation capital ship, his ship is powered down and several droids speak to r2d2 who says he is the ships pilot as anakin crouches down and hides in the seat? I clearly remember that but I never see it mentioned as a cut.
Huh I never knew about that. A RUclips commenter I found said there was supposedly a scene in TPM theatrical release, on Tatooine, where Padme (in disguise) says "I'm trained in defensive combat."
The digital Yoda makes that trilogy more cohesive, but it makes it less cohesive when it comes to all six films. I genuinely preferred the puppet version over the cgi version.
@@BraveBladeProductions I think it's because he was a puppet in the original trilogy and so it's jarring seeing a CGI Yoda. Not only that but when you have a memory of seeing it in theaters and then it's changed when you watch it at home your brain just says "Nope, that's incorrect."
The Yoda puppet used in EMPIRE still looks the best. I didn’t like the look of the JEDI puppet (painted too green), the EMPIRE puppet had greyish green skin - looking more realistic.
Yoda shouldn't have been seen in the Prequels. Mace should have granted Obi-Wan permission to train Anakin 'after confering with Master Yoda' Keep him mysterious and name him a few times.
I could be wrong, but I think I saw something of a restoration of an actual print of The Phantom Menace. Me personally, I prefer the original theatrical cut. That's why I usually watch my VHS copy. Most of what was cut, was cut for a reason. There was no need for it. I remember people complaining that the pod race sequence was too long and now is even longer. Attack of the Clones, I'll be honest, I saw it in the theater, then on VHS and DVD and didn't even notice the differences. Same with Revenge of the Sith. Although, I haven't seen them on Blu-ray. Didn't see the 3D re-release. I only own the DVD releases.
A few of the color changes are pretty noticeable especially the perhaps Pantoran girl on the far left somewhat near the start of AOTC in Palpatine’s office when Padme and Yoda visit is an insanely wild deep intense teal turquoise deep blue and is way muted looking on all home versions. The teal aqua graphics on Obiwans ship’s HUD are way more intense on the 35mm and same for a lot of aqua and teal type colors on signs on Coruscant and when the probe opens force field protecting padme’s bedroom, etc. and color tinting overall tends to be more pleasant.
Something that might be prevalent is the fact that George had gotten a divorce after the original films. His ex wife had rights due to having been the main editor. However if enough of a film is edited the rights to the film go to the new editor George…. But that’s just a theory A FILM THEORY….. divorce sucks.
At this point I support updating the tatooine and Death Star battle special effects of A New Hope to match the quality of Rogue One. However the original non-special edition should also be made available
If they had used different anakins I would feel much better about the prequels , the little kid was irritating and the teen one came off more stroppy rather than going to turn properly evil
Personally, I don't mind the removal of the puppet Yoda with the CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace. It was the first Star Wars movie I watched on VHS and I always thought that puppet was creepy and in later years inferior to the Original Trilogy Yoda puppet. And it kept continuity with the rest of the Prequel Trilogy.
I grew up with The Phantom Menace on VHS and then DVD and as such, a lot of the Podracing clips that were only available in the deleted scenes menu were now part of the film in later versions....I find it weird 😂
Of all the changes I do wish he added the scene of Yoda landing in Dagobah but also I wish he kept Jason Wintergreens voice for Boba and added him for Jango
I have all the Star Wars movies in every format in my collection just to observe all the changes. Also a minor change in AOTC Bluray, the chapter starts just before Padme says "look" at the gunships, where as in the DVD the chapter begins as he gunships descend. Just seen them too many times to miss.
9:12 It actually may be so. There is a 35mm copy scan of TPM (theatrical version) in the net and when I checked that scan I noticed that the Coruscant landing pad (at least during the scene before departing for Naboo, can't say for the one with arrival on Coruscant) has different "textures" (like it has different coatings for it's floor) than in Blu-ray release where single texture is used (like the floor consists of one coating).
I am not at all surprised that Boba's head butt was removed from AOTC for the UK release. I didn't see the full release (including heart-ripping shot) of the Temple of Doom until I saw it in the US for the first time. British censors are very sensitive to violence, and they may have given the film a 12 rating on DVD with that shot in - yes, that can happen, even if the film is rated U (Universal) in the cinema. Batman (1989) was a 12 in the cinema but a 15 when it was first released on video. American censors are prudish when it comes to nudity, and yet seem desensitised to violence. UK censors are prudish when it comes to violence, but they often let nudity slide (depending on the context).
Batman was a 12 in cinema and a 15 on home release, however, primarily because 12 certificates for UK home video didn't exist until 1994. I was there... 3000 years ago... etc, etc; Was all part of UK regulations looking to adapt / catch up to MPAA's introduction of PG-13 in 1984 and "Hollywood" movies made with those in mind. Before Batman - right through the 80s - it used to just go U, PG, 15, 18 UK-side of the pond.
@@BraveBladeProductions Sure, but I can't help that some people like subpar entertainment. Changes like greedo shooting first, drastically change how characters are perceived. Whatever pointless tweaks done to the prequels affect nothing, because there's barely a story worth watching. I can still watch them, unlike the new ones, but they are pretty middling. There's a reason people ragged on Lucas for years, and why I was incorrectly excited for Disney to take the reigns. If it was your childhood, I get it. But if you remove yourself from the films, you might see how weak they really are. Still, Darth Maul and Duel of the Fates are great.
