The Best Things About The Return Of The Jedi Special Edition Release

Released in theaters on this day in 1997, the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi culminated the three-month window where fans got to see the saga on the big screen with packed audiences. Considering audiences knew they’d be getting a brand-new film two years later, it was a great time to be a Star Wars fan as the series got the most attention and publicity it had gotten since the films’ original releases.

Some of the changes George Lucas made to his films were minor, some were much more noticeable. Many fans of the original films will be quick to point out what they dislike about the changes, but along with the “bad,” there was plenty of good to come from the re-release.

Check out what we think were some of the best improvements made with the Special Edition and let us know your favorite upgrades in the comments!

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First Theatrical Viewing Experience For A Generation

For many fans, the only way they’d ever seen any of the films was on a TV screen. Considering how long it would be before high definition flat screen TVs would become the norm, you were lucky to have seen it on a 32″ tube set. No experience can compare to sitting in a dark theater and seeing “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” before the massive title explodes across the screen, which was a first-time experience for anyone who missed the film’s original release.

[H/T YouTube, Forever Cinematic Trailers]

Updated Visual and Sound Effects

Getting to see the original film on the big screen would be more than enough to create a memorable experience for a Star Wars fan, but in the 20 years since the original films had come out, the sophistication of special effects had heightened tremendously. Tweaking the original effects to look more seamless, as well as hearing the film like never before, meant that audiences were seeing the most technologically advanced film possible.

[H/T YouTube, Furious Fanboys]

Coincided With Special Edition Soundtrack Release

One of the added benefits of George Lucas going back to remaster the sound effects and visual effects is that he could also remaster the film’s soundtrack for the CD generation. The original soundtrack had been released on CD in the mid-’80s when the format was becoming the standard, but the reissue resulted in every major record store carrying the soundtrack for anyone to pop into their Discman.

Oola’s Terrifying Death Scene

In hopes of making Jabba’s Palace seem a little more lively and diverse, a new sequence showed a much more rocking version of Sy Snootles’ original song. Lucas also contacted the actress who played Oola, Femi Taylor, to show an extended death scene. Prior to the Special Edition, audiences saw her fall to her demise and heard her screams, but the new sequence showed Oola in the Rancor pit, making the beast seem like a much more terrifying and formidable threat that Luke would ultimately defeat.

[H/T YouTube, D-S Productions]

Saw Coruscant And Understood Scope Of The War

At the time of release, fans had memorized virtually every detail about every planet and location shown in the original trilogy. With a prequel trilogy two years away, audiences knew we’d see new cities, and with the new finale, we got to see that the scope of the Empire’s tyrannical rule spread to planets we’d never even seen before. Although this new sequence meant we lost the beloved “Yub Nub” song, this was our first hint at just how sprawling the mythology of Star Wars was and how many different civilizations we’d begin to see in the prequel trilogy.

[H/T YouTube, D-S Productions]