Subject: REVIEW: STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (SPECIAL EDITION) (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Walter Frith)
Date: 4 Feb 1997 22:34:05 GMT

STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (SPECIAL EDITION) (1997)
                       A film review by Walter Frith
                        Copyright 1997 Walter Frith

It would be ludicrous to tell the world anything about the plot of
'Star Wars'.  The 1977 film which won six Academy Awards, the most of
any film that year (Sound, Film Editing, Art Direction/Set Decoration,
Costume Design, Original Score, and Special Visual Effects) has
returned and Special Edition refers not only to its restoration but
also its enhancement.  What beat it out for Best Picture, Best Director
and Best Original Screenplay?  'Annie Hall', Woody Allen for 'Annie
Hall', and Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman for 'Annie Hall'.  Alec
Guinness (who turned down the role of Obi-Won Kenobi several times
before Lucas convinced him to take it) was edged out for Best
Supporting Actor by Jason Robards for 'Julia'.  It actually is the
recipient of seven Oscars as a special achievement award for Sound
Effects was given to Benjamin Burtt, Jr. for the creation of the alien,
creature and robot voices but this was a non-competitive category.
George Lucas and 20th Century Fox have invested millions (most reports
indicate $10-15 million) to re-mix the original mono soundtrack which
originally appeared in the credits in 1977 as D OLBY SYSTEM - making
movies sound better for stereo and digital sound at that but the analog
mix can still be differentiated from today's technology.  Dolby Stereo
movies actually hit screens in 1978 with 'Superman' and 'The Deer
Hunter' being two classics with that new technology and 'The Deer
Hunter' won the Oscar for sound that year.  The 'Star Wars' negative
has also been cleaned up (although the print that I viewed had some
colour contrast problems).  It isn't quite twenty years since 'Star
Wars' hit the big screen.  It actually debuted in May of 1977 but they
are doing the right thing by re-releasing it now because from May of
1997 right through to the fall, we will be bombarded with
multi-blockbuster hits such as the fourth 'Batman' movie and Steven
Spielberg's sequel to 'Jurassic Park'.  'The Empire Strikes Back' is
due for re-release on February 21st and 'Return of the Jedi' finishes
off the space western trilogy with re-release on March 7th.  There is
approximately four and a half minutes of new footage included this time
in 'Star Wars' with a conversation between Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and
Jabba the Hut who looks smaller than he appeared in 'Return of the
Jedi' and since it is a computer enhanced Jabba this time, he moves
much more quickly than 'Jedi's' Jabba who was slower because he was a
puppet.  Actually, a super puppet :-)  The other additional scene has
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) talking to one of his star fighter buddies
before the climax occurs which is the attack on the Death Star.  So
much for the additions.  As for the enhancements, there are scenes from
the first movie that have background additions such as flying objects,
live action creatures and new laser effects from the weapon known as
the 'blaster'.  Purists have complained that Lucas should never have
tampered with the original but as someone who has seen the film over 50
times, I had no problem with it and I think they've done a good job to
keep the film above date and it does stand up remarkably well twenty
years after the fact.  Endless imitations followed 'Star Wars' and most
of them flopped ('Battlestar Galactica', 'Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century' and 'Flash Gordon') but 'Star Wars' was a revolutionary
contribution to society's pop culture and influenced other outer space
creations such as the return of the 'Star Trek' series which went from
the small screen to the big one, the invention of the 'Alien' series,
'E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial', and no doubt today's 'The X-Files' which
is arguably the best program on television for its combination of
Earthly crime, outer space connection and paranormal activity.  'Star
Wars: Special Edition' is a grand opportunity for everyone to enjoy it
all over again and for a new generation to experience a wonder which
will remain just as strong in 2077 as it does today.

OUT OF 5> * * * * *