Because I put the ax on my Epic Star Wars retrospective (I'd like to finish it someday), I'll say what I want to say here: The original trilogy is of Star Wars is superior, no matter how you slice it. The prequels aren't terrible, but they are underwhelming. Unless you watch them in chronological order, in which case Star Wars is laughably bad right off the bat. They aren't bad to where you can't enjoy them; trust me you can enjoy them. You just have to switch mindsets when you watch the prequels. Just pretend you're watching a satire of Star Wars. We'll get into what order to watch them in at the end.
I'm bringing this up because I miss the theatrical cuts my dad had on CBS Fox edition VHS's from the late-80's/early-90's. The original cuts. The way audiences in '77, '80 and '83 saw them. I get lambasted by my friends today for expressing my love for what I consider the better films. Star Wars at the '78 Academy Awards took home seven Oscars...SEVEN. For a silly science-fiction fantasy opera film. That's crazy!
Let's go over a history of the controversial Star Wars re-releases. In '97, Lucasfilm released "20th Anniversary Special Editions" of the films to theaters and subsequently VHS that had newly-enhanced visual effects, made some editing changes, updated the sound and resolution. These '97 Special Editions started the fateful trend, as after that, they became the only versions of the original films to purchase in stores (We'll get to Lucas and destroying original negatives another time). In 2004, just a year prior to the release of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the original trilogy was released on DVD for the first time ever. Fans were hoping to get DVDs that contained both the '97 Special Editions and the original theatrical cuts. What we got instead, were brand-new 2004 Special Editions, with even more editing changes, and a piss-poor automated color "correction" that would've worked better if the editors just pissed on the film itself and sold that. These 2004 DVDs were and still are notorious for their color saturation that give each of the three films a faded greenish hue. In 2006 is when people started having a problem with Lucas and Lucasfilm, and vice-versa apparently...
After fans mailed, e-mailed and petitioned Lucasfilm to re-release the original theatrical cuts on DVD, the response we got was surprisingly juvenile and asinine in nature. In 2006, Special "Limited Edition" DVDs were released one-by-one by Lucasfilm that were advertised to contain both the 2004 DVD cuts of the films and each of the films' respective theatrical cut. Fans were initially celebratory, but descended into even greater anger when we learned the truth. The "theatrical cuts" included with the '06 DVDs were the '93 LaserDisc cuts. Cuts that were so similar to the theatrical cuts, but had minor editing tweaks, music cue fixes, and color-correction. Fans were outraged, but tolerated it. It was the closest we've come back then. The '06 "Theatrical cuts" are also notorious for their horrific LaserDisc-to-DVD transfer that resulted in a non-anamorphic 4:3 ratio which means it plays in a small box on all Widescreen TVs regardless of settings, and motion-smearing caused by primitive noise-removal methods, again proving that the prized original negatives of all three original films were not apart of the 2006 DVD release.
When it was announced in late-2010 that the entire six-episode saga was going to see a prized Blu-ray boxset release at last, many would think "okay, it's Blu-ray. Blu-ray's a pretty big deal right now. Maybe this will be the time Lucasfilm gives us what we want." Alas, again we were wrong. We again, got brand new cuts of not just Star Wars, Empire and Jedi, but also Episode's I, II, and III. These are the 2011 Blu-ray cuts, and they're the ones I currently own. Unless some of my friends aren't vocal about it, I was the only one upset by this in my circles. Everybody else was like "Well it's his films, he can do what he wants/wishes", which is true to an extent. If he wants to make his films the way he wants, that's fine. Most fans won't buy them if they have the original cuts, but the fact George also lampoons the original films as "crap" and says he does the Special Editions to improve on them is bullshit. I watch the 2011 Blu-ray cut of Star Wars thinking not that it's Star Wars I'm watching, but I'm watching a copy of Star Wars. I feel like I'm watching some internet troll's fan edit of Star Wars. This isn't the original release I love and want, this is something I was dealt without a say in the matter. I had to deal with it. The originals, in their greatest form, how I loved them, were gone. I just accepted it. I wasn't going to get what I really wanted. I just awaited the next release, which came in the form 2014 All-digital release, but they were just the 2011 Blu-ray cuts again. All available for the "low, low" price of $20 per title, or $90 for the whole saga. Sorry, not the saga, the 2011 saga.
