A Reminder Why George Lucas Loved the Star Wars Special Editions

Even after it grew to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, George Lucas nonetheless wasn’t utterly happy with Star Wars. Sure, the filmmaker clearly was pleased with a lot of what’s on display, however the visuals and scope he had in his thoughts in when he made the film within the Nineteen Seventies didn’t line up with the ultimate product. He simply didn’t have the time or cash. That’s why, 20 years later, he created the Special Editions—the first of which, A New Hope, was launched January 31, 1997, precisely 25 years in the past.

“My original motivation in going back into the film and working on it is [that] films, unlike books or symphonies, are never finished. They are abandoned or yanked away from you,” Lucas told Entertainment Tonight back in 1997. “And at some point somebody says, ‘That’s enough. We’re putting it in theaters.’ And you say, ‘But it’s not done!’ ‘Ah, you’ll be on this for a hundred years if we let you keep going at it.’”

“There were a lot of things in [A New Hope] I just wasn’t happy with and when the film came out everyone said, ‘Oh, looks great. You love it.’ I said, ‘Well, you know it’s only about 60 percent of what I wanted it to be.’ Everybody thought I was nuts,’” he continued. “This was an opportunity for me to really fix the film up and make it be what I wanted it to be. And get it to be at least 80 percent of what I’d hope it would be. And get rid of these little thorns that were stuck in there.”

And so, within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, Lucas started tinkering together with his movies. And tinkering. And tinkering. And the entire thing snowballed. “I started playing around with some of the special effects shots at the end of the movie,” Lucas mentioned. “‘Gee, I really wanted this to have more distance to it. I wanted the ship to start bigger, then get smaller.’ And before I finished, I had re-done about 150 shots in [A New Hope]. It was like pulling a thread on a sweater. Or painting a house. ‘Well, we’ll paint this wall.’ ‘Well, we should really paint this wall over here.’ ‘Maybe we should paint the ceiling, too.’ ‘Now, this room looks so great. Maybe we should do the living room.’ It’s just one thing leads to another.”

“It was a very enjoyable experience,” he added. “I feel very much better about the movie and I think what I’m leaving behind [is] much more what I had in mind.”

Now, should you’re a Star Wars followers, these quotes are nothing new. You most likely learn them 25 years in the past and take into consideration them each time Jabba the Hutt reveals up in A New Hope or Cloud City reveals up on the finish of Return of the Jedi. (And then once more when extra planets have been added to Return of the Jedi years later.) But we’re working these once more at the moment simply as a method to humanize the method. Fans could have an advanced relationship with the Special Editions however the man who made them seemingly didn’t. They have been his means to make things better in his life he wasn’t pleased with. And he cherished it. Twenty-five years later, he most likely nonetheless does. Though, at this level, perhaps it’s time to show that 80% into 100%.

Read extra in regards to the legacy of the Star Wars Special Editions, each then and now, at these hyperlinks. And head over to Entertainment Tonight to learn many extra retro Lucas quotes about particular scenes just like the entry to Mos Eisley, Jabba the Hutt, and others.

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