The dawn of DVDs arrived around the same time that George Lucas and his team were pioneering new CGI technologies for the Star Wars prequels. This unfortunate timing has doomed the original trilogy, because Lucas decided to update his classic Star Wars movies with a bunch of superfluous CG effects, almost all of which were a clear detriment to the quality of the movies. Since Lucas insists these are the definitive versions of the movies, he’s never released the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy on DVD or Blu-ray. It’s possible to buy digital transfers of people’s VHS tapes from the ‘80s, but that’s hardly the optimum viewing experience for three of the greatest movies ever made. As it stands, the only versions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi available to the fan base are the dreaded “Special Editions.”
The Special Editions sharpened up the edges of some of the action scenes, but these changes are pretty much imperceptible. The most egregious changes are painfully perceptible. When Luke, Obi-Wan, and the droids arrive in Mos Eisley Spaceport, the Special Edition suddenly cuts through an all-CG montage of life at the spaceport that looks like a PS2 cutscene, then huge CG creatures fill the screen during the iconic Jedi mind trick moment (including one pixelated beast that engulfs the entire frame for a few seconds). It’s terrible cinematic composition – it’s just Lucas cramming as many weird CG aliens into Mos Eisley as possible. Also, in Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi, there’s a gratuitous musical number titled “Jedi Rocks” in which a fuzzy bug-man singer sprays spittle into the camera lens – “Jedi Rocks” takes up more screen time than Han and Leia’s heartfelt reunion.
The movies themselves are obviously great enough to overlook these ghastly alterations, but it would be nice to be able to watch a version of these movies that have no blatant flaws to overlook (except Luke and Leia’s kiss, of course). Lucasfilm should use its streaming platform to finally release the Star Wars trilogy in its original form to the fan base. There should be a version of the trilogy out there that isn’t riddled with hideous CGI and unnecessary add-ons.
With HBO Max releasing the fabled Snyder cut for DC fans, there’s a new precedent for streaming services to use their flexibility to provide subscribers with a few different viewing options. Disney Plus has been including bonus content like behind-the-scenes featurettes with all the Star Wars movies, so the franchise’s new corporate home is clearly interested in engaging with the fan base and providing supplementary materials. The theatrical versions of the groundbreaking movies that started it all – held under lock and key at Skywalker Ranch for decades – are arguably the most important supplementary materials in the Star Wars canon.
Lucasfilm could even continue to tout the Special Editions as the definitive versions of the movies. Disney Plus doesn’t have to make the theatrical cuts the go-to viewing option for the movies or distinguish the Special Editions in some way to shame them as the black sheep of the Star Wars saga. If that’s how Lucas intended the original trilogy to be seen, then the Special Editions can remain the default viewing option for each movie. The theatrical cuts can just be hidden away as footnotes in the bonus sections of each movie. The fans who really care about which version of the movies they’re watching – a small group, but passionate – will actively seek them out.
No one’s trying to topple any regimes; Star Wars fans just want to see the best versions of the saga’s best movies. There are both older fans who grew up with the theatrical cuts and had to get used to the Special Editions and younger fans who grew up with the Special Editions and would love to see Lucas’ original vision for the trilogy. As controversial as the Special Editions are, there’s no ravenous campaign to have them scrubbed from existence. It would just be great to have the option to see the movies that audiences got to see on the big screen in 1977, 1980, and 1983.
The Mouse House recently announced that the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special and the Ewok-centric made-for-TV movies will soon be arriving on Disney Plus. After years of fan campaigning, it didn’t seem like these polarizing TV productions would ever see the light of day in the streaming age. Lucasfilm’s next move should be to release the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy. As long as the theatrical cuts are just sitting around gathering dust in the offices of Lucasfilm and Disney has an open door for Lucasfilm to fill its hugely popular streaming platform with content, then it seems like a no-brainer.