The Force Awakens intro

I guess I was one of those people who went into seeing The Force Awakens cautiously, as I didn't know what to expect from Disney and JJ Abrams, but was ultimately left with very mixed feelings about it after seeing it. I loved that JJ decided to go the route of using practical effects, and I also liked seeing the old characters that we grew up with on the big screen again.

That said, my main issues with this movie were as follows:

• The movie concluded with too many unanswered questions and loose ends, more than any of the previous movies by a long shot
• A lot of the themes and plot devices were repetitive and echoed (too closely) those of ANH
• I didn't feel like I liked or connected well to the new characters
• Some of the action sequences were too over-the-top and reminded me of Marvel movies

I don't know if anyone will be making changes to this movie anytime soon, but here is a list of things that I feel could have made the movie better.

Remove Vader's "Noooo"

Why: Up until the BluRay version, Vader was seen as having an internal struggle with himself on whether to help out his son, or whether to be loyal to the Emperor and watch his son die a painful death. Now, that internal struggle isn't so internal anymore because we hear Vader say "No. Nooo!" as he makes his decision to kill the Emperor. The problem with this is that, not only does the new voice sound really corny, it also devalues the meaning of that scene by making it too "in-your-face" and eliminates all traces of intrigue. And for such an important event in the Star Wars saga, it's really a shame to destroy something that everyone has watched and loved up till now. Final decision: get rid of it!

Blu-Ray Changes List

Hey guys, here's a list of the changes made to the movies for the Blu-Ray release, taken from here, and my personal opinion of each change.


Episode I: The Phantom Menace

• A new blurring effect is used when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan use Force Speed to escape the droidekas

My opinion: totally unnecessary. It looked just fine before, maybe even better than it does now.

• The medium shot of Nute Gunray and Rune Haako observing Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escaping the droidekas has been replaced with a long shot

My opinion: I don't disagree, but it wasn't something that we needed to see changed.

• After Queen Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Vallorum, the chant "Vote now!" can no longer be heard in the Senate chamber.

My opinion: Whether or not others in the Senate were also eager to replace Valorum isn't something that the audience was made very aware of, and is IMO irrelevant. I'm completely indifferent about this change.

• In a scene with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan discussing Anakin's fate on Coruscant, the sun has brightened from orange to white

My opinion: Never really noticed it before... (!!!), but I like it.

• All scenes with Yoda depicted by a puppet have been replaced with a CG model

My opinion: Yes!! We asked for this, and we got it, and I must say I like it. But being the picky fan that I am, I do feel that the CGI version didn't fit into the surroundings as much as it could have, there is one shot where everyone's faces are blurry but Yoda's is crystal sharp. I liked all his facial expressions, they were WAY better than the puppet, but I didn't like the facial expression at the parade at the end, he looked too gloomy for a joyous occasion, even the puppet was smiling.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

• During the night chase on Coruscant the dialogue and speeder scene are slightly rearranged when Anakin and Obi-Wan pass through the power couplings

My opinion: Better, but not quite there yet...

• During Anakin's nightmare scene, a voiceover of his mother Shmi has been added.

My opinion: I love it!! Glad they listened to reason.

• After Yoda saves Obi-Wan and Anakin from Dooku's falling pillar, the reaction shots of Yoda and then Anakin and Obi-Wan are moved up before the shots of Dooku escaping on his ship and Padme and the clonetroopers arriving and firing at him.

My opinion: I didn't think this was possible, but that change made AOTC even worse. Perhaps they had this change in mind, but that wasn't the way to go about it. After Dooku takes off does look at bit better, but them completely freezing while Dooku's ship is still there is ridiculous. They should have just deleted those shots instead of moving them.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

• The scene transition from Padme's ship to Anakin on Mustafar has been changed from a straight cut back to a wipe, restoring the original theatrical release.

My opinion: Never noticed it, but... cool. Goes without saying though.

Episode IV: A New Hope

• Obi-Wan's Krayt Dragon call has once again been changed.

My opinion: Well it is a bit better than the last one, I like the echo effect that goes with the canyons, but I don't get why they changed it from the original in the first place.

• In the scene where Obi-Wan discovers R2 hiding in an alcove, rocks have been digitally inserted into the frame to hide the droid.

My opinion: Completely pointless, and it creates a continuity error. 

• The shot of Han and Greedo firing at each other has been shortened by several frames from the 2004 DVD version.

