I don’t like it when computer generated images to alter movies that were made in the past. In some cases I can understand why they did it even if I don’t particularly care for it. For example ABC has altered James Bond movies by adding additonal clothing to certain Bond girls.
What I don’t get is why they alter images for theatrical release that don’t appear to be of great importance to the movie. For example in the Star Wars: A New Hope special edition they had Greedo fire first in the Cantina. Previously Han Solo, being the smooth operator that he is, fired first.
In the re-release of E.T. the Extraterrestrial they have removed the shotguns of police officers and replaced them with walkie-talkies.
Can anyone tell me why such things occur?
Marc
I guess they must have some importance to some people, including me, otherwise I wouldn’t be bitching about it.
I heard the cantina scene was changed because Lucas didn’t want Han portrayed as a cold blooded killer… so it was made to look like self-defense, rather than ‘first strike’!
Some of the changes to the Star Wars – The Special Edition were downright gratuitous. They made the changes just because they wanted to add something.
As far as the Bond stuff goes, for some reason Disney thought that it was inappropriate to show a topless woman in a Bond scene, and this was preferable to cutting it out altogether. I notice it didn’t bother them that this scene was followed by one where she gets tossed out the window, supposedly by folks who “…didn’t know there was a pool down there.” When you have a choice between Boobs and Violence, TV sides with Violence. Things would work differently if I ran the universe.
Cal beat me to it. They do it cause they can. Because no one stops and asks if they should do it.
Regarding E.T., Spielberg has said that these days people are more sensitive about kids and guns, whatever that means. All I know is that running away from bad guys with walkie talkies is far less interesting that running away from bad guys with guns. For what it’s worth, a Spileberg person has said that ‘only purists will care about the changes’ so consider yourself a purist.
The Greedo thing is pretty unforgivable as far as I’m concerned, since I’m a huge Star Wars fanboy. Han Solo isn’t a nice guy at first. He’s a scoundrel. He also is enough of a good shot that he can hit a target three feet from him that he’s been aimed at for some time. Having him fire ‘in self-defense’ is idiotic and compromises his character severely - and adds nothing.
Then again, before there were digital effects there was Ridley Scott, who got on my list by coming back ten years after the fact and declaring that Deckard was a replicant. Directors choosing to change their movies years after they made them is nothing new, I suppose, and none of them seem to stop and ask if the change makes any sense or adds anything.
Well Lucas and Speilberg are both very powerful directors so nobody will tell them to stop.
They are artists. Their artistic sensibilites today are different from the ones they had 20 years ago. So they change the film. But you always hear how film is a collaborative medium. Where many artists work together to create it. So why have a ‘directors’ edition.
I for one wish they would stop. I want my DVD to try to give me the expierence that the origianl audience had as closely as possible. That means no added footage to the actual movie, the same aspect ratio, the same sound, (mono?) just give it to me straight. If you want have a double disk set with the new ‘directors’ edition.
I don’t have a problem with the walkie-talkies instead of guns. I will have a problem if, as has been reported, Spielberg left in the scene where the mother runs out of the house yelling at the cops not to shoot at Elliot and ET. What the hell are they supposed to shoot with? Their radios?
The only movie that I’ve seen the before and after versions of is Star Wars, and the changes were mixed for me. The Han Solo cantina bit was inexcusable. The extra trickery in the exploding Death Star were neat looking, but not necessary. They added back in the scene with Jabba, where he was apparently a small human, and then added a miniature Hutt in to cover him up. Did no one else notice how freakin’ huge Jabba was in RotJ? He was easily six feet tall and ten feet long when he was lounging on the barge, and then Han just steps over his tail as if there’s nothing there! Was he supposed to have grown that much in the intervening years? They took the time to add in lots of droids floating around in the Tatooine scenes, and then left in the part of the Vader/Kenobi scene where Ben’s saber fades out for a second.
It seemed to be a lot of “look what we can do now”, and then they didn’t do it well.
The Star Wars changes bite. Han shoots first because he’s a badass, and the Han-meets-Jabba scene was there solely to stick in a gratuitous Boba Fett cameo. And the new Death Star explosion looks cheap.
Glad I have my VHS videotape with the unaltered version; now if only I can get the original on DVD.
ABC didn’t like the fact that Plenty O’Toole was wearing see-thru panties in Diamonds are Forever and asked MGM to change it for the TV airing. They did- and added a bra for some unknown reason.
Spielberg has made lots of changes for the 20th anniversary edition of E.T. The gun to walkie talkie thing, Spielberg explained, was because he thought it was ridiculous to have officers ready to use a gun to shoot children on bicycles if need be. But fear not- both versions of E.T. will be available on DVD.
I suppose if Speilberg releases a “special edition” of Jaws someday, he’ll take out the “shark eating people” parts. Too violent. Instead, he’ll just have the shark verbally threatening people with a megaphone.
Hey now, those radios are dangerous. Any reasonable mother would be concerned that with a really long transmition they could cause brain cancer( with the extra cranial volume of E.T. the risks are increased significantly). And lets not even talk about the possibility of eventual sterility.
Although not digitally altered, the all-time worst example of this has to be the old TV version of Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie, where all marijuana references were gone, the duffel bags of weed changed to bags of diamonds. WTF? A Cheech and Chong movie without marijuana? Why don’t they show porno movies with the sex scenes cut out while they’re at it. Thankfully, they’ve started showing the pot version again.
The Star Wars episode IV redo cut one of my favorite shots: The one where the Millenium Falcon blasts out of Mos Eisley. It’s shown from the ground, streaking loudly across the sky, and everyone stops for a second, the way people in the city do when a loud jet flies over, then just continue on as if this kind of thing goes on all the time. It’s totally gone in the special edition.