Digital Yoda in Phantom Menace was actually done years before it was eventually released on the 2011 Bluray. It may have been during the making of AotC as a proof-of-concept or during RotS era - I can’t remember exactly The minor aspect ratio change seen in the 4ks moving to 2.39 from 2.35 is an incredibly common phenomenon. In the modern era, 2.39 has pretty much become the definitive scope ratio. 4k remasters of releases that were previously 2.35 or 2.40 often conform to it. Most if not all new scope movies seem to be 2.39 as it is the DCP scope ratio. The history of why 2.35 and then 2.40 were initially chosen pre-dates the era of digital cinema. Something not mentioned as a change (bc it doesn’t affect the cut of the movie) is the intense film grain scrubbing found on specifically the 4k of Phantom Menace (this is found on the OT as well). There were already some grain scrubbed shots in the 2011 Bluray, but the 2019 4k remaster sees the entire film scrubbed, removing lots of fine detail from the image. Much like Disney’s 4k “remaster” of Pirates of the Caribbean, the image is atrocious and unfaithful. This does not affect Ep. II or III as they were shot digitally. It is a shame bc a proper authentic 4k scan of Phantom Menace could have a lot of potential- at least for the real-life photography. Of course the CG elements will still show their age. If Lucas really didn’t want very much grain he should’ve shot on EXR stock which was popular in the 90’s. If you look at 4k remasters of films shot with that type of filmstock- Reservoir Dogs and Batman Returns, to name 2 examples- they have a remarkable amount of detail/sharpness and very little grain.
The best special edition change ever is Greedo saying "maclunkey" before shooting Han. It doesn't add anything whatsoever to the narrative of the story. The only reason that exists in there is George literally trolling us by changing it again for no reason at all. It makes me laugh every single time.
The swapping of shots during the count dooku escape in AOTC is one of the worst, the music goes out of sync and jumps around. Luckily on the Star Wars Trilogy forums you can grab the HDTV version (1080p version of the DVD version) and watch that instead.
I only noticed the changes in Phantom Menace. I never saw Revenge of the Sith in theaters so I never noticed those changes. I think it is unnecessary. George Lucas had a lot of CGI on him when the prequels were made. I do agree with the Yoda change. It never made sense why they used a puppet for Yoda in Phantom Menace when CGI clearly existed and there were tons of other CGI characters in that movie. It would have given them a head start for the next two movies assuming George Lucas knew what was in store for Yoda in those movies.
Not even going to lie, a lot of those things they added were hyper memorable and some of the strongest shots in my opinion. Anakin calling them animals is hugely fitting and fits with the anti imperialist anti colonialist themes and gives good "hearts of darkness" vibes. His metal hand holding padme's also is a great shot in my opinion. I'll totally agree some of these aren't neccesary but in retrospect I like the tweaks in this case
That is why I thought it was weird going back to Phantom Menace and noticing that the movie didn't had the 'pink tint' of the original version. I was so used to the movie being pink that I got weirded out to seeing the movie without it. lol
I might be one of a few out there but I really want the theatrical Phantom Menace. I watched the Widescreen VHS so many times before the DVD eventually came out. Not to mention the 3 times in the cinema. That’s my version. I really dislike the extended pod race and much prefer the theatrical version.
the pacing of the theatrical Phantom Menace is better. He added fluff that slows down the pace of the film and adds nothing. Cgi Yoda added brings a consistency but also wasn't necessary.
This would probably be very controversial, but I'd be curious to watch a Special Edition of the prequels with the CGI completely replaced with modern technology and deleted scenes restored.
I like all of the Star Wars Movies. I was born 1977 so i grow up with the original Trilogy. In my opinion is the special edition better then the original versions!
The only thing I REALLY want them to change is to replace Yoda in the prequels with a version more in line with the OT. Apart from that I don't mind most of the OT changes, the only one that really bugs me is replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden at the end of RotJ. And, to a lesser extent, I never really understood that Greedo also got a shot off at Han, but I'm somewhat meh about that.
I wonder if we wouldve gotten special editions for the prequels if disney never bought lucasfilm. (I mean ik the 3d releases were planned and they supposedly had changes made to them)
Amazing. All those changes, and Ewan McGregor’s beard and hair are still constantly changing from real to fake in Attack of the Clones. Of all the issues with the prequels, this one drives me the most crazy.
We need a reboot. Keep the Empire it's a looming entity of terror. Anakin at first should have been the greatest star pilot in the Galaxy like Wedge. The Galactic Republic were using clones from different races to defeat the Empire. Padme would have had force visions and taking on her own vigilante adventures with or without Anakin. Her death would have been a betrayal to Yoda. Who would have been hurt that someone died because of the secret knowledge that was handed down. In A New Hope 3PO said his last master was held in captivity. Luke was told not to under estimate the power of the emperor or suffer his father's fate he will. With that in mind. Anakin would have went after the emperor and was captured in the Death Star. Torturing him ⚡⚡⚡until he gave into his commands to destroy all the Jedi in the Galaxy. I can go on and on.
Im fine with most of the changes made in the originals and the prequels. In terms of the prequels, I'm not sure why George switched the ending fight in AOTC.
4:15 they changed that because I remember clearly everyone erupting in laughter in the theater-it wasn’t supposed to be funny it was just cringe awkward
I distinctly remember a scene on Corsuscant w/ Anakin sensing a private conversation about him being in the "Deleted Scenes" on an old Ep I DVD. It's now in the film (a big W, bc it was spooky & I immediately said "should've left that in!" when I saw it). The pod racing changes *were* absolutely in that o.g. DVD and were noticeable even at the time. Don't remember any change for II, much more subtle. For III Dooku's death was different on opening night in the thatre. I remember that well. I love this kind of detail, so I did actually like, share, comment, & subscribe 😂
For me I prefer the theatrical cut for TPM. I do like CGI Yoda but besides that, which I can live with, I prefer the theatrical cut. AOTC DVD/Digital version is the better cut out of the ones available. The 2011 dooku escape rearrange is terrible imo. The theatrical still hasn’t dropped although it should pop up soon. For ROTS they honestly all work. The 4K having the aspect ratio changed and audio apparently being weird is unfortunate but still very watchable
I will defend changing Yoda to CGI for The Phantom Menace to my grave. That puppet was nightmare fuel.
Indeed. Also thanks for the comment, big fan of your videos.
I think that the special editions of the original trilogy have their place but to deny the fans the original films is what hurt the most.
I can't watch the special editions. He ruined the pace, he ruined the music in Empire with a pointless scene of vader taking a shuttle ride, he ruined the emotional peak of Jedi with a pointless overdub. It's so unfun. I grew up with videotapes taken off the original HBO broadcasts, I had every beat memorized. I can just tell, it's not the movie I watched anymore.
