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6 - They can ruin classic films

You know what would make Casablanca better? Bigger explosions. We can just drop them right in...

As with many of the entries in this list, this one is entirely down to those destroyers of childhood memories otherwise known as Star Wars Episodes I-III. It wasn’t enough for Lucasfilm to have achieved amazing, ground-breaking effects in the first ‘Star Wars’ films; but then it had to ‘update’ them with modern effects. The first problem with this idea, of course, is that you’re never going to have perfect special effects. Are you going to ‘re-master’ these films every time effects get more advanced? Is this a sustainable business model? Unfortunately, it seems like it is, but that doesn’t make it right.

Secondly, most of the new effects in the Special Editions are not very good at all. Okay, so maybe Jabba the Hutt was supposed to have a conversation with Han Solo in the original ‘Star Wars,’ but I bet he wasn’t supposed to be a different size from the Jabba in ‘Return of the Jedi,’ and I bet he wouldn’t have looked so obviously computer generated that he looked as out of place as an octopus roaming the streets either. Of course, the Jabba the Hutt puppet in ‘Return of the Jedi’ also looked pretty ropey, but you need to be consistent with these things.

The same goes for the ‘enhancements’ in THX-1138, a tedious and majorly flawed tale of a dystopian future that seems to be revered by many people who should know better. The film contains a few extra bits, such as a CGI bug that someone tramples on, which are so obviously computer-generated and added on later that they again detract from the film. If you’re going to tamper with an old film, then at least try to make the extras fit with the original. Either that, or just leave classic films as they are. For further research on this, we thoroughly recommend the ‘Free Hat’ episode of ‘South Park,’ or the video below of the 'new' Jabba the Hutt.




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