I'm undecided
Not on that this is my least favorite of the Star Wars Trilogy, but on the 2004 enhancements made to Return of the Jedi. My brother and I threw this one one yesterday, I usually watch A New Hope or Empire, but we decided we needed to brush up on our VI trivia.
Some of the edits, enhancements, whatever you want to call them, I am ok with, especially when the picture is clearer and easier to make out some of the details, although some of those details are new. I would like original copies of all of them just to have, but for viewing pleasure, the new ones are just fine. But there are some that I cringe at. They just don't work, they don't flow, its like Lucas forgot about continuity or why the simplicity of a scene or character is what made the original trilogy so enjoyable.
This is my least favorite change in all three movies. I hate it. It is over the top and almost ridiculous. I will set the stage. Jabba's palace, the Max Rebo band, and the newly created CGI character named Joh Yowza. Together they sing " Jedi Rocks", I usually mute this 30 seconds of torture.
Before the enhancements, and crazy CGI.
After 
The one bit of trivia I found out about this scene is they did add a few more shots of Oola dancing. In my opinion it was unneeded, but she was in such great shape after 20 years, she was able to still dance, and attempt to fight off Rancor. Impressive.
I do like the enhancement to the Sarlaac. It seems more scary.
After the beak and tentacles were added.
The reason I post these next pictures isn't because of what you see, it is because of what you hear. Yub Nub was completely taken out of the Victory celebration with the Ewok's and replaced with an over the top Phantom Menace sort of song. John Williams has a special place in my heart, but why did he have to mess with this one?
After. I do like that you can sort of see some dancing Ewoks.
Being that Wedge Antilles is my second all time favorite character, to Luke of course. I was thrilled that this scene of Luke and Wedge reuniting was added. He was one of the only X Wing fighters to survive all three movies, and he is Hayden Christensen's uncle.
And this scene being the most controversial of all the editions. This is the one, I can't decide on. At first, I hated it, then I kinda liked it, now I am on the fence. Anakin did die when he became Darth Vader, so it does seem to make sense that he was restored to his Jedi self, but when he killed the Emporer, he redeemed himself. Admittedly, I do smile when I see Hayden standing there, he is so cute.
After. Would I prefer Alec Guinness, or Ewan McGreggor? tough call. 
These last added final shoots of Tatooine,Naboo, and Cloud City are very grand and animated. They seemed unnecessary at first, but they do sort of set the stage for the prequels and show how wide spreading the empire was.
All in all, these movies are still my favorites of all time. I can live with the changes, and I do still watch them over and over. I will just have to accept them, or ignore and mute.
*Clearly I didn't take these freeze frame shots, I had help from some internet friends, to whom I say "thank you".
Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:26PM
Reader Comments (4)
alysha, i'm very glad you blogged about this. as a huge SW fan, i appreciate it. it's cool to see the befores and afters. i like them for the most part, except for hayden so-whiny-and-annoying-i-want-to-scratch-my-eyes-out christensen. bah! but i guess it made sense to put him there later in that end scene. :)
i really really miss the yub nub. i loved that song. it was perfect for the ewoks. perfect for their little drunken, use-startrooper-helmets-as-drums celebration...
i'm in mourning all over again.
and really, they should give you the option to buy the original versions on dvd, at least once.
On the fence on the fence. As a huge Star Wars fan I must must must get in a word here.... Only wait, I forget, I'm not a Star Wars fan. Of course I realize I'm like one of 5 in the world who doesn't enjoy this aliens wars with red & green flash lights swords, and with good reason. First of all, Jabba the Hut. Hello?! Am I the only one to realize the scary that is that huge blob? Yuck? It has been a while, a very long while, so I do not remember if he in fact moves, but I'm fairly certain if he does, there is sure to be some sort of goo he leaves behind and that just makes my tummy all sick inside. The horror oh the horror of having to be tied to him while wearing what can only be a very uncomfortable 'bikini'. And I swear Darth Vader used to live (only at night so that he could not be found by my parents, apparently) in my closet. Oh how he tormented me with his dark and heavy breathing. That breathing kept me up very late at night. So really, while some debate over whether the addition of Hayden at the end is cheesy and that Return of the Jedi is the best of all, I personally choose the Ewoks as the best part of Star Wars, and their little spin off. They were so cute and I bet rather cuddly.
i, of course, love this post