It's only natural, they are George's films, he does what he sees fit with them. It's strange watching the original theatrical cuts, because I'm just too used to the special editions, my childhood films.
@@angelainamarie9656I'm the opposite, I can't watch the original theatrical cuts because I'm too used to the special editions. I mean I'd be nice to watch the theatrical cuts, but I'm just as happy not watching those versions, special editions are how I watch these films.
What's crazy is he could have made a killing if he rereleased the original cuts on Blu-ray. People would've bought those so fast kind of like what happened with New Coke. He refused to do it out of pure spite.
@@angelainamarie9656you sound extremely pathetic.
The special editions ruin nothing about the original trilogy.
If a few tweaks in the special editions can make you hate Star Wars. I question if you like Star Wars at all.
A slight recut of a movie should be barely noticable.
Added CGI shots in a pre 90's movie is JARRINGLY noticable.
Absolutely.
True... which is why I want the OG trilogy to be entirely reshot to make the changes less jarring. 😃
Well at least all scenes involving Storm Troopers so they look like proper soldiers and not orcs wearing sci fi armor.
@@trashaimgamer7822 Why not just remove the changes?
Jar Jarringly
yes, the removal of the wipe transition in ROTS was indeed a mistake, which is why it was reverted back to how it was originally in the 2011 release.
Good to know.
I think I remember it being said in the commentary
Kinda sucks cause I liked the hard cut for that scene better. imo it fits the tone better
@@Arn._. i agree, it does help with the harsh tone, but i don't think the wipe harms the scene at all
How do you know?
It was common at the time for the BBFC to mandate the removal of headbutts from films rated 15 and lower in the UK, presumably due to a fear of kids getting or giving concussions through imitating the action. I remembered there being a headbutt taken out of The Matrix Reloaded but it turns out that, among others, they’ve also been cut from GoldenEye, The Mummy Returns, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and, erm, Shrek 2.
Wow that’s ridiculous haha.
Can't decide who your Brit leaders think is stupider, your wee impressionable but Clockwork-orangey violent kids, or the world wide mass audience. Having seen all those films on US television, I'm pretty sure the head-butt thing is gone in the American versions too.
😂 I didn't know that . Very strange as prime time BBC in the 80s had The Russ Abbott show with a Scottish character who's catch phrase was 'See you Jimmy' followed by a headbutt to the face of whomever was in the sketch that week.
@@krs4976 A weird combo of a different regulatory body and it being obviously comedic, I guess. Unlike that gritty, realist work, Shrek 2.
The British are idiots.
Most people don't pay attention to changes in the prequels because the nature of those changes is so subtle compared to the changes made to the original trilogy for the special editions. I agree that artists should fulfill their artistic vision, and I also believe that there's no such thing as a "final" or "completed" film, yet I still take issue with the special editions because the nature of those changes really distracts from the groundbreaking work done back in the 1970s and 80s. I don't want to see CG creatures in a movie that was made decades before CG creatures were a thing. Star Wars was limited back then by the technology, but that allowed the story and visual effects team to get creative. Not that I prefer one trilogy over the other, they are both amazing in their own right using the technology of the time.
So Rian Johnson is right for making TLJ because it's his vision? Sorry, but SW is more like a folklore or culture that should belong to Americans and other nations, not a specific artist or company. It should be open source and public domain like Greek mythology.
@@user-yq9im9dk9zThere's no "right" or "wrong" with Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi. It simply exists, and yes, it is Rian Johnson's vision, not George Lucas's, which is why it fails at every single level as a Star Wars film.
No. Episode 1 and 2 are horribly lazily cobbled together, and nothing makes any sense. You probably defend them as a nostalgic childhood memory.
The changes in the old films are never changing anything about the story, the pacing, the dialogue, never anything substantial.
They did eliminate the groundbreaking and prize winning special effects.
There is no artistic vision in the changes. It's just hubris and too much time at hand.
@@j.m.w.5064Episode 1 and 2 are fantastic films. Please give some specific examples of where you think they failed and we can have a calm, rational conversation about it.
Well said
I think Phantom Menace played better in the shorter theatrical version, but the additions don't really bother me. The one thing that does bother me? The removal of the "vote now!" chant. I don't know why, but that bugs me every single time; I loved that bit! And the moment feels naked without it.
Interesting take.
Well there is a new scene in the pod race that is absolutely ridiculous where Anakin loose a full pod and start to spin. It was just too much.
@@TailslolTotally agree; I guess I've just kind of made peace with that part. The "vote now" removal feels like a giant editing error.
Vote Now sounds like it would've been better to cohesively tie in the whole political thriller aspect of the prequals episode 1 in particular. I think that angle needed more explicit recongition in episode 1 especially even though I think senate politcs wasnt going to be everyones cup of tea needed some hand holding
I totally agree that it doesn't work as well without, as it's like they're just murmuring or something and not actually protesting. I always assumed it was because George decided that aliens shouldn't chant in English (Basic?) but that makes no sense at all anyway.
1:41 "...And we all know Georgie boy loves messing with his movies AFTER they have finished showing in the cinema."
May 1977: Timing of end credits and a couple of compositing errors fixed last minute before premiere, earlier version shows up on some premiere prints.
June 1977: Changes SFX and Dialogue for the mono mix of Star Wars.
May 1980: Adds new VFX shots to ESB, recomposites the majority of the Battle of Hoth, directly after the premiere, so the changes don't show up on most 70mm prints.
June 1980: Slight dialogue changes for mono mix of ESB.
April 1981: Reissues SW with "Episode IV: A New Hope" crawl - while original prints have basically been running continuously for the last four years.
May 2002: Slight fixes to AOTC only visible in digital cinemas, shortened cut of the film premieres on IMAX due to technical constraints.
He also loved messing with his movies WHILE they were still in cinemas.
Do you know if the recomposite of Battle of Hoth has something to do with the blue screen compositing. Is it about how some areas that are at the edge of the mask are more shadowed? Where did you find the info for this, I’m talking if there’s somewhere you can point me. Thanks
@@abnorth2276 Exactly!
