Star Wars Despecialized Edition

[harrisonreed]

I just had the pleasure of watching the "Harmy's Despecialized" cut of the first Star Wars movie (which was just called "Star Wars" when it came out). My younger brother has recently posted a reaction video to some of the latest Star Wars movies where he basically storms out of the theater and is shocked at how bad the experience was. I wouldn't know, because I left the theater (silently of course) during "Episode 1, the phantom menace" once I realized I was watching an extended chariot race scene with a five year old and chariots made out of Saturn V rockets chained together. I never saw another new SW movie again. But anyways my brother was really upset, and it was like he felt betrayed.

So I borrowed the Blu Ray edition of the original movie to watch, to see if the nostalgia had worn off for me. It was BAD! I didn't realize why at first, but then I noticed that there were all sorts of weird CGI things added in and everything was extremely DARK looking! What has happened?

It turns out that I had grown up watching these movies on VHS, before George Lucas "specialed" them. Once they got "specialed" the original theatrical cut was essentially lost and hasn't received a higher quality official release since. George even refused to give the theatrical cut to the library of Congress for preservation, despite the academy awards it won and the fact that it was nearly the FIRST movie on the list of films chosen for preservation.

Enter Harmy, a Czech film nerd who decided to restore the film himself. He painstakingly went back, edited out all of the crap, and then rotoscoped the lost bits back in from other sources. I heard about this project, found a friend who has a copy, and watched it on my new 4K tv. Now, as a fan edit, watching the film is not illegal, but making, buying, or selling it is. Getting a chance to watch it yourself might prove difficult.

Long story short - I had never seen Star Wars on anything larger than a 20in tv screen, at VHS quality, until I watched the Blu Ray edition, and I turned that off shortly after I realized the colors were wrong and they had CGIed dinosaurs into the picture every other scene. I felt a buzz watching the despecialized edition as soon as the two spaceships fly over the planet in the first scene, and kept getting chills. The BRIGHT interior of Leia's ship. The smokey, matte finish on Vader's helmet. Han blowing the alien bounty hunter away without giving the chatty dude a chance to get another word in. How real the spaceships look in the death star battle (well, they were real! No CG!). There was just so much detail that I had never seen before. And the music was INCREDIBLE. I got more chills as the trombones took over during the awards ceremony at the end of the movie.

Check it out if you think 2020 has you bummed out. Not the atrocity that is the current official release, but the despecialized edition. They don't make movies like that any more, and I don't think they have since 1977. The movie and the music are so good I wanted to cry.

[LeTromboniste]

Yes! So good!

They did make a DVD release of the theatrical cut of the original trilogy, although not in HD (and not remasterised in any way).

The "despecialized" version is nice because it's based on the HD Blu-Ray version, so the image and sound quality is better, he just took out all the horrendous stuff Lucas added in the last 25 years (the scene of Han walking on Jabba's tail and the ensuing grimace is one of the cringiest things I've ever seen).

Good for you for not having watched the atrocity that were the prequels. Of the new ones, there was some value in Episode 7 (which is essentially both a sequel and a remake of A New Hope), it got a lot of things right and the cinematography in particular was really solid. 8 was total garbage and destroyed any possibility of 9 being good by leaving it nowhere to go storywise. 9 attempted to ignore everything from 8 and had to be many things at once, and failed miserably. The writing was incredibly bad. I regret watching either of those two

So far the spin-off movies are pretty bad, mostly because the studio won't let the creators explore the universe in any interesting way and depart much from the central themes and story. The only thing that would work, I think, would be to make movies that are another genre but that happen to be set in that universe (Rogue One was to be an attempt at that and I think was going to be quite good, but they fired the writer and director and reshot half the movie to make it more Star Wars-esque, and it ended up a hot mess). The Mandalorian series is doing a good job at that (basically a Western set in the Star Wars universe), but they seem to be heavily resisting any of the movies to take that road so far.

[Burgerbob]

The best Star Wars media out there is the animated TV show Clone Wars, which actually takes the time to explore the universe and develop the characters.

[Elow]

The best Star Wars media out there is the animated TV show Clone Wars, which actually takes the time to explore the universe and develop the characters.

This, many people don’t watch it because “it’s a kids show” but after the first season or two it’s a really good show. Especially the new season disney just put out, it’s honestly the best show i’ve watched all year, it just looks so good.

