Watch the Original Star Wars Trilogy As It Was Before George Lucas Ruined It All
Since 1997, George Lucas has been obsessed with destroying the original Star Wars trilogy. Each new release – in theaters, DVD and Blu-ray – contains more junk than the last. This fan-made version of the original trilogy is the best version of Star Wars you can watch.
Between the addition ofJabba the Hutt’s silly scene in the first movie , the addition of anabsurd musical number to Return of the Jedi, and the first shooting of Greedo (change so controversial that it has its own Wikipedia page ), it’s like Lucasfilm is trolling us. I mean, come on, what can a big CG alien walking in front of the frame add to a movie? At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jar Jar Binks in Return of the Jedi 4K.
Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to buy the original version of the film, and it never came out in very high quality. The closest you can do is buy a $ 150 laserdisc trilogy on eBay , a $ 50 low-quality theater edition DVD , or get old VHS tapes out of the closet.
But with the help of many dedicated fans and video editors, an originaltrilogy.com user named Harmi decided to recreate the original, unaltered trilogy in high definition. He calls it the Despecialized Edition , and this is the Star Wars version we’ve all been clamoring for for the past 20 years.
What Despecialized Edition Does
The Despecialized Edition is about keeping the fans going, with the goal of not making a new version of the film, but restoring the original trilogy exactly as it did in the 70s and 80s – with minor flaws and everything else. For example, to recreate the original 1977 version of A New Hope, he used excerpts from:
- 2011 Blu-ray Edition
- HDTV broadcast of the 2004 special DVD.
- A low-quality version of the original 2006 specialty DVD trilogy, affectionately referred to as George’s original unchanged trilogy (or “GOUT”).
- Various scanning of prints from 70 mm and 35 mm films and photographs from films
With the help of many other contributors to originaltrilogy.com, Harmey took excerpts from the aforementioned sources and edited them along with the Blu-ray recording to recreate the theatrical version of the film – in 720p HD. Watch the video above to see how it was put together – it’s really fun. (There’sa longer version here if you’re really interested.)
Of course, not all of the Special Edition changes are bad. (I really liked the reworked CGI space battles.) But there is no doubt that this is the best movie version you can get today. By itself, color grading is so ahead of Blu-Ray that this is the only version I’ll be watching.
You can see Harmey’s full changelog with screenshots and descriptions in this Google+ album . You can also read more in the Despecialized Edition forum post at originaltrilogy.com, as well as the Despecialized Edition threads from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi’s Despecialized Edition .
How to find and download Despecialized Edition
Since this is an unofficial community project, the only way to get it is … well, “unofficially”. The legality of this project is up in the air, and while some make the fair use argument in the name of conservation, Harmey doesn’t offer the movie as a simple one-click download. You will have to work a little to download and watch it. The creators also ask you to legally own a copy of Star Wars Blu-Ray discs so that even if you are not on the strongest legal basis, you have a solid moral foundation.
TehPARADOX.com is the most “official” place to download the Despecialized Edition, although getting it can be quite difficult using a download manager (like FreeRapid Downloader or JDownloader). I have not been able to get this method to work as expected (it reports that most download links are not working), so while you can try it using these instructions , be aware that you may not be very lucky.
Update: Some of you have pointed out that you have a JDownlader method working withthis YouTube video , so if you’re trying a more formal method, give it a try! HanDuet, who uploaded the aforementioned video, also provided new instructions in collaboration with Harmi for getting the films.
Update 2: HanDuet has reached out to us to emphasize that the “official” download method described in the Complete Getting Started Guide is now significantly simpler and in continuous development thanks to direct collaboration with Harmy. VisitHarmy’s official Facebook page for Despecialized Editions to learn more and stay updated.
However, by far the easiest way to get the movie – albeit a bit more complicated – is through BitTorrent. Just go to your favorite BitTorrent search engine (eg torrentz.eu ) and search for the “Star Wars Special Edition”. You will probably find quite a few options, although you can check the checksums after download to make sure you get an unmodified copy. Remember to use a VPN or proxy to keep your download anonymous.
I know this seems like a big hassle, but trust me: after watching Despecialized Editions, you will never come back.