Well, I wouldn't go that far that I'm unimpressed with A New Hope. I will say this, watching it on DVD is kind of a blessing and a curse. For one, the print looks unreal, and it absolutely looks like a mid-90's film as opposed to 1977. That said, the special effects are already looking dated for the SE. This is especially noticable in ANH in comparison to Empire or Return, probably because there was more altered instead of "cleaned up."
As far as the story and the acting I completely disagree. The best thing about the PT is how it enhances the lines we all knew as kids in the OT. The lines like "Everything is proceeding as planned" and "You father was a great pilot, and a good friend" have much more weight and depth due to the PT. In a way, it's helped breathe a whole new life into the OT, as you can watch it with new ideas and knowledge of events barely mentioned in one sentance. Vader telling Luke that he wants to look upon him "with my own eyes" holds even more meaning to me now that I know what he was seeing for the last 25 years.
As far as the lightsabre battles, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a digital Darth and a digital Obi Wan go to town in ANH, but they better not do it unless they can keep Alec Guiness in there. It can't look fake, but they may be getting close to doing a fight like that, especially if they darkened the light in there. As far as Luke and Vader's fights, they should not be touched. The emotion in those scenes make them the best sabre fights.
I'd rank them Return, Revenge, and Empire as the top three lightsabre battles. Obi Wan vs Vader did look sad as hell. The space battle in Revenge was well done, but there was no way it could ever top Return, just because of the trap and the circumstances that led them to just be pinned in. The plotline was masterful there, and that made the space battle. Revenge never had a shot there.
One thing I did like about Revenge which I haven't heard mentioned much was Anakin landing half of the Star Destroyer (or whatever it was). For him to land that burning pile really enforced how good a pilot he was (and him picking off the robots off Obi Wan's ship with his wing).
As far as the story and the acting I completely disagree. The best thing about the PT is how it enhances the lines we all knew as kids in the OT. The lines like "Everything is proceeding as planned" and "You father was a great pilot, and a good friend" have much more weight and depth due to the PT. In a way, it's helped breathe a whole new life into the OT, as you can watch it with new ideas and knowledge of events barely mentioned in one sentance. Vader telling Luke that he wants to look upon him "with my own eyes" holds even more meaning to me now that I know what he was seeing for the last 25 years.
As far as the lightsabre battles, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a digital Darth and a digital Obi Wan go to town in ANH, but they better not do it unless they can keep Alec Guiness in there. It can't look fake, but they may be getting close to doing a fight like that, especially if they darkened the light in there. As far as Luke and Vader's fights, they should not be touched. The emotion in those scenes make them the best sabre fights.
I'd rank them Return, Revenge, and Empire as the top three lightsabre battles. Obi Wan vs Vader did look sad as hell. The space battle in Revenge was well done, but there was no way it could ever top Return, just because of the trap and the circumstances that led them to just be pinned in. The plotline was masterful there, and that made the space battle. Revenge never had a shot there.
One thing I did like about Revenge which I haven't heard mentioned much was Anakin landing half of the Star Destroyer (or whatever it was). For him to land that burning pile really enforced how good a pilot he was (and him picking off the robots off Obi Wan's ship with his wing).