We've all read the
Lucas changes thread. The consensus is, these blu ray releases are completely shoddy and the additional changes are simply horrible.
At this point, fans of the Star Wars trilogy who are interested in watching the original theatrical versions of the films are forced to track down the 2006 DVD releases of the films, which included an awful Laserdisc transfer of the films. Unfortunately, with the release of the blu ray, these DVD are being phased out, and are
more or less out of print.
Regardless, these transfers were anamorphic, DNR'd to death, and damn near unwatchable by today's standards.
We want an HD version of the films we love. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Mr. Lucas is going to be supplying us with a release like that any time soon.
However, there are fans that love these movies more than Lucas does. One guy behind his computer doing it for free, actually. Harmy has re-created the three Star Wars films, using various updated,
watchable transfers of the films.
Greedo shoots? Obnoxious CGI crap? Jabba in Mos Eisley? Vader NOOOOO? Hayden's ghost? All gone. And it's quite seamless. In HD.
Unfortunately, links can not be posted on Neogaf. But these are not hard to find. Let's begin!
This is a cut which is very close to the 1977 theatrical version of STAR WARS except for some of the cleaned up original VFX.
SOURCES:
1) Star.Wars.Episode.IV.A.New.Hope.1977.720p.HDTV.x264-DON (2004 SE)
2) Dark Jedi's 720p upscale of the GOUT.
3) Mattman Omega's 720p upscale of the GOUT.
4) 1997 SE DTV captures (Reivax, Flunk, KGar)
5) Ady's SE AVCHD
6) Ady's STAR WARS Revisited
7) 70mm cell scans, Technicolour projection photos etc. and custom mattes.
8) Puggo Grande
9) Moth3r's PAL LD transfer
I did an extensive shot by shot colour correction based on colour boosted GOUT and other available reference materials and although the colours may not be 100% perfect, I'm really quite satisfied with them.
HIGH DEFINITION RELEASE
FORMAT: AVCHD DVD9
VIDEO: 1280x720p H264 23.976 fps
AUDIO:
TRACK 1) hairy_hen's 5.1 70mm mix @ 448Kbps AC3
TRACK 2) 1993 2.0 mix @ 320Kbps AC3
TRACK 3) 1977 1.0 mix @ 96Kbps
TRACK 4) 1977 2.0 mix @ 256Kbps
TRACK 5) 1992 2.0 CZ dub @ 256Kbps
TRACK 6) Commentary for visually impaired @ 192Kbps
STANDARD DEFINITION RELEASE (Coverted by Chewtobacca)
FORMAT: NTSC DVD5
VIDEO: 720x480p MPEG2
AUDIO: hairy_hen's 5.1 70mm mix @ 448Kbps AC3
This is a cut which is very close to the theatrical version of TESB except for some of the cleaned up VFX.
SOURCES:
1) Adywan's 14GB mkv 97SE ESB
2) Mattman Omega's 720p upscale of the GOUT.
3) Ady's theatrical reconstruction DVD and some higher quality shots from it that he kindly provided for me.
I did an extensive colour correction based on colour boosted GOUT and though the colours may not make everyone happy, I really like them now.
HIGH DEFINITION RELEASE
FORMAT: AVCHD DVD9
VIDEO: 1280x720p H264 23.976 fps
AUDIO:
TRACK 1) hairy_hen's 5.1 purist mix @ 448Kbps AC3
TRACK 2) 1993 2.0 mix @ 320Kbps AC3
TRACK 3) 1980 2.0 mix @ 224Kbps
TRACK 4) 1992 2.0 CZ dub @ 192Kbps
TRACK 5) 1997 2.0 CZ dub @ 192Kbps
I put in both CZ dubs simply because there was space for them. This gives anyone space to replace them with any desired soundmix, which is very easy to do in a free program called TS Muxer.
STANDARD DEFINITION RELEASE (Converted by Chewtobacca)
FORMAT: NTSC DVD5
VIDEO: 720x480p MPEG2
AUDIO: hairy_hen's 5.1 purist mix @ 448Kbps AC3
This is a cut which is very close to the 1983 theatrical version of ROTJ except for some of the cleaned up original VFX
SOURCES:
1) Star.Wars.Episode.VI.Return.of.the.Jedi.1983.720p. HDTV.x264-DON (2004 SE)
2) Dark Jedi's 720p upscale of the GOUT.
3) 1997 SE DTV capture (G'Kar)
I did an extensive shot by shot colour correction and although the colours may not be 100% perfect, I'm really quite satisfied with them.
HIGH DEFINITION RELEASE
FORMAT: AVCHD DVD9
VIDEO: 1280x720p H264 23.976 fps
AUDIO:
TRACK 1) hairy_hen's 5.1 purist mix @ 448Kbps AC3
TRACK 2) 1993 2.0 mix @ 320Kbps AC3
TRACK 3) 1983 2.0 mix @ 224Kbps
TRACK 4) 1992 2.0 Czech dub @ 256Kbps
TRACK 5) 1983 2.0 German dub @ 256Kbps
STANDARD DEFINITION RELEASE (Coverted by Chewtobacca)
FORMAT: NTSC DVD5
VIDEO: 720x480p MPEG2
AUDIO: hairy_hen's 5.1 purist mix @ 448Kbps AC3
Until Lucas decides he wants more money and digs the original prints of the films out of the vault, with the material presented to us, these de-specialized editions may be the best the Star Wars trilogy will ever look. They are my personal definitive versions of the films. Enjoy!
HELPFUL LINKS AND INFORMATION (not included are direct links to the Despecialized Editions, which is against the rules on GAF):
Harmy introduces the Despecialized Edition of Star Wars and its sources
Originaltrilogy.com forums
Awesome article and interview with Harmy on the Despecialized Editions by GAF's very own mandiller
- As of October 30, 2012, Disney now owns Lucasfilm and Star Wars. George Lucas has little to no say in the future of the franchise. While there is no confirmation either way that the original, unaltered trilogy will receive an official release from Disney, the odds are much greater now that crazy old Lucas is out of the equation.
- A 4K restoration of the Star Wars trilogy appears to be in the works, but the master is based on the recent blu ray releases.
- There seems to be some confusion with regards to the new deal with Disney and the distribution rights of the Star Wars films, which are held by Fox.
Resident Star Wars expert Bobby Roberts breaks down the situation:
Disney absolutely owns the rights to Star Wars (1977) like they do the other five films. They just don't own the rights to DISTRIBUTE it. Fox owns those Star Wars (77) rights in perpetuity (the other five films become Disney distributed in 2020) But Disney & Fox have already come to agreements to distribute all the films at least once.
The problem discussing any of this shit is that nobody really ASKS either company what the terms of any of these distro deals are, or rather, neither of these companies are telling anyone SHIT, so a constant cloud of misinformation like the one surrounding Pig Pen's ankles, floats around anything having to do with the Original Trilogy on home video.
Basically:
Lucasfilm can do whatever the fuck it wants to Star Wars. It can restore it, make changes, revert changes.
Lucasfilm CAN'T distribute Star Wars unless a deal is struck with Fox
Fox can't make any changes to Star Wars, it can only distribute it.
Fox can't distribute the film unless Lucasfilm says its okay for them to do so.
The distribution deals have nothing to do with why theatrical versions don't exist on home video.
So yeah, if they wanted to release the original, unaltered trilogy, there's probably nothing stopping them. So quit bringing it up.
