History Main / GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion

* In 1970, on the precipice of the band's break-up, TheBeatles released their 12th studio album "Let It Be", essentially cobbled together by producer Phil Spector from various studio recordings and out-takes. In 2003, Paul [[=McCartney=]] would release "Let It Be... Naked", a remixed version of the album that stripped out Phil Spector's choral and orchestral overdubs (which were probably necessary at the time to salvage parts of the material), and digitally cleaning tracks using technology not available at the time.

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* The first three series of RedDwarf were re-released with updated special effects with an eye towards an international release. The CGI they used seems even more dated than the high-quality models of the original and, in any case, fans were not thrilled by how their inclusion led to the modification and even removal of dialogue sections.

* A few dvd releases of ''Series/DoctorWho'' (Including "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" and "The Ark in Space") have had new special effect sequences inserted, better than what was available with the technology (and budget) of the time. However, in all cases, the original broadcast version is also included and the viewer can choose if they want to watch the original or the 'improved' version.

* ''TheKillingJoke'' was recolored, making the scenes darker and more muted, in contrast to its original, more garish colors. Almost inarguably an example of how TropesAreNotBad.

* There's a very bizarre DVD edition of Ulli Lommel's 1983 film ''Film/TheBoogeyman2''. The original version of the film wasn't very good by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unanimously preferred over what Lommel claimed was a "Director's Cut". This version consists of cheaply shot footage of Lommel being interrogated by off-camera police officers, and "flashbacks" that are 90% derived from Lommel's 1980 film ''The Boogeyman'', which ''Boogeyman II'' was a sequel to. The original version of ''Boogeyman II'' did consist of a lot of flashback footage from the first film, but it did have some new content, whereas the 2003 version of ''Boogeyman II'' is 90% footage from ''The Boogeyman'', 10% ''newly filmed'' content. So fans of the original version of the film were not at all pleased by this version, invoking the GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion trope.

* For its 2013 re-release, AaaronAllston rewrote ''DocSidhe'' slightly to more closely match his current prose style.

* When Batton Lash's comic strip ''Supernatural Law'' was released in collected form, several early strips were redrawn to improve the quality of the artwork.

* In the 1970s Wade Williams reshot the special effects for the 1950s sci-fi movie ''Rocketship X-M'' in order to improve the film's visual continuity; the VHS tape, laser disc, and DVD releases of RX-M incorporate this re-shot footage.

* In addition to the ''Star Wars'' alterations, Lucas made similar modifications to his first film, ''THX 1138'', shooting new footage and using CGI to modify scenes by expanding crowds, settings and backgrounds and adding digital characters.
* Producer/cowriter John A. Russo decided to release a "30th Anniversary Edition" of Film/NightOfTheLivingDead, with no involvement from George A. Romero, the director and Russo's writing partner. The reissued version added a new score, newly filmed scenes, and altered sound effects. Harry Knowles threatened to ban anyone from Ain't It Cool News if they defended or complimented this version of the film.

* There's a very bizarre DVD edition of Ulli Lommel's 1983 film ''Boogeyman II''. The original version of the film wasn't very good by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unanimously preferred over what Lommel claimed was a "Director's Cut". This version consists of cheaply shot footage of Lommel being interrogated by off-camera police officers, and "flashbacks" that are 90% derived from Lommel's 1980 film ''The Boogeyman'', which ''Boogeyman II'' was a sequel to. The original version of ''Boogeyman II'' did consist of a lot of flashback footage from the first film, but it did have some new content, whereas the 2003 version of ''Boogeyman II'' is 90% footage from ''The Boogeyman'', 10% ''newly filmed'' content. So fans of the original version of the film were not at all pleased by this version, invoking the GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion trope.

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* The original ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series has been reissued with updated special effects.

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* Creator/WaltDisney's ''Disney/Fantasia'' was altered in its reissue to delete UncleTomfoolery. A digital alteration of the film appeared more recently, retaining the scenes, but simply deleting the blackface character Sunflower.

* Several WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry cartoons have been altered by reanimating [[UncleTomfoolery Mammy Two Shoes]] as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PDVD_030.JPG a slim white woman]] and redubbing her voice.

* ''TheKillingJoke'' was recolored, making the scenes darker and more muted, in contrast to its original, more garish colors.

** The first major controversy involving this trope occurred in the 1980s, when some film producers, including Hal Roach and Ted Turner, started using the then-new colorization technology to alter black and white films. Many film purists and actors such as Jimmy Stewart complained, claiming that the films were being vandalized. (In actuality, the restoration process applied to the original black and white prints helped ''preserve'' the original films.) Particularly controversial was when Turner joked about colorizing Film/CitizenKane. OrsonWelles allegedly told Turner to "keep his crayons" away from ''Kane''. The process fell out of favor after a few years, not because of film purism being widely accepted, but because the technology was not good enough at the time to produce color that did not look artificial.

* Creator/StevenSpielberg did one of these with the reissue of ''Film/{{ET}}''. A scene in which the FBI agents' shotguns were digitally replaced with Walkie-Talkies was particularly derided by fans. LewisBlack jibed that the FBI agents were using the Walkie-Talkies to ask each other, "Where the hell are our guns?!? We're trying to stop an alien from escaping!"

* ''[[{{Batman}} The Killing Joke]]'' was recolored, making the scenes darker and more muted, in contrast to its original, more garish colors.