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| Harmy: The man behind it all |
Then I came across Harmy. Who's Harmy you ask, besides a messenger sent from God in heaven to prove great Star Wars still exists out there? He's a foreign internet personality who, like 90% of the other fans, missed having his original trilogy the way he loved it. He said the day he wore out his VHS copy of Star Wars was the saddest day of his life, because the only cut available then was the 2011 Blu-ray cut. Remember, each new re-release undoes the previous one and they no-longer are sold in stores. Harmy could take it no longer, and started the "Despecialized Edition" project. What was the project's goal?
Crazy! That's what it was! Harmy's ultimate mission wanted to take any source of the original theatrical cut he could, any shot that had no Special Edition changes, any shot still intact since '77 and edit them altogether, back into a cohesive film, basically undoing all of the post '93 changes done by Lucasfilm. All of the sources are listed below that Harmy used to complete this magnificent restoration of Star Wars:
- Lucasfilm's official 2011 Blu-ray cut. All of the non-CGI portions of this cut are re-used in the final Despecialized Edition due to their already 1080p HD quality, which saved Harmy a lot of time.
- Lucasfilm's official 2006 release of the '93 LaserDisc editions, which helped to correct Special Edition changes.
- Project Blu's upgraded HD footage of the '93 LaserDisc editions, which helped to correct Special Edition changes.
- Internet user Flunk's somewhat HD copy of the '97 Special Edition theatrical release, which helped with editing and correcting Special Edition changes.
- Team Negative 1's LPP scan of an original Star Wars film reel, which helped restore a few scenes.
- Internet user Puggo Grande's dated, worn reel of the '77 (or '81) cut of Star Wars that was miraculously digitally corrected and enhanced to 1080p HD resolution to correct Special Edition changes.
Harmy cannot be given enough credit for what he has done. This is no joke, I'm not making this up. I swear to it. When I pulled up the Despecialized Edition of Star Wars on my laptop and began playing it, I welled up in joy. I mean full on, hand-over-my-mouth tearing up. There, I said it. This ol' asshole has a soft spot after all.
The footage was beautifully enhanced to 1080p full HD resolution and it looks absolutely stunning. My vote is definitely on them looking superior to the already HD 2011 Blu-ray cuts. Each and every scene felt like it was coming straight off that old CBS Fox VHS, except gone is the grain of VHS wear-and-tear. Here is a beautiful, all-digital presentation of a recreation of the original theatrical releases of the three original films.
The sound is what truly what deserves merit here. As good as the footage looks in all three films, the sounds are astonishingly mastered and gorgeously re-edited into their original cues, volumes, frequencies, and pitches. Harmy has done supreme work in restoring the foreboding nature of Vader's ominous voice which was washed out by subsequent Special Editions. The lightsabers look and sound stunning, and the color correction is absolutely brilliant and jaw-dropping to look at. I've watched all three films since obtaining the digital files (a couple of them twice already) and I've got to say this: I don't know what the FUCK Lucasfilm is doing in their offices, but they have royally been jerking off too long because if an internet user gets a few fans who have cherished sources together and produces editions of the original trilogy that knock Lucasfilm's out of the park, then there's something wrong with that company. (Granted I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens and it was phenomenal, but we'll get to that some other time).
Harmy and the fans who donated their sources to him have earned my love tenfold of George Lucas earning my love. Harmy made me fall back in love Star Wars again, which is weird to say because up until viewing them, I never thought I fell out of love with Star Wars. Please, if you love Star Wars then regardless of whether you're like me and crave the original cuts, or you hate people like me and think that what Lucasfilm is doing to their fans is right, you should check out Harmy's Despecialized Editions any way you can. I know I cannot wait to pop these puppies in on my 60" Samsung Smart HDTV with surround sound back home and watch all three of them. I don't even need the rumored Blu-ray re-release that Lucasfilm is still trying to jerk us off with by promising. Harmy and the fans brought us what Lucasfilm only hopes and dreams of: the greatest journey back to that fantastic galaxy, far, far away...
FINAL RATING:
Star Wars Despecialized: 10/10
The Empire Strikes Back Despecialized: 10/10
Return of the Jedi Despecialized: 10/10
No joke
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