[citation][nom]wayneepalmer[/nom]Actually mikem_90, the Lightsaber scene DOES go with something that was in the original Jedi movie - where Vader talks with Luke about his building a new light saber after Vader cut his hand off in Empire.[/citation]
I wasn't saying it was unrelated. I was talking about how the original theatrical release provides a sense of tension, What happened? Is he really walking into a intergalactic crime lord's sanctum unarmed? A sense of vulnerability to our protagonist builds up this tension once we notice its Luke. We wonder what has happened in the meantime? If we're just handed "Oh he was building a lightsaber earlier, and then is poking at R2D2" the whole sending the droids in ahead of time becomes less of a mystery and "Oh we see where THIS is going."
With the scene in, you know the outcome before he even gets into the throne room, you know there is going to be lightsaber stabby stabby death, maybe not the exact sequence. If the protagonist doesn't face any significant perceivable danger, there is no tension, it becomes just shallow eye candy. Chewie and Leia being captured, Lando working as a guard, all become big giant billboards saying "ASS KICKING 2.5 MILES, LAST CHANCE FOR SOOTHING CREAM" instead of hints as to "What have they got planned?"
Might as well make a movie that is nothing but lightsaber duels. Oh wait...
[citation]Some of the add-ins to the original movie were kind of hokey, but, I did like the Jabba the Hut part (this one WAS a CGI remake of an original section of the movie - that Lucas couldn't make work due to technology issues - that he kept after cutting it).[/citation]
I've heard a few stories over the years. George Lucas is a master revisionist. First it was supposed to be one way, then another, depends on what he intends to release later. The fact that Solo walks around Jabba in the original take tends to hint how Jabba was not supposed to be a big walking slug, and at worst nearly humanoid. After going back to what he WANTED to have happened, and what really did, I tend to favor the way it was originally. In Jaws, he wanted to see shark more. Part of how scary it is was because you didn't see it hardly much. You caught glimpses of it for most of the movie. The fear centers of your brain fill in the gaps.
For some movies, Lucas seems to have wanted to have a balls out, brainless testosterone fest, but had to make do with a well crafted artsy enthralling set of movies that made him what he is today instead. Them's the breaks.
[citation] Too bad Lucas never could find the original Biggs Darklighter and Luke scenes from the start of the movie (these were cut from right after the Droids ejected from Princess Leia's cruiser - Luke actually watched the battle with his binoculars as a part of the segway from the space scenes).[/citation]
That might be nice as deleted scenes, but constantly releasing new versions with scenes that were cut for pacing and flow is just kind of silly. Yeah its cool to see stuff they had filmed before, but when you add it all together it no longer has the same feel or emotional tone. There are reasons those scenes were cut. How many different versions should we subject new audiences to if the new ones break pacing, flow, and expect us to go through several emotions in the span of a few minutes?