# Star Wars original trilogy

14 Hacker News commenters recommended Star Wars original trilogy and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend the original trilogy for its craft, its place in fans' childhoods, and restorations that improve picture and sound. Critics say the films feel weaker on adult rewatch and object to Lucas's later edits.

## Why people recommend it

- People call the films great (3 comments): "His first three SW movies were great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46628837)) "the original trilogy was great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47227419)) "I LOVED THE FIRST THREE FILMS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48016301))
- Restorations improve detail, color and audio (3 comments): "The clips blow the 4K UHD/Disney + version out of the water in terms of both detail and color." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45962199)) "the audio remastering is very appreciated (VHS rarely has good audio)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49883547)) "it's a definite improvement. Maybe the definitive version, finally." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49883895))
- Artisans made the films better (2 comments): "a resource strapped filmmaker having to engage with many skilled artisans to sharpen their "singular vision" resulted in much better films" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809881)) "the deeper I get into film the more I respect how much the original trilogy does really well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48014177))

## What people warn about

- Lucas's later edits drew criticism (3 comments): "I admit I disliked the laser bolt changes of special editions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49883150)) "apparently Lucas's cut of the original Star Wars was horrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49883758)) "Lucas lost his mind and started meddling with the finished product again in the DVD era." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46210927))
- Less good on adult rewatch (2 comments): "As an adult, when I watch to again, I think "wow, this is really not good."" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48013833)) "the films just aren't very good on re-watching them as an adult" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48013940))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/odyssey.md): 50 recommend
- [Perfect Days (2023 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/perfect-days.md): 19 recommend
- [The Secret Agent (2025 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/secret-agent.md): 18 recommend
- [One Battle After Another](https://hackerapproved.com/p/one-battle-after-another.md): 17 recommend
- [The Rocky Horror Picture Show](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rocky-horror-picture-show.md): 15 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Star Wars original trilogy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-wars-original-trilogy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).