The process would usually result in black outlines around bluescreened elements. Especially apparent for the snow battle. Messing with the transparency made the outlines thinner though.
That touchy optical printing process for effects shots was done once for the 70mm premiere of the film, and then various shots were re-printed to match a little better after Lucas demanded a couple extra changes for the 35mm wide release.
Of course, all those Hoth effects were redone again digitally in 1997, so neither theatrical versions from 1980 exist in HD officially, but luckily TheStarWarsTrilogy forums have some film prints in their collection and have catalogued all of the differences.
You make a very good point.
This is what is so ridiculous to me. George was tinkering with the films at all stages. He's probably still editing his own personal versions at home. And we'd see more official versions if he still owned them. Damn!
@@SoulbentAnime Lucas paraphrased an old quote in 1997. "Films are never completed, they are only abandoned."
I'm sure just about anyone who has sent out a work of art will spend hundreds of hours tinkering with it before sending out it to the public, only to look back at it later and think "I wish I could change that."
Obsessive. Considering these are Lucas's finest crowning achievements, I can see why he likes to continually tinker with them rather than coming up with new movies.
The man will be remembered because of Star Wars.
@@BraveBladeProductions and you know....indiana jones and ILM.
I want longer cuts of these movies, especially Revenge of the Sith.
Yessir.
The Phantom Menace Yoda puppet looked like he was on meth. I'm glad they changed it.
Mmmmmm, do more meth I must.
@@BraveBladeProductionsYoda traded in his ketamine for methamphetamine
What annoys me is that he went back and changed all sorts of things that didn't *need* to be, and somehow he never put Sebulba in his pod racer near the end of the race! Everytime I watch that scene, my eye trains on that empty seat! Why? Why?! Why couldn't you just put the bunny back in the box?!
I've actually never minded the changes made to any of the movies. In fact, my lifelong friend and I are apparently different than most fans because we were very excited for the Special Edition releases. We were even excited to see what was changed with each re-release of the trilogy! We didn't necessarily like every change (at least 1 in each of the OT movies makes us groan), but it just made it fun when they popped up unexpectedly on our first viewing each time. (The entire room jumped on Star Wars Day the first time we heard the newest version of the Kraytt Dragon roar come through our surround sound! 😂) It was an experience you never really got with other movies.
Very cool.
The greatest thing about the Yoda puppet is the stories of him swearing and saying inappropriate things in between takes.
True true
I doubt that's actually true.
@@GODCONVOYPRIMEI have no doubt it is true, knowing Frank Oz and how he acts of the set of Muppet productions. Look up the Emmett Otter outtakes 😂
Is there any video on that.
@@rapatacush3 look up the phantom menace bloopers and there's a clip of Frank doing some nonsense with the Yoda puppet
The one change I absolutely hate from all star wars, is the dumb greedo shot first crap. That is so dumb and makes no sense why greedo would miss from that distance
Yep, well nothing like that here.
Surely we have to conclude that Lucas watches these movies all day every day.
A little while ago I saw a video that compared each version of the Podrace scenes along with deleted scenes that still didn't make it into the later releases.
The most noteable cut thing was that one of the racer's wife & kid showed up with quite a few shots of them reacting to the race. The racer in question was the one who crashes inside the tunnel & explodes, so at some point George must've realized that it was pretty dark to have the guy's family on screen. I don't remember if there's a shot of the family crying but just knowing they're there changes how you perceive that moment.
With the recent announcement of the 25th Anniversary theatrical run happening this year, there is a none-zero chance of them restoring more deleted scenes and bringing back the guy's family.
I wonder what cut of TPM they are going to show for the re release in theaters in may
I’m assuming it would be the latest 4K master.
Probably the 4k remaster which is essentially the 3D version released back in theaters in 2012
@@BraveBladeProductions I'm thinking small edits on the 4k versions will be done for the re release
You forgot the implied gender change in the droid that delivered the twins
Oof.
😮
And Anakin saying "Padme, help me…" before becoming Darth Vader
The cgi Yoda was a necessary change imo. The episode 1 original Yoda looked like A DAMN DRUNKEN FOSTER BROOKS!! Kids, Google Foster Brooks and you'll get it.
Yes, it was. I was also happy they changed that horrid looking puppet. The age gap didn't make sense.
Foster Brooks Was Hiarious😂
@@thomashumphrey48 Wasn't he lol. My folks would spilt a gut laughing at everything he said. Lol
@@paulnicholson5997 That's my thinking as well Paul.
Same. The replacement of the horrendous TPM Puppet Yoda with CGI Yoda was a good change.
TPM Puppet Yoda looks ver uncanny and age breaking compared to his superior ESB and ROTJ puppet appearances💀
The headbutting thing affected so many UK films. Batman (1989) decided to keep the headbutting so was rated 15. Goldeneye had headbutting scenes removed and released as a 12
Still can't believe it lol.
Now you need to make a whole video of naming unnamed buildings in the background and getting a strike if it's already named something else in the lore.
That’s a great idea.
Changed / unchanged it's still better than the complete garbage Disney is churning out
Exactly.
I agree. All the bitching about whatever George Lucas did is what got us to ten years of mouse shit.
@@marcosrecio4062That's a flat out lie, George did not give a shit about what critics said about his movies.
@@hideofreakingkojima5457 Not George,but disney certainly did.
I like that you briefly mentioned the state of mind of Lucas when doing these changes. I think that we tend to judge them from our perspective of audience/consumer, unhappy with an alteration of something that we bought and that we think was ours. But it's misunderstanding the creative process of an artist. I can totally understand that a creator will always notice multiple details to change to his creation. And whether or not the product is already sold doesn't change the fact that it's his baby and he wants it to be perfect.
