New scenes, restoration draw more people to theaters to explore the Force of Star Wars

The promise of "a few new surprises" has drawn many people to the theater during the last two weeks to see Star Wars: Special Edition.

Star Wars director George Lucas has taken advantage of new technologies to retool the science-fiction classic. The "new surprises" include digitized sound, restoration of footage previously edited from the original and some new live-action scenes. Lucas has been both praised and criticized for his refurbishing of his classic movie.

"It's a great marketing ploy to build his empire," Pat Trimble, integrative arts professor, said. "Lucas has the opportunity to reach a new audience."

In the case of Star Wars, restoration was justified, said Trimble.

"The new technologies give Lucas the freedom to make the movie the way he wanted it," he added.

The new scenes, he said, did change the movie.

In one of the new scenes in Star Wars: Special Edition, Greedo, the bounty hunter, fires first before Solo kills him.

"Han Solo's character is definitely changed by the new scenes. In the original, Solo is seen as a dark character, when he shoots the bounty hunter without provocation, he doesn't seem like such a nice guy," Trimble said.

It is those changes that make people interested in the new edition, said mass communications Professor Chris Jordan.

"People will go out of curiosity," he said, adding he thought Lucas was right for restoring Star Wars. "It offered him the opportunity to correct mistakes in the original."

The re-release also gives fans the chance to see the movie at the theater where it was meant to be shown, Jordan said. Restoration should be done on a case by case basis, he said, making sure that the director's artistic vision is not compromised.

"The restoration definitely augments the film," he added.

Although the restoration altered the film, not everyone thinks it was for the better. The new version is not an improvement on the original, Simon Bray (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said.

"It's better to see at the theater," he said, "but it looks computerized."

Some people said they didn't like the computerized graphics.

"The computer-generated animals were just really annoying," Matt Rummel (sophomore-philosophy) said.

According to the Official Star Wars 20th Anniversary Commemorative Magazine, Star Wars fans can expect some new scenes in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Some new scenes from Empire, which opens tonight, include a new live-action sequence with the wampa monster that attacks Luke Skywalker and some restored previously-edited footage of Cloud City.

Viewers of Jedi, opening March 7, will see new scenes of Jabba the Hutt's lair as well as a new celebration scene when the Death Star is destroyed.