[harrisonreed]

I haven't seen the cartoon. The only other star wars media I've been into was "Dark Forces", "Dark Forces 2 - Jedi Knight", X-wing (although the game itself is basically impossible), and Tie Fighter (the best star wars game ever made).

I really think the version in my OP is the best star wars media ever made.

[spencercarran]

Oh man I'd forgotten about the Tie Fighter game. Good memories.

The best Star Wars media out there is the animated TV show Clone Wars, which actually takes the time to explore the universe and develop the characters.

This, many people don’t watch it because “it’s a kids show” but after the first season or two it’s a really good show. Especially the new season disney just put out, it’s honestly the best show i’ve watched all year, it just looks so good.

I never managed to power through those early parts to find out if it improved. My vague recollection of the first season or so was that it was unpleasant to watch. Not as bad as Solo.

[Burgerbob]

Oh man I'd forgotten about the Tie Fighter game. Good memories.

This, many people don’t watch it because “it’s a kids show” but after the first season or two it’s a really good show. Especially the new season disney just put out, it’s honestly the best show i’ve watched all year, it just looks so good.

I never managed to power through those early parts to find out if it improved. My vague recollection of the first season or so was that it was unpleasant to watch. Not as bad as Solo.

It's the best Star Wars media out there. I say this with no hyperbole, it just is.

[LeTromboniste]

It's the best Star Wars media out there. I say this with no hyperbole, it just is.

To me it was hard to try to watch and I couldn't get myself to not cringe, but maybe it's just because it was tainted in my mind by its association with Attack of the Clones, which has to be one of the worst blockbuster movies ever made.

[harrisonreed]

I think I'll stick to my gut on this and stay clear of it. No matter how well it develops characters, if they are the characters from the prequels that I couldn't even get through an hour of, I'm probably the wrong audience. I took offense to the colors that got changed in the original movie, to say nothing of the dinosaurs they added. I don't think I'd like anything spun off of the prequels.

That way I can't say it's bad and bag on it. It could be the greatest story ever told and I'll remain unaware.

As far as I'm aware the "clone wars" was some long, drawn out and universal series of wars that happened in the past and we never get to find out about it. It's like they are just coming out of the trail end of a really bad historical period. Everything is in a confused state. The empire is only just taking hold at the opening of the film. There are no large cities, and general lawlessness. Luke paradoxically wants to go join the empire's academy and be a military officer but doesn't really like the empire. I like the mystique.

Don't forget, George took all his plays out of Frank Herbert's book. The clone wars, to me, are like the Butlerian Jihad, in Dune. One is a war you have to guess is about saving humans from armies of clones, and you wind up with an empire that took advantage of the aftermath. The other is a war about saving humanity from AI, and you wind up with an empire that took advantage of the aftermath. They only whisper about it in Frank's books. You never find out what it actually was. It turns out that it was better not knowing what that conflict actually was. His son ruined that in his prequels.

[Elow]

To me it was hard to try to watch and I couldn't get myself to not cringe, but maybe it's just because it was tainted in my mind by its association with Attack of the Clones, which has to be one of the worst blockbuster movies ever made.

If you just skip the first season, i swear it gets better. Anakin is a whole different character, compared to Attack of the Clones. The relationship between him and Obi wan is so much more defined, and just overall better. The show actually tries to humanize clones instead of just lifeless soldiers like in the movies, on of my favorite archs in the show is about a clone. If you start by watching the maul arch, you will be hooked.

[Bonearzt]

My daughter is part of this podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t ... 538316450v

Some might find it interesting.

[AndrewMeronek]

I haven't seen Clone Wars, but I've heard it's good. In terms of Star Wars media, some of the books are quite good. I'm thinking in particular the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It was definitely a stick in the craw of fans of those books that Disney opted to completely discard those stories for the "new" trilogy. IMHO it was actually stupid - they already had several very well-written stories to adapt, and they already have a model of successfully doing exactly that in the Marvel movie franchise.

Also notable, for people who like RPG computer games - the Knights Of The Old Republic computer games were quite solid.

[LeTromboniste]

I haven't seen Clone Wars, but I've heard it's good. In terms of Star Wars media, some of the books are quite good. I'm thinking in particular the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It was definitely a stick in the craw of fans of those books that Disney opted to completely discard those stories for the "new" trilogy. IMHO it was actually stupid - they already had several very well-written stories to adapt, and they already have a model of successfully doing exactly that in the Marvel movie franchise.