The minor decisions like replacing a medium shot with a wide one, or inverting the sequence of shots like in the Coruscant chase, or removing the transition between scenes, is the kind of seemingly insignificant decision that you have 50 times per day when editing a movie. And it's perfectly normal. You think that if you rearrange the shots, the scene will have a better rhythm, or a more logical progression, or that it will let the audience breathe more, or in the contrary it will add a bit more tension. Maybe you will come to think that removing the transition between Obi-Wan and Anakin's hand makes them emotionally closer from one another, as if Obi-Wan's thoughts were focused on him, since it will appear to be two connected parts of the same sequence, and not two separate sequences. But later in your process you realize that this suggested connection makes Obi-Wan seem aware of Anakin's survival and struggling to get off of the lava. Or maybe you consider that the immolation scene was supposed to be Obi-Wan's accepting that Anakin is no more, and you don't want him to show after-thoughts. So you revert it, to better illustrate the divergence between the two of them. That's normal filmmaking. The only difference between those few changes and the many many similar tiny adjustments that was made during the main editing phase before the original release, is that we as an audience know they occurred, since we can compare the versions. And it feels odd or gratuitous. But from a creator's point of view, there is no less reason to do those tiny changes, than there was to do the hundreds of hundreds others that they did before, and that you don't know about.
The removal of head butt was common in the UK because you couldn't be rated PG in the UK if the film contained head butts. It would get a 15+ rating. The studio wanted PG.
I grew up watching the phantom menace on VHS so I am familiar with the yoda puppet and the original pod race. I agree that fans of the prequels should mostly be happy with the changes, and I am too, although it does seem to me that the extended podrace shots look slightly more fake than the original ones, making me wonder if less time was spend on the visual effects in those scenes, or if they were cut because they looked slightly less realistic than the others.
As for the changes to attack of the clones, I don't mind slight re-editing and scene extensions because I think they work great for that film.
Most of the changes are indeed positive.
I Am Pretty Sure When He Sold *STAR* *WARS* He Asked *DISNEY* To Never Unaltered Versions Of *OT.* & That’s Good, Because It’s His Films, He Can Do Whatever He Wants To Do.
That’s pretty petty. I know what fans want but I think it’s really important we don’t give it to them. I don’t buy that logic. Many filmmakers don’t even get to say what goes into the original theatrical cut of their movies. So because money you mean? I mean that’s legally true but things that are hugely culturally significant being preserved in their original forms makes sense if you value art or culture at all
When I go to the 25th anniversary showing of The Phantom Menace, I'll be looking to see if there's a puppet Yoda because he was always CGI in the DVD and Disney+ releases that I've seen.
Probably not, but hey who knows?
I’m still amazed that a puppet from a movie released in 1980 looked so much better and real than one in a movie made 19 years after.
they will show the latest blu ray release, not the original version
The headbutt was removed from all UK releases of Attack Of The Clones, including conventional cinemas. Ironically the TV trailer actually showed it.
As someone already pointed out in the comments, in the UK, the BBFC would automatically give an '18' rating to any film where a headbutt was shown. When Attack Of The Clones was released on DVD, I ordered an import copy from Australia (region 4 but still PAL) just so I could have the film uncut. Fortunately the cut was waived in the blu-ray version.
As for the lack of foaming at the mouth regarding changes made to the prequels, it's really pretty simple. The movies from the original trilogy were classics. The prequels aren't.
The theatrical version of TPM had more fanfare leading up to the pod race. There were several changes made to the battle between Darth Maul and the Jedi. There was a moment between Qui-Gon and Maul where they pause and Qui-Gon looks as though he can see through the Sith plot. Obi-wan jumps up one platform layer two times.
Interesting.
Uhhh is this a meme? Lol
the Jango headbutt removal is just bizarre
You just brought back memories I didn’t know I had cause I suddenly remember noticing some of these changes when I was younger.
The problem isn't that George changed the movies. The problem is that he made the originals near impossible to get.
Plenty of movies get changed after their theatrical run. How many versions of Blade Runner are there?
But usually, the original is still there.
That's the problem.
Yep.
_How many versions of Blade Runner are there?_
Yes, because Blade Runner belongs to the studio, and the director doesn't have a say. Just like Fox released an "assembly cut" of ALIEN³ even though David Fincher disavowed the movie completely and turned down the opportunity that the studio gave him to re-edit the film with more creative control this time around.
Lucas, on the other hand, owned Episodes I to VI. They were HIS movies, that he wrote, directed/co-directed/ghost-directed, supervised from A to Z, and financed with his own money.
@@Megrez-Alberich and yet the original cut of that movie is still available. In this context the person specifically in control of the film is irrelevant,. How the director feels about the theatrical cut of the film is irrelevant.
I'm talking specifically about the fact that fans went to the cinemas, saw a specific version, and now want to own THAT version on home video.
Sure, Lucas had full authority to butcher his original movies to his heart's content. I'm not saying he didn't, or that he shouldn't have.
I don't care if he released 100 different versions of the film.
He didn't need to take the theatrical cuts out of circulation.
That's what makes the situation with Star Wars fundamentally different to most other movies with post-theatrical cuts, and that's why Star Wars fans are so unhappy with the special editions.
@@link1565V2 Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the frustration and the resentment towards Lucas.
I'm just telling you why there are 5 different versions of Blade Runner: it's because the studio decided to release many versions of the film and Ridley Scott didn't have a say in the decision.
Contrary to Lucas who could do whatever he wants with SW ep. I-VI because they belonged to him.
Should Lucas have released the original, unaltered trilogy in high definition on a modern format? Yes, absolutely!
But he's under no obligation to do so if he doesn't want to. That may be unfair and infuriating, but an artist's rights should always come first. Demanding that Lucas release the unaltered OT on Blu-ray and claiming that he owes it to the fans is nothing else than entitlement.
@@Megrez-Alberich I would argue that something like Star Wars is bigger than the creator and there is a strong historical archiving argument to be made regarding releasing the original versions in an easily accessible format.
I think you're missing the point about why I brought Blade Runner up. The point is that, yes, there are multiple versions, but the original still exists. Blade Runner was just the first example that came to my head as a movie with multiple versions.
Also, from everything I've seen Ridley Scott was involved with most if not all of the alternative versions. So I'm not sure what you're on about there.
Regarding Star Wars, what's most frustrating to fans is that it seems fairly clear that Lucas made it part of the contract with Disney that they also cannot release the original cuts.
