March, 1997 Central Community Debates Issue of Ebonics
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DiVincenzo Reviews Star Wars
By David DiVincenzo
The highly anticipated return of Star Wars arrived on the big screen in February. The release includes special effects which were not possible in the 1970's. George Lucas and the team at Industrial Light and Magic reunited to create the special edition of the sci-fi classic. The ILM team's credits include the box office hits Twister, Independence Day, and Dragonheart.
The Star Wars saga tells the story of good versus evil, the force versus the dark side of the evil empire. After the tyranny of the empire strikes Luke Skywalker's parents, he begins his quest to find himself and learn the basic principles of being a jedi master. Ultimately, Luke and the force succeed by destroying the base of the dark side, the Death Star.
An example of technical enhancements can be seen in the scene involving the princess' ship being captured by Darth Vader. The lasers firing on the ship are noticeably more vivid with a neon type of green and a fiery red. In another scene a more advanced hovercraft takes our friends to the city of Mos Eisley, where they hope to employ a pilot for their journey.
The most astonishing scene which has been added in the new release is Han Solo's confrontation with Jabba the Hut. Jabba tells Han that if the money is not paid soon then everybody in the universe will be after him. But, Jabba looks a little too thin in the new scene. What happened? Maybe he didn't eat his required three Ewok-a-day diet. He actually walks with two sacks of feet and Han Solo is taller than him. Perhaps Lucas should have invested more time in improving the computer graphics to bring Jabba to life or left the scene out.
The recent release made an estimated 35 million in its first weekend and may surpass E.T. as the highest grossing movie ever.
The re-release of The Empire Strikes Back came out in mid-February. Look for the third installment of the trilogy, The Return of the Jedi, in the coming months and be on the look out for other re-releases including the 25th anniversary edition of The Godfather.