My opinion: It looks slightly better, but that's not the point.

• Luke's green lightsaber aboard the Millennium Falcon from the 2004 DVD has been corrected and is now blue.

My opinion: Blue? You call that blue? Really...

• The audio errors during the Battle of Yavin in the 2004 DVD have been corrected.

My opinion: Naturally these types of errors should be fixed without saying.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• In the shot when the wampa mauls Luke's tauntaun, the puppeteer's arm can no longer be seen.

My opinion: Another error that should be fixed without saying.

• In an exterior shot of Cloud City featuring Leia waiting for Han in her apartment, a reflection can now be seen in Leia's window.

My opinion: It does add a bit more realism, so I'm all for it.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• A static long shot of R2D2 and C3PO approaching the door to Jabba's palace has been replaced with an extreme long shot revealing more of the door, as the camera zooms in on the droids.

My opinion: Not bad but it's not something that was desperately needed... If I died and never saw that, I wouldn't have missed anything.

•  There are now brighter flashes of light when Han is released from the carbonite.

My opinion: I have to say I like it, it improves the effect, but not greatly.

• A CG Dug has been added to the scene in Jabba's palace which features sleeping partygoers.

My opinion: Not bad... but it could have been more subtle.

•  A new closeup shot of Han striking Boba Fett's jetpack has been added.

My opinion: A lot more work needs to be done to that whole segment... this barely counts as an improvement.

• Wicket's eyes now have CG eyelids, allowing him to blink.

My opinion: We didn't lose anything and we gained very little. It's almost completely irrelevant compared to changes that need to be done, but I'm not against it.

• When R2-D2 is shot by a stormtrooper, additional CG gadgets fly out of his body as he malfunctions.

My opinion: Not bad, I like it. What is even more impressive is that they didn't screw it up by making him all destroyed in one scene and fixed up in the next... now that is a miracle.

• The lightsaber errors from the 2004 DVD have been corrected and Luke and Darth Vader's lightsabers now have white cores.

My opinion: Another change that goes without saying. Lightsabers going through each other, my God...

• Darth Vader now says "No" while Luke is tortured by the Emperor's Force Lightning attack, and then screams "Nooooo!" as he picks Palpatine up and hurls him into the Death Star's reactor core.

My opinion: The short version. No. No!! The long version... just what the hell was Lucas thinking?! Taking one of the most significant scenes in the whole Star Wars saga and adding Vader talking to himself? Not only does it look and sound completely unnatural, it ruins the whole mood of that scene. I think Lucas has completely lost it... but watch it and decide for yourself.

 

Master Edition Rebooted

Hey all you fellow Star Wars changes enthusiasts, or just ordinary Star Wars fans, or just fans of movies in general, I'm happy to tell you that after a few years of "exile", I've decided to bring Master Edition back... with a vengeance. My main reason for this is due to the release of the Blu-Ray version of the Star Wars Saga, which many of us had hoped would have positive new changes to the movies as well as fixing up or undoing some of the old ones that nobody liked... but instead we got fed more Bantha poodoo.

The Blu-Rays themselves are pretty nice to be honest. The picture looks great, especially TPM which had an extreme makeover and it really shows, they even integrated some changes from the old version of Master Edition, which I personally was really happy to see (almost brought a tear to me eye). Even the colors were fixed to not look like everyone was wearing lipstick :) So for those reasons, I have to say that I like the Blu-Rays.

But our relationship unfortunately doesn't go past "like". And the main reason for this is that some of the really easy-to-implement yet crucial changes mentioned on this site and repeated over and over in unity by Star Wars fans around the world got completely ignored. Moreover, they wasted their time implementing new pointless changes, which I'll get into more detail about in my next post, as well as adding changes that made most Star Wars fans go, "No. Noooooooo!" from how ridiculous they are.

This blog version of Master Edition is here, again, for the fans; this time not just to show ideas that I've personally gathered, but to allow others to post theirs, comment on them, and vote together as a community for which ones have true merit. Last time we did it through e-mail, which got really hard to manage, but I think this new layout will be a lot more accommodating for our purposes. Hopefully this will lead us closer to some kind of consensus, and help those hard working people like Adywan and many others, who have dedicated their time and money to removing the pebbles out of the shoes of Star Wars fans around the world. This site is for you, my friends. Hope you find it useful.

Yours sincerely, aPPmaSTer