The way Disney are bleeding the franchise, there's no way they don't see the financial upside of a theatrical re-release of the originals, followed by a home release. Hell even as another incentive to get people to sign up to D+.
And for the record, I personally don't really care all that much about the subject. For the most part I like the special editions and the way they better fit with the prequels. But I also respect that millions of fans want to see a version of the movie not filled with pointless CGI obstructions and additions.
The headbutting censorship in the UK was a very real thing. The same change was made in goldeneye
Wild stuff.
The reason RoTS had such little changes is bc it was already a perfect movie
True.
Idk I know the phantom menace yoda design is weird because it doesn’t match the original that well and doesn’t go well with the digital yoda of episode 2 and 3 but honestly I don’t mind the yoda puppet. The fact that they went the effort to make a yoda puppet for episode 1 shows how a lot of that movie was practical and used a lot of classical techniques for special effects alongside late 90s cgi. The movie stands out compared to the other 2 prequels which are way more digital and sanitized
Let's be honest, the real reason most people don't talk much or complain about the prequel changes is because most of the people who complain about the changes made to the original trilogy(and demand that Lucas release the original versions) don't like the prequels in the first place and hence don't care about what Lucas does to those movies.
Definitely part of it.
How about a video about the 3D versions and TPM 3D's release?
There's not a whole lot to talk about, but it's definitely a possibility.
I prefer puppet Yoda simply because he resembles the original trilogy version of the character, but watching the prequel trilogy exclusively, it makes more sense to make him cgi I guess
There was a rotoscoping error at 5:38 where Maul’s lightsaber is momentarily obscured, and the animator got confused and rotated it the wrong way, causing it to pass through his leg. This error is easily confirmed by watching frame by frame, and can even be spotted in real time as an unnatural jerk. It has annoyed me for years. I wish Lucas had fixed it.
Damn.
The changes made it look sharper, but even then without the changes it still looked good to me
Same here.
I already knew that. That’s happens when I am a very big fan of Star Wars.
There’s also a difference in the DvD and VHS version of Phantom Menace. In the DvD version there’s a scene with an alien trying to sell frogs in the bleachers during the pod race, that scene isn’t in the VHS version
I 100 percent love all of lucas's changes. because its HIS.
Can't blame ya.
I don't object to the relatively minor tweeking Lucas did for the prequel trilogy as the changes don't affect the film experience negatively. The special editions of the original trilogy on the other hand are inferior films, imo.
Lucas went CGI crazy when he was doing the prequels. I knew that he made the change to Yoda, but by that point I had gotten so irritated by Lucas, that I was not surprised. The fact that he had a TON of CGI in the Prequels, and he made the horrible changes to the original trilogy, I kind of gave up on him.
There were a COUPLE of changes in the special editions, but the majority was just terrible. Really wish that Disney would do what fans are currently doing and restore the originals to what they once were, and then digitally enhance them, but that's it. But it is difficult to find original releases of the film in the 35mm format. From what I understand 4k77, 4k80, and 4k83 are trying to restore, but it would be awesome to have the tech that Disney could bring to that table.
Till then, I'll just send reactors links to a youtube channel that shows the changes that were made through the MULTIPLE versions/changes that Lucas made after release.
I was just thinking about trying to make sort of a "Special Edition" for ROTS just yesterday. Cool coincidence!
Very nice.
Does anyone else remember in the theatrical release of TPM when anakin crashes on the trade federation capital ship, his ship is powered down and several droids speak to r2d2 who says he is the ships pilot as anakin crouches down and hides in the seat? I clearly remember that but I never see it mentioned as a cut.
Huh I never knew about that. A RUclips commenter I found said there was supposedly a scene in TPM theatrical release, on Tatooine, where Padme (in disguise) says "I'm trained in defensive combat."
A cartoon yoda is jarring, but this is 99.9% a cartoon anyway.
The digital Yoda makes that trilogy more cohesive, but it makes it less cohesive when it comes to all six films. I genuinely preferred the puppet version over the cgi version.
Most people do prefer the puppet.
@@BraveBladeProductions I think it's because he was a puppet in the original trilogy and so it's jarring seeing a CGI Yoda. Not only that but when you have a memory of seeing it in theaters and then it's changed when you watch it at home your brain just says "Nope, that's incorrect."
The Yoda puppet used in EMPIRE still looks the best.
I didn’t like the look of the JEDI puppet (painted too green), the EMPIRE puppet had greyish green skin - looking more realistic.
Yoda shouldn't have been seen in the Prequels.
Mace should have granted Obi-Wan permission to train Anakin 'after confering with Master Yoda'
Keep him mysterious and name him a few times.
Disney made anakins lightsaber blue in attack of the clones
Did they?
I could be wrong, but I think I saw something of a restoration of an actual print of The Phantom Menace. Me personally, I prefer the original theatrical cut. That's why I usually watch my VHS copy. Most of what was cut, was cut for a reason. There was no need for it. I remember people complaining that the pod race sequence was too long and now is even longer. Attack of the Clones, I'll be honest, I saw it in the theater, then on VHS and DVD and didn't even notice the differences. Same with Revenge of the Sith. Although, I haven't seen them on Blu-ray. Didn't see the 3D re-release. I only own the DVD releases.
Most of the changes aren’t even noticeable you’re right.
A few of the color changes are pretty noticeable especially the perhaps Pantoran girl on the far left somewhat near the start of AOTC in Palpatine’s office when Padme and Yoda visit is an insanely wild deep intense teal turquoise deep blue and is way muted looking on all home versions. The teal aqua graphics on Obiwans ship’s HUD are way more intense on the 35mm and same for a lot of aqua and teal type colors on signs on Coruscant and when the probe opens force field protecting padme’s bedroom, etc. and color tinting overall tends to be more pleasant.
Something that might be prevalent is the fact that George had gotten a divorce after the original films. His ex wife had rights due to having been the main editor. However if enough of a film is edited the rights to the film go to the new editor George…. But that’s just a theory A FILM THEORY….. divorce sucks.
Divorce does suck.
