Change Is Bad, M'Kay? - Movie Version

In a fit of holiday enthusiasm, the Butcher's Wife came home the other day with the DVD box set of the first three Star Wars movies. I watched Episodes IV and VI over the weekend. This was the first time I've seen the updated bastardized version of Episode VI. All I can say is that it makes a pretty lame movie worse.

But I got thinking about Episode IV, which is still my favorite of the lot. For all the screwing around that Lucas has done with it, why didn't he fix the things that really needed to be fixed? To wit:

- When the Tuscan Raiders jump on to those giant Big Horn Elephant things, there is a jarring cut in both the film and the soundtrack right when the second Raider climbs aboard.

- When Vader is chiding Tarkin about Leia's refusal to betray the location of the Rebel base, it is only after James Earl Jones finishes speaking the line that Vader's hand comes up to emphasize his words.

- The countdown readout for the Death Star's approach to the Yavin moon is still all screwed up.

I'm sure all y'all have your favorite glitches as well. It strikes me that if Lucas is going to muck around with the thing, this is the sort of stuff he should be cleaning up, not adding gratuitous Jurassic Park rejects and making Gredo shoot first.

Priorities, man! Priorities!