In Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope's Special Edition, Mos Eisley doesn’t live up to its reputation of being a “wretched hive of scum and villainy”. For the 1997 re-release (and all versions of the movie that have followed), a number of adjustments were made to Star Wars, many of them infamous for substantially altering key elements of the original movie. Over the years, this has been made especially frustrating for fans, as Lucasfilm has never released a high-quality version of the non-Special Edition movies, even under Disney after the Fox acquisition, leaving fans to go to great lengths to get their old movies back.

In theory, the Star Wars Special Editions had a good idea behind them. The original trilogy was made in the late '70s and early '80s, so the effects aging was inevitable. There was excitement about seeing the movies in the theater again, or for the first time, just with an improved look. After it was released and fans discovered that there were bigger changes made, however, the tone started to shift. It became one of anger and disappointment, much of it focused on Greedo now shooting before Han Solo in their Mos Eisley Cantina confrontation (which has been changed again every release since).

Related: Every Version Of The Original Star Wars Movies Explained

Before the movie even gets there, big problems showed up on the way into Mos Eisley. Right after Obi-Wan gives the famous “wretched hive of scum and villainy” line, the A New Hope Special Edition starts to diverge from the original. The new version is much longer, adding in everything from Easter eggs like Dash Rendar's ship, the Outrider to CGI animals messing around in the background and walking in front of the camera, obscuring Obi-Wan and Luke when they should be the focus of the scene. There are more people around, making it look livelier than before, more like Mos Espa from The Phantom Menace (released two years later). All of that is compounded by the age of the new effects. The CGI is from made in 1997 and it shows, feeling worse than the original movie.

Mos Eisley Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope

All of this adds up to a place that doesn’t match its reputation. How bad can it be when so many people are wandering around? The animals in the background and foreground aren’t just distracting with their presence – they’re doing things that are kind of whimsical, lightening the mood. This isn’t the bad neighborhood you don’t want to go into unless you have another choice. This is a relatively small but pretty lively town, with maybe a slightly overbearing police presence in the form of the stormtroopers. The only real dread in this scene is that the ride in takes forever.

The Mos Eisley entrance should be a scene where the audience feels with Luke just how alone and desperate he really is. Sure, he wanted to go adventuring, but not like this. His aunt and uncle are dead. He’s going into the sketchy part of town with a nearby hermit to illegally hire someone to take them to another planet. Random references to other Star Wars ephemera takes you out of that moment. Seeing so much activity doesn’t feel like villainy. Now it looks like a pretty active spaceport where you don’t fear for your life at every moment.

Like many of the other Special Edition additions, the changes to the Mos Eisley sequence in Star Wars confuse and distract, rather than adding to it. It was already bad at release, but time hasn’t treated it well. With weak effects added without rhyme or reason to extend a scene way too long, the Special Edition robbed one of Star Wars’ iconic locations of its impact and reputation.

Next: Star Wars Original Trilogy Changes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly