Revamped Star Wars remains 'all-time classic'

Last Friday, after 20 years of watching Star Wars on a 20-inch television, I realized my dream of viewing the all-time classic on the big screen.

With additional scenes, superior special effects and deafening sound, Star Wars reminded me what it's like to be awed by a film.

Since word of the re-release of the Star Wars trilogy hit the streets, everyone and their Jawa has speculated about the possibilities. Would Star Wars creator George Lucas keep the movie pure? Would he add too many distracting, inconsequential scenes? Would he clutter the classic with superficial effects?

Most Star Wars purists should be pleased with the results. The new scenes are few and well-produced, only adding to the storyline and the Star Wars mystique. The audience roared when the villainous slime of Jabba the Hutt graced the screen for the first time in the original picture.

As far as special effects are concerned, Lucas wisely adopted the saying, "less is more." Although the entire movie was given a facelift (the strings from TIE fighters and the blue mat boxes around X-Wings miraculously vanished), superfluous effects were successfully used sparingly. Nonetheless, the new creatures alone are certainly worth the price of admission.

But when it comes to the true magic of Star Wars , the story itself overshadows anything Lucas can throw at us. By the final minutes, during the legendary rebel assault on the Death Star, I had forgotten about the effects and the new scenes.

Completely engrossed in the mounting pressure, on Luke Skywalker's X-Wing and Darth Vader's chilling voice, my heart started to race and I experienced a rare child-like thrill as I watched my heroes save the day.

Now that Star Wars has returned to the regular rotation of conversation topics, there's no doubt that fans will be pelted with an onslaught of questions. To save everyone from endless arguments about Star Wars lore and trivia, here are a few answers to the most common questions:

What ever happened to Mark Hamill, a.k.a. Luke Skywalker?

Basically, the Jedi Knight never amounted to anything. After Return of the Jedi , Hamill made a slew of terrible, straight-to-video movies. He's also appeared in a couple of unsuccessful Broadway plays and a few voice-overs for video games.

Star Wars prequels coming out?

As you probably know, Lucas has been planning to release the first three Star Wars films for years (the original film was numbered IV, A New Hope ). Currently, the rumor is that filming will begin on the first prequel next year.

What the heck is a Yoda?

I don't think anybody knows.

It's amazing that a film about two long-haired bachelors, a couple of robots, an old hermit, a princess, a villain in black and a seven-foot hairball has become one of the greatest, and most enchanting, pictures of all time.

By the way, The Empire Strikes Back comes out Feb. 21 and Return of the Jedi will be released March 7. Until then, may the force be with you.