Yes! Between all the books (some really good) and video games, they had tons of content to adapt for sequels and spin-offs that would have been much better than what they've done so far.

[RConrad]

I haven't seen Clone Wars, but I've heard it's good. In terms of Star Wars media, some of the books are quite good. I'm thinking in particular the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It was definitely a stick in the craw of fans of those books that Disney opted to completely discard those stories for the "new" trilogy. IMHO it was actually stupid - they already had several very well-written stories to adapt, and they already have a model of successfully doing exactly that in the Marvel movie franchise.

Also notable, for people who like RPG computer games - the Knights Of The Old Republic computer games were quite solid.

Most of the old novel series were good reads. They did, at least, bring Thrawn back into the cannon in Star Wars: Rebels. Another one of those TV series they made aimed toward younger views that Dave Filoni worked on. Also Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II are great RPGs. Also some of the new series they recently announced should be interesting. Looking forward to Ewan McGregor reprising the role of Obi-Wan.

[harrisonreed]

I haven't seen Clone Wars, but I've heard it's good. In terms of Star Wars media, some of the books are quite good. I'm thinking in particular the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It was definitely a stick in the craw of fans of those books that Disney opted to completely discard those stories for the "new" trilogy. IMHO it was actually stupid - they already had several very well-written stories to adapt, and they already have a model of successfully doing exactly that in the Marvel movie franchise.

Also notable, for people who like RPG computer games - the Knights Of The Old Republic computer games were quite solid.

Most of the old novel series were good reads. They did, at least, bring Thrawn back into the cannon in Star Wars: Rebels. Another one of those TV series they made aimed toward younger views that Dave Filoni worked on. Also Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II are great RPGs. Also some of the new series they recently announced should be interesting. Looking forward to Ewan McGregor reprising the role of Obi-Wan.

[paulyg]

I also grew up watching the originals on VHS. It was so refreshing to have that gritty look back.

[Driswood]

Get Disney +, and watch The Mandalorian. It's great! Has the "flavor and feel" of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. None of the CGI garbage. I love the show.

It takes place five years after Return Of The Jedi.

[Elow]

Get Disney +, and watch The Mandalorian. It's great! Has the "flavor and feel" of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. None of the CGI garbage. I love the show.

It takes place five years after Return Of The Jedi.

Its crazy how much stuff from the comics and books are coming to the big screen in that show, i absolutely love it.

[mahlertwo]

Most of the old novel series were good reads. They did, at least, bring Thrawn back into the cannon in Star Wars: Rebels. Another one of those TV series they made aimed toward younger views that Dave Filoni worked on. Also Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II are great RPGs. Also some of the new series they recently announced should be interesting. Looking forward to Ewan McGregor reprising the role of Obi-Wan.

Okay, it's near-universally agreed that Ewan did an excellent job as Obi-Wan, even in a really bad trilogy.

[harrisonreed]

Okay, it's near-universally agreed that Ewan did an excellent job as Obi-Wan, even in a really bad trilogy.

[elmsandr]

Get Disney +, and watch The Mandalorian. It's great! Has the "flavor and feel" of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. None of the CGI garbage. I love the show.

It takes place five years after Return Of The Jedi.

I love the fact that as they were deciding whether to do puppet or CGI for the child that Werner Herzog called them cowards for not initially thinking puppet.

There is something about making things a bit more real that lets you immerse in story more. Also, they still did plenty of cgi, but it has just gotten better.

Cheers,
Andy

[Enelson]

I was 12 years old in 1977. A great age to be when Star Wars was first released. My first attempt to see the movie was a catastrophe - the guy ahead of us bought the last tickets for the evening. Imagine the grief of a 12-year-old getting cheated out of Star Wars!

Well, I made up for it. By 1978 I had seen the film seven times in the theater, including one occasion when I saw it twice in a row in the same theater.

[RConrad]

I love the fact that as they were deciding whether to do puppet or CGI for the child that Werner Herzog called them cowards for not initially thinking puppet.

There is something about making things a bit more real that lets you immerse in story more. Also, they still did plenty of cgi, but it has just gotten better.

Cheers,
Andy

Gotta love practical effects that are well done.

[mrpillow]

None of the CGI garbage.

Well this aged poorly...