* Music/JimiHendrix was working on an album at the time of his death, to be titled ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun''. It was never completed as intended, due to his death. The recordings were subsequently scattered across several different contractual obligation albums released by his label, with various alterations made after his death to complete the unfinished recordings. Producer Allan Douglas decided to alter these recordings further by releasing ''Voodoo Soup'', which Douglas alleged presented the album as Hendrix ''would have intended'', which is subjectively untrue, as there was no telling as to how Hendrix would have completed the album if he had lived. One of Douglas' alterations was to add newly recorded drum tracks played by Bruce Gary, of The Knack, a band that formed in 1978, several years after Hendrix died. After the Hendrix family gained the rights to his compositions and purchased the master tapes for his recordings, ''Voodoo Soup'' was pulled off the market and replaced by ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun'', a purist-friendly reconstruction of the unfinished Hendrix album, which presented the songs in the versions that were most complete by the time of Hendrix' death.

* When Music/FrankZappa started reissuing his catalog on compact disc, he decided to completely revamp many of his albums. In particular, entries like ''We're Only In It For The Money'', ''Cruisin' with Ruben & the Jets'' and ''Hot Rats'' were completely different from their original vinyl incarnations. Zappa added newly recorded instrumentation to ''Money'', ''Jets'' and a few other albums, like ''Sleep Dirt'' (originally an instrumental album, the CD featured newly recorded vocals by Thana Harris, with lyrics derived from the unproduced musical ''Hunchentoot'', where many of that albums songs originated), which featured newly recorded drumming and bass guitar tracks by then-current musicians like Chad Wackerman and Arthur Barrow. Reportedly, the new instrumentation on these albums was because many of the original band members on the recordings, including drummer Jimmy Carl Black, were suing him over unpaid royalties. ''Hot Rats'' did not feature any ''new'' instrumentation, being that all of the material was recorded at the original sessions, however, the original recordings were sequenced, mixed and edited in a way that made ''the exact same recordings'' sound drastically different from the original album.

** The second wave of controversy over colorization occurred when Columbia released a series of newly colorized ThreeStooges [=DVDs=]. However, the process is more accepted nowadays because of the improved technology, and the fact that DVD/Blu-Ray format allows both colorized and black and white versions to appear on the same medium. Film purists also now understand better that the restoration process for the original black and white prints ''does'' help preserve the original films. Also, odd cult film colorizations that played up the camp value of the original work, such as Legend Films' colorization of ''Film/ReeferMadness'', helped win over some skeptics and critics of the process.

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* StevenSpielberg also did one of these, when ''Film/{{ET}}'' was reissued. A scene in which the FBI agents' shotguns were digitally replaced with Walkie-Talkies was particularly derided by fans. LewisBlack jibed that the FBI agents were using the Walkie-Talkies to ask each other, "Where the hell are our guns?!? We're trying to stop an alien from escaping!"

This trope is not about any of those types of revisions. This trope is specifically about a film that has been drastically changed by its creators to update the film with modern technology that was not available at the time the work was originally created. Some updates such as "surround sound" mixes of films originally released with mono soundtracks aren't that frowned upon, but film purists are more likely to complain about, for example, a film originally released in black and white which has now been colorized. Or even more drastic, a reissue of a film which adds CGI effects, newly recorded dialogue/scenes, etc., often drastically changing the context or meaning of scenes in the original.

* StevenSpielberg also did one of these, when ''Film/{{ET}}'' was reissued. A scene in which the FBI agents' shotguns were digitally replaced with Walkie-Talkies was particularly derided by fans. [[TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] jibed that the FBI agents were using the Walkie-Talkies to ask each other, "where the hell are our guns?!?"

* Music/JimiHendrix was working on an album at the time of his death, to be titled ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun''. It was never completed as intended, due to his death. The recordings were subsequently scattered across several different contractual obligation albums released by his label, with various alterations made after his death to complete the unfinished recordings. Producer Allan Douglas decided to alter these recordings further by releasing ''Voodoo Soup'', which Douglas alleged presented the album as Hendrix ''would have intended'', which is subjectively untrue, as there was no telling as to how Hendrix would have completed the album if he had lived. One of Douglas' alterations was to add newly recorded drum tracks played by Bruce Gary, of Music/TheKnack, a band that formed in 1978, several years after Hendrix died. After the Hendrix family gained the rights to his compositions and purchased the master tapes for his recordings, ''Voodoo Soup'' was pulled off the market and replaced by ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun'', a purist-friendly reconstruction of the unfinished Hendrix album, which presented the songs in the versions that were most complete by the time of Hendrix' death.

* In 2002, Music/OzzyOsbourne decided to re-record aspects of some of his earliest albums after his original drummer and bassist sued him, to have their instrumentation replaced with newly recorded instrumentation by his current drummer and bassist. Ozzy later changed his mind about these reissues, and had the original albums reissued in remastered versions, restoring all of the original instrumentation, causing [[AndTheFandomRejoiced much rejoicing among Ozzy's fans]].

[[TropeNamer Named for]] GeorgeLucas, who did this to a few of his films, most notably ''Film/StarWars''. Fans have widely criticized the reissues of the original ''Star Wars'' series, which not only updated the special effects with new technology but reedited the scene of [[TheDogShotFirst Han Solo shooting Greedo]] to make it look like self-defense; in the original 1977 theatrical release, Han was the only one to shoot.

* When Creator/AynRand wrote ''WeTheLiving'', she was not yet proficient at the English language, and she hadn't yet developed [[UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} her philosophy]], so when the book was reissued, she decided to rewrite several parts that were inconsistent with her philosophy.