books could be , and indeed have been written about the star wars trilogy , and
rightfully so .
this is a set of movies that shattered all expectations of what science fiction could be in the late 70s / early 80s , inspiring literally dozens of clones , from battlestar galactica all the way up to stargate and independance day , and one could argue revitalizing the whole science fiction genre .
the special effects were groundbreaking , revolutionary for their day and still eminently watchable
well into twenty years later .
literally millions of people have seen the star wars trilogy and been touched by it . and now , george lucas brings it back for a new audience to enjoy .
much has been and is still being made of the fact that mr .
lucas has gone back and revised his trilogy for rerelease now .
some fans are angry that he has dared to meddle with what they consider perfection , while others are thrilled by the idea of seeing yesterday 's star wars updated with today 's special effects wizardry .
either way
, the special edition release means that star wars is back on the big screen , where it rightfully deserves to be seen .
can there be anyone in the world who does n't know what star wars is about ?
in a way , star wars is so much a part of our cultural heritage that it feels silly and almost artificial to try to summarize it .
it 's a story about a young man 's coming of age ,
a fight for freedom against an oppressive empire , a tale of swashbuckling and derring - do the likes of which have n't been seen on the silver screen in decades , strange new worlds with strange alien creatures and weird surprises around every turn , and the yearning within each of us to realize our dreams and make a difference in the world .
it 's high adventure , incredible special effects , and .
..
well , it 's just an _ experience_. something about this movie sparked the imagination of a generation .
..
and it 's about to do so again .
this new release of star wars comes as no surprise to many of the film 's devoted fans , who have been trading rumors and bits of information about it for quite some time now .
interviews , trailers , leaks from within lucasfilm .
.. all of these have been collected , collated , and placed on webpages for people to see ( pages such as http : //www .
islandnet .
com/~corona / films / details / sw4 .
html or , my personal favorite
, http : //leopard .
cs .
latrobe .
edu .
au/~koukoula/ ) .
pictures of before and after have been placed side by side .
.. even months before the movies were released , fans were making comparisons .
in some cases , the changes were nothing less than phenomenal , and this can be seen from the comparison shots even before you go into the movie theater .
the digital matte effects that were little more than a toy in forrest gump are put to excellent use here , unnoticeably sprucing up scenes that that george lucas was unsatisfied with in the original .
for instance , in my personal favorite example , the ancient temple on yavin that was formerly a flat stone edifice now has deep , moss - covered carvings and etchings .
and mos eisley spaceport is now a bustling , booming city , with more surprises and things going on in the background than you can notice on the first viewing .
all the starships and fighters are now computer - animated , getting rid of glitches and artifacts of the special effects processes used when the film was originally made -- and they look _ fantastic_.
four and a half minutes of new or missing footage have been added , including a scene with jabba the hutt that had originally been shelved because the state of special effects in 1977 simply could n't do it justice .
however , much of the ten million dollars that was spent on the star wars special edition restoration went into restoring the quality of the film itself .
the negatives , badly damaged by the ravages of time , were brightened and returned to their original splendor .
the audio tracks were remixed and reprocessed , with reworked sound effects by effects maven ben burtt , into glorious , booming , theater - shaking full - thx dolby digital stereo .
and _ that _ , more than the added scenes or new special effects , is where the real value of this new version lies .
it 's really true what they say in the commercials
: star wars loses _ so much _ on the small screen .
even letterboxing does n't make up for the decrease in size and definition .
in regard to the star wars special edition , and to the other two films of the trilogy which have yet to be released , i 'll make this final recommendation : go and see it .
go and see it more than once .
.. it may be another twenty years before it comes back to the big screen after it 's gone this time .
take along the youngsters who 've never had the big - screen star wars experience -- you'll enjoy seeing it through their eyes as much as they will enjoy it for the first time .
there 's magic in this movie -- special edition or no , there can be no denying that it 's still star wars , and still has the power to thrill and enthrall children of all ages , from four to four hundred .
let 's all return to that time long ago , and that galaxy far , far away . . .
Output: P