Star Wars - Episode IV: 2004 Special Edition Revisited

I usually don't read about the specific changes to an edit before I start watching (other than just the basic overview), preferring to be surprised. But, while watching Adywan's edit, I couldn't see any differences. After 20 minutes, I finally had to check to see what was changed!

Don't misunderstand me. This is the *highest compliment* I can pay to any fan editor. Every editor wants his work to be so seamless that people can't tell what's changed and what hasn't. Adywan's changes were so subtle, that even for someone like me, who's seen the original movie hundreds of times, I was hard pressed to figure them out. Imagine my surprise when I went to check the list of changes and discovered that there were hundreds that I had already missed by this point!

Adywan's goal is to do what George Lucas claimed that he intended to do with his Special Editions - update the technology slightly. But while Lucas failed miserably, altering characters' behaviors, adding obnoxious and gratuitous CGI, while leaving huge technical errors completely unchanged, Adywan actually makes such a smooth transition between versions that you'll think you're just watching the 1977 version of the film, and not realizing how much better it is.

To wit: 1) Ever since "Episode IV" was added to the opening scroll, the timing of the scroll has been slightly out of sync with the music. I never noticed this. But Adywan has fixed the timing so that it's the same as all the other films now! 2) Even on the Blu-ray version of this film, the "laser blasts" look cheaply painted onto the screen. Adywan has replaced the original effects with new effects that match the look of the laser blasts in the other five movies. 3) When the Tantive IV ship is being fired on by the Imperial Destroyer at the beginning, a part of the ship blows up that wasn't even being fired upon! Adywan has made the firing blast match up with the explosion.

These are just a few of the thousands of changes that Adywan has made. Meanwhile, he's removed all of Lucas's egregious changes from the 1997 and 2004 Special Editions. (The 2011 Blu-rays were not out when he released this edit in '08, but his versions are actually superior even to those.)

Intriguingly, Adywan has made some other slight revisions that have generated some heated controversy, but all of those changes were intended to properly make the film a consistent part of a six-film cycle. For instance, the duel between Darth Vader and Ben in this film (previously without music) has now had the score from their *previous* encounter in "Revenge of the Sith" added. When R2 and 3P0 are in the Jawas' sand crawler, a non-functioning battle droid has been added in the background. And the number of moons on Tattooine has been made consistent with the prequels.

I for one fully support these changes. Firstly, again, unless you know the movie really well, you're not even going to notice these subtle alterations. Second, don't we *want* a fully fleshed out, satisfying six-film series (which Adywan intends to do)? I like the little connections. And they're considerably less appalling than George Lucas adding a demented "NOOOOOO!" to Darth Vader at the end of "Return of the Jedi."

Also controversial is Adywan's heavy reworking of the pacing and the action in the Death Star sequence. Having seen a side-by-side comparison, I will go on record as saying Adywan's version exceeds the original.

Much anger and frothing has come from the Star Wars fan community from this edit. I have three things to say to naysayers: 1) Unlike George Lucas, Adywan isn't forcing you to take his version. You can feel free to ignore it all you want. 2) Also unlike Lucas, Adywan isn't charging you for his altered product. 3) Many of the most vehement opponents of this edit have *never even seen it.* Their complaints come from looking at the cut list. Watch it and judge for yourself.

Adywan spent four years assembling this edit; he's working on "Empire" now, and the images released so far blow away anything on the Blu-ray. Clearly, Adywan is the J.R.R. Tolkien of fan edits; i.e., he may only ever be known for one long project, but *man,* what a project! This is his (unpaid) life's work, and I anxiously await the next installment. This is the most popular and acclaimed fan edit of all time for a reason.

This definitely is my go-to version of ANH.

Technical quality – 10/10 – Sharp video, crystal clear audio.

Editing – 10/10 – Completely seamless.

Presentation – 10/10 – I loved the menu.

Entertainment – 9/10 – I’m not a SW nerd, so I probably didn’t notice half the changes, but the ones I did, I loved. The cantina scene, new Star Destroyer shots, lightsaber duel, and ending battle were magnificent especially. The movie looked much more updated and could be enjoyed more than ever before.

Overall – 9/10

Lots of different comments about what was added and what was taken away. I imagine that if one tried to please all of the fans then there would be more than a hundred different versions, at least.

First, my likes:
1. Removing Jabba. Yes! I always felt that this revealed Jabba too early. He was a mysterious, unknown figure in the original trilogy and then you finally went to his palace (suspension building as C3P2 and R2-D2 go in) and finally meet the disgusting overgrown slug. This was completely ruined with a poorly done CG character (whose texture did not even look like it did in the third movie) and having Han step on the tail of the man who just sent an assassin to kill him does not make sense.
2. Removing the puerile robot humor on the entry to Mos Eisly. Thanks!
3. re-cutting the battle between Obi-wan and Darth Vader, it actually felt intense!
4. turning Vader’s saber on after Obi-wan, and making Obi-wan turn it on earlier (thus eliminating the “jerk”). Noticed that right off.
5. All of the fantastic work on the lightsabers and lasers (Obi-wan’s lightsaber no longer flickers like it’s failing or something!)
6. Chewie’s medal, just brilliant.
7. The overall crisp look of the film. It made me excited about Star Wars again.
8. Planet added to Death Star scenes.
9. New graphics for Death Star plans.
10. More TIEs.

Things I didn’t care for:
1. The re-sequenced scene at Obi-wan’s hut (maybe I just remember the old way too well but it seemed slightly awkward)
2. The new music added to Obi-wan and Darth Vader’s battle, it seemed a little too modern to fit with the old Star Wars.
3. Some of the re-sequenced shots in the battle—like making Luke’s “getting cooked” not appear after he’d just been “trusting his feelings”, again that could be just because I remember the original so well.

If anyone agrees with these, check out the “Purist” edition Adywan made. I’m currently helping seed it. Sadly I am a mixture of Purist and the full-edit, I don’t care for the new music, mainly, but like the new graphics and battle elements.

In any event, this was a great watch and has made me enjoy Star Wars again. I only watched the 2004 DVDs once and was disappointed and thought that perhaps I had outgrown Star Wars. This turns out to not be the case, it was Lucas that had deserted me.

Simply put, this edit is perfect.

WOW, Adywan. just WOW. I have been following this over at OT for quite some time, and had my hopes up so high, that i thought for sure I would be disappointed with something, but NO, not the case. You have achieved true perfection here. And although I can not wait for a true anamorphic original theatrical version, I am positive that your special edition is THE Star Wars that I will be watching long into the future.

Without a doubt, I think my favorite part of this edit was all of the tweeking you added to the Cantina. THIS is THE way that a special edition should have been done, and the way that the prequels should have been filmed. The subtlety is AMAZING. They are ALIVE!!! I would comment and comment on what i thought was awesome, but the list would be tremendous. The TIE fighters, the saber battle. WOW. I dont care what anyone says about that scene, the music is great, and it is an actual battle not. NOT a couple of old guys clanking sticks together.

And to end, one of my other favorite things you did was update all the hologram and displays. They were sooooo cool and so real. I dont even want to know how you accomplished these things. It was just pure wizardry.

Thank you Ady, for this wonderful gift. I have not experienced anything this cool in a long time. Thank you