The Original Version Is The Best Of Them All

Rating: Null/10 (13 May 1999)

The original Star Wars is one of the truly great films of all time because it manages to be space/action epic in the tradition of the epic films of the 50s and early 60s that had largely gone dormant in the 70s up to this point (save for the disaster films). But what really makes it shine is that this is the only film of the trilogy where there seems to be more emphasis on story, characters, and achieving a gritty kind of realism that starts to slip away in Empire Strikes Back and by ROTJ, with its overabundance of Muppet Show rejects in every corner, is almost eclipsed completely and everyone else from Harrison Ford on down seems to be coasting.
It is because of this that I prefer the original version and not the special edition, which to me epitomizes every annoying wrong turn that took place over the next two films. The very fact that Lucas felt it was more important to spend millions of dollars putting back a very redundant and pointless Jabba scene (all Jabba and Han do is repeat the same dialogue Han had with Greedo earlier!) and changing the look of background scenery while leaving all of the Tatooine scenes involving Luke and his friend Biggs on the cutting room floor should prove once and for all that for Lucas, special effects takes precedence over character development and depth.
Star Wars also stands above the sequels in that it has the best performances in the series. The dignity that Alec Guinness brings to the part of Ben Kenobi is enough to make you take seriously the idea of the Jedi and the Force. By contrast, when we heard the same ideas spring from a Muppet with Grover of Sesame Street's voice in the next two films, the whole thing just sounded silly. Also, it's high time that the late Peter Cushing get some greater recognition for the cool, slimy villainy he projects as Governor Tarkin.
I continue to enjoy watching the Star Wars trilogy in their original forms, but I am definitely not a Star Wars junkie. The series reached an apex in the first film, and while subsequent films are entertaining they'll never top the original.