At this point I support updating the tatooine and Death Star battle special effects of A New Hope to match the quality of Rogue One. However the original non-special edition should also be made available
Art is never finished only abandoned.
Prequels did nothing for me so changes didn’t matter. 😂😂😂
If they had used different anakins I would feel much better about the prequels , the little kid was irritating and the teen one came off more stroppy rather than going to turn properly evil
I'm a life long star wars fan saw the original in theaters I must be the minority because I love the original special editions they were fantastic!!!!
Despite what people say I still love them too.
Personally, I don't mind the removal of the puppet Yoda with the CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace. It was the first Star Wars movie I watched on VHS and I always thought that puppet was creepy and in later years inferior to the Original Trilogy Yoda puppet. And it kept continuity with the rest of the Prequel Trilogy.
TPM Puppet Yoda still haunts me to this day.
For me, I think George didn't go far enough with changes to the prequels - he could have removed nearly everything from Episode II.
oof.
I grew up with The Phantom Menace on VHS and then DVD and as such, a lot of the Podracing clips that were only available in the deleted scenes menu were now part of the film in later versions....I find it weird 😂
Of all the changes I do wish he added the scene of Yoda landing in Dagobah but also I wish he kept Jason Wintergreens voice for Boba and added him for Jango
Would've been cool.
Look at it this way. If George Lucas changed the Prequels as well as the classic films then the Sequels are fair game too.
Disney should follow Star Wars tradition.
@@BraveBladeProductions I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. There is stuff that can be hammered out a little better.
Schmuco Sizzler's Stripper Saloon: no metal bikini is too small, no extra limb is too extra!
We cater for all tastes.
Subtle changes to the awful prequels can only be viewed as minor improvements; that’s the difference.
I have all the Star Wars movies in every format in my collection just to observe all the changes. Also a minor change in AOTC Bluray, the chapter starts just before Padme says "look" at the gunships, where as in the DVD the chapter begins as he gunships descend. Just seen them too many times to miss.
Interesting.
@BraveBladeProductions Really look forward to seeing your channel grow, man. Keep it up. 👍
The UK has problems with headbutting even Mulan that Disney made had to get a fight trimmed down due to a headbutt.
The UK doesn’t like headbutting, got it.
Tbh I only found out now that Jango's jet pack was malfunctioning
Took me a long time too.
9:12 It actually may be so. There is a 35mm copy scan of TPM (theatrical version) in the net and when I checked that scan I noticed that the Coruscant landing pad (at least during the scene before departing for Naboo, can't say for the one with arrival on Coruscant) has different "textures" (like it has different coatings for it's floor) than in Blu-ray release where single texture is used (like the floor consists of one coating).
Tbh the Phantom Menace is the only film true to his vision
I am not at all surprised that Boba's head butt was removed from AOTC for the UK release. I didn't see the full release (including heart-ripping shot) of the Temple of Doom until I saw it in the US for the first time. British censors are very sensitive to violence, and they may have given the film a 12 rating on DVD with that shot in - yes, that can happen, even if the film is rated U (Universal) in the cinema. Batman (1989) was a 12 in the cinema but a 15 when it was first released on video.
American censors are prudish when it comes to nudity, and yet seem desensitised to violence. UK censors are prudish when it comes to violence, but they often let nudity slide (depending on the context).
Interesting.
Batman was a 12 in cinema and a 15 on home release, however, primarily because 12 certificates for UK home video didn't exist until 1994.
I was there... 3000 years ago... etc, etc; Was all part of UK regulations looking to adapt / catch up to MPAA's introduction of PG-13 in 1984 and "Hollywood" movies made with those in mind.
Before Batman - right through the 80s - it used to just go U, PG, 15, 18 UK-side of the pond.
^80s? Well, technically, 1982 onwards I suppose... under those names. That's when X became 18, A became PG, etc.
But same-same.
1:41 what a nice image right there. That’s how a genius looks when he is working on a masterpiece. That should be made into a statue to honor the man.
Plenty of less deserving people already have statues so why not?
It could just be that most people don't give a shit about the prequels.
Even so a lot of people still do.
@@BraveBladeProductions Sure, but I can't help that some people like subpar entertainment. Changes like greedo shooting first, drastically change how characters are perceived. Whatever pointless tweaks done to the prequels affect nothing, because there's barely a story worth watching. I can still watch them, unlike the new ones, but they are pretty middling. There's a reason people ragged on Lucas for years, and why I was incorrectly excited for Disney to take the reigns. If it was your childhood, I get it. But if you remove yourself from the films, you might see how weak they really are. Still, Darth Maul and Duel of the Fates are great.
Digital Yoda in Phantom Menace was actually done years before it was eventually released on the 2011 Bluray. It may have been during the making of AotC as a proof-of-concept or during RotS era - I can’t remember exactly
The minor aspect ratio change seen in the 4ks moving to 2.39 from 2.35 is an incredibly common phenomenon. In the modern era, 2.39 has pretty much become the definitive scope ratio. 4k remasters of releases that were previously 2.35 or 2.40 often conform to it. Most if not all new scope movies seem to be 2.39 as it is the DCP scope ratio. The history of why 2.35 and then 2.40 were initially chosen pre-dates the era of digital cinema.
Something not mentioned as a change (bc it doesn’t affect the cut of the movie) is the intense film grain scrubbing found on specifically the 4k of Phantom Menace (this is found on the OT as well). There were already some grain scrubbed shots in the 2011 Bluray, but the 2019 4k remaster sees the entire film scrubbed, removing lots of fine detail from the image. Much like Disney’s 4k “remaster” of Pirates of the Caribbean, the image is atrocious and unfaithful. This does not affect Ep. II or III as they were shot digitally. It is a shame bc a proper authentic 4k scan of Phantom Menace could have a lot of potential- at least for the real-life photography. Of course the CG elements will still show their age. If Lucas really didn’t want very much grain he should’ve shot on EXR stock which was popular in the 90’s. If you look at 4k remasters of films shot with that type of filmstock- Reservoir Dogs and Batman Returns, to name 2 examples- they have a remarkable amount of detail/sharpness and very little grain.
The best special edition change ever is Greedo saying "maclunkey" before shooting Han.
It doesn't add anything whatsoever to the narrative of the story. The only reason that exists in there is George literally trolling us by changing it again for no reason at all.
It makes me laugh every single time.
That’s a fun take.
The swapping of shots during the count dooku escape in AOTC is one of the worst, the music goes out of sync and jumps around. Luckily on the Star Wars Trilogy forums you can grab the HDTV version (1080p version of the DVD version) and watch that instead.
Very cool.
I honestly prefer puppet Yoda, bring him back
I only noticed the changes in Phantom Menace. I never saw Revenge of the Sith in theaters so I never noticed those changes. I think it is unnecessary. George Lucas had a lot of CGI on him when the prequels were made. I do agree with the Yoda change. It never made sense why they used a puppet for Yoda in Phantom Menace when CGI clearly existed and there were tons of other CGI characters in that movie. It would have given them a head start for the next two movies assuming George Lucas knew what was in store for Yoda in those movies.
For sure.
Not even going to lie, a lot of those things they added were hyper memorable and some of the strongest shots in my opinion. Anakin calling them animals is hugely fitting and fits with the anti imperialist anti colonialist themes and gives good "hearts of darkness" vibes. His metal hand holding padme's also is a great shot in my opinion. I'll totally agree some of these aren't neccesary but in retrospect I like the tweaks in this case
That is why I thought it was weird going back to Phantom Menace and noticing that the movie didn't had the 'pink tint' of the original version. I was so used to the movie being pink that I got weirded out to seeing the movie without it. lol
“Star Wars the phantom menace is the most disappointing thing since my son”
Mr plinkett is the best thing that ever happened thanks to the Prequel’s
True that.
And also arguably one of the reasons why the sequels sucked so bad...
I might be one of a few out there but I really want the theatrical Phantom Menace. I watched the Widescreen VHS so many times before the DVD eventually came out. Not to mention the 3 times in the cinema. That’s my version. I really dislike the extended pod race and much prefer the theatrical version.
Interesting, everybody has their favourite version though.
the pacing of the theatrical Phantom Menace is better. He added fluff that slows down the pace of the film and adds nothing. Cgi Yoda added brings a consistency but also wasn't necessary.
All good points.
Does it matter? Episodes 2 and 3 are largely CGI. Hell, they're hardly movies. No disrespect, of course, I'm a fan of them.
This would probably be very controversial, but I'd be curious to watch a Special Edition of the prequels with the CGI completely replaced with modern technology and deleted scenes restored.
I would watch it.
Lucas sold off Star Wars so none of what he thinks matters anymore. Disney makes the rules now.
Yep.
I like all of the Star Wars Movies. I was born 1977 so i grow up with the original Trilogy. In my opinion is the special edition better then the original versions!
Interesting.
The only thing I REALLY want them to change is to replace Yoda in the prequels with a version more in line with the OT.
Apart from that I don't mind most of the OT changes, the only one that really bugs me is replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden at the end of RotJ.
And, to a lesser extent, I never really understood that Greedo also got a shot off at Han, but I'm somewhat meh about that.
Balanced take, I like it.
@@BraveBladeProductions I love your content BTW, subbed! :)
@@larsjj2794 thank you brother!
I like this it shows how hyper fixated Star Wars fans can be
Yessir.
I wonder if we wouldve gotten special editions for the prequels if disney never bought lucasfilm. (I mean ik the 3d releases were planned and they supposedly had changes made to them)
George probably would've gone back to all the films I imagine.
George changed the originals to renew the copywrites. don't be stupid.
Good point.
4:33 Imma Jango head-butt and Hero Turtles nunchaku combo you bruv
Amazing. All those changes, and Ewan McGregor’s beard and hair are still constantly changing from real to fake in Attack of the Clones. Of all the issues with the prequels, this one drives me the most crazy.
We need a reboot. Keep the Empire it's a looming entity of terror. Anakin at first should have been the greatest star pilot in the Galaxy like Wedge. The Galactic Republic were using clones from different races to defeat the Empire. Padme would have had force visions and taking on her own vigilante adventures with or without Anakin. Her death would have been a betrayal to Yoda. Who would have been hurt that someone died because of the secret knowledge that was handed down. In A New Hope 3PO said his last master was held in captivity. Luke was told not to under estimate the power of the emperor or suffer his father's fate he will. With that in mind. Anakin would have went after the emperor and was captured in the Death Star. Torturing him ⚡⚡⚡until he gave into his commands to destroy all the Jedi in the Galaxy. I can go on and on.
Im fine with most of the changes made in the originals and the prequels. In terms of the prequels, I'm not sure why George switched the ending fight in AOTC.
It’s an honour Mr Baggins 🫡
4:15 they changed that because I remember clearly everyone erupting in laughter in the theater-it wasn’t supposed to be funny it was just cringe awkward
Haha.
I distinctly remember a scene on Corsuscant w/ Anakin sensing a private conversation about him being in the "Deleted Scenes" on an old Ep I DVD. It's now in the film (a big W, bc it was spooky & I immediately said "should've left that in!" when I saw it).
The pod racing changes *were* absolutely in that o.g. DVD and were noticeable even at the time.
Don't remember any change for II, much more subtle.
For III Dooku's death was different on opening night in the thatre. I remember that well.
I love this kind of detail, so I did actually like, share, comment, & subscribe 😂
Much appreciated!
Bruh they did he head but thing in spider man 2 to?!
lol.
For me I prefer the theatrical cut for TPM. I do like CGI Yoda but besides that, which I can live with, I prefer the theatrical cut. AOTC DVD/Digital version is the better cut out of the ones available. The 2011 dooku escape rearrange is terrible imo. The theatrical still hasn’t dropped although it should pop up soon. For ROTS they honestly all work. The 4K having the aspect ratio changed and audio apparently being weird is unfortunate but still very watchable
For sure.
People didn't notice the changes in the prequels because the films were already crap
Oof.
Change the Sequels not the Prequels
Amen.