You can watch an 'unaltered' version of Star Wars in HD today, if you bend the law. Star Wars is close to holy for many fans of cinema. We remember growing up with the movies, and having them look a very specific way. You think of the colors of certain scenes, and the fact that Han shot first. The X- Wings fly in very distinct patterns. The Star Wars that was released in 1. The film has been edited, special effects shots have been swapped, colors have been changed and more. Lucas has worried over the films so much that those of us who wish for the version of the film we remember have no way to watch the movie that means so much to us. Watch the official trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, coming to theaters December 18, 2015. Visit Star Wars at http:// Subscribe to. Star Wars is close to holy for many fans of cinema. We remember growing up with the movies, and having them look a very specific way. You think of the colors of.
Instead, we're treated to a series of re- releases from mediocre sources, with massive flaws in the presentation. This is why rumors of a remastered, unaltered original trilogy are so thrilling. It would mean that fans of the series have a way to watch the film as they remember, on modern equipment, with time and money spent remastering and correcting decades worth of film degradation and wear. Lucas has long said this was impossible but, as I explored in an earlier story at Ars Technica, that’s untrue. Besides, the holy grail exists today. It’s called the Despecialized Edition, and the only problem is that you can’t pay money for it. This is an a gray- market release of the film, only available as a huge download on bittorrent. So what do you get for your 1. GB of hard drive space? You get everything you want. You get a long time ago, far far away in the most stunning presentation possible. Harmy. The Despecialized Edition is the years- long work of a diverse group of people who have taken elements from many different sources and created the ultimate version of the first Star Wars film. It has also been upgraded to display properly on high definition screens, with high- quality sounds and a near perfect image. The latest Blu- Ray release of the film serves as the skeleton for this edition, but elements of the 2. DVD that included the unaltered version of the film was also used to remove special effects and edits that were added by Lucas. Even these basic, official sources weren’t perfect, though. For such a fan of technology, Lucas and his crew have long presented us with mediocre versions of the source material. At the end, a shot by shot color correction was done based on the colors of a well preserved Technicolor print.? Yep, although they’re rarely shown to the public. It is a Technicolor imbibition dye- transfer print. This means: it has a finer grain and better picture, but, more importantly, it looks exactly the same as the day it was printed. Properly cared for, it will outlast all of us. Still, the print described in that article is an amazing piece of history, as shown by this image taken from the theater's screen. These primary sources give us a good idea of how the film is supposed to look, the original version shown in theaters in the later 7. It's just a matter of tracking them down and making sure they're presented in the best possible way. Puggo Grande is another legendary object for fans of the original film, and it served as a source for content for scenes that needed to be restored to remove edits or special effects that weren’t in the original version of the film. The film was borrowed from a source who wishes to remain anonymous, and who for now will go by the name Jaxxon. One of the prints has Swedish subtitles and the mono mix. I used the Swedish version as a source for the mono mix and for a few video segments when needed to patch damaged frames. The Swedish print was later restored separately. You can see the quality of the transfer in the included image, and it’s not great. But for reference material and to grab elements that can be edited together to recreate certain scenes it’s invaluable. Other still images, reference material, and even other partial prints were used, upscaled, color- corrected, and edited together to create the final version of the Despecialized Edition. These sources have been chopped up, enhanced, color- corrected, edited together, cleaned, and ultimately released as one huge 1. GB MKV file in all the places one would expect to find gray market, if not outright pirated, films. So how is it? The experience. The release is now up to version 2. I have ever seen. The colors look amazing, details pop off the screen and the overall image quality is so far beyond anything available in an officially sanctioned release that it's nearly laughable. I've been lucky enough to see the Despecialized Edition in a few barely advertised public screenings and in the home theater of friends, and it's startling to see the film you know versus the poorly updated and re- edited versions we're used to from Lucas. Even the audio options are top notch. It's the version we've always wanted, with an immense amount of effort put into retaining the original vision of the film. You can't buy it, it won't be shown at your local cinema, and the legality of the project is questionable at best, but the version of Star Wars you've always dreamed of is available online. Star Wars (film) - Wikipedia. Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV . The first installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, it stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness. David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew co- star in supporting roles. The plot focuses on the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia (Fisher), and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empire's space station, the Death Star. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmhand Luke Skywalker (Hamill) who inadvertently acquires a pair of droids that possess stolen architectural plans for the Death Star. When the Empire begins a destructive search for the missing droids, Skywalker accompanies Jedi Master. Obi- Wan Kenobi (Guinness) on a mission to return the plans to the Rebel Alliance and rescue Leia from her imprisonment by the Empire. Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May 2. It earned $4. 61 million in the U. S. It surpassed Jaws (1. E. T. When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second- highest- grossing film in North America, and the third- highest- grossing film in the world. The film received ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), winning seven. It was selected to become part of the U. S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in its first year of opening as being . The film's soundtrack was added to the U. S. National Recording Registry 1. Today, it is often regarded as one of the best films of all time, as well as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures. It also launched an industry of media tie- in products, including TV series spinoffs, novels, comic books, and video games, as well as various other merchandise, such as toys, games, clothing, and other paraphernalia. The film's massive success led to the production of two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1. Return of the Jedi (1. Since 1. 97. 7, Star Wars was subsequently reissued multiple times at Lucas' behest, incorporating many changes including modified computer- generated effects, altered dialogue, re- edited shots, remixed soundtracks, and added scenes. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1. The galaxy is in the midst of a civil war. Spies for the Rebel Alliancehave stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia has the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid, R2- D2, along with a holographic recording. The droid flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with C- 3. PO, a protocol droid. The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke Skywalker. While cleaning R2- D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leia's message, in which she requests help from Obi- Wan Kenobi. The next morning, Luke finds R2- D2 searching for Obi- Wan, and meets Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives in the hills and reveals himself to be Obi- Wan. Obi- Wan tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, former Galactic Republic peacekeepers with supernatural powers derived from an energy called The Force, who were all but wiped out by the Empire. Contrary to his uncle's statements, Luke learns that his father, Anakin, fought alongside Obi- Wan as a Jedi Knight. Obi- Wan tells Luke that Vader was his former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force and killed his father, Anakin. Obi- Wan then presents Luke his father's weapon - a lightsaber. Obi- Wan views Leia's complete message, in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis. Obi- Wan invites Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force. Luke declines, but changes his mind after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers searching for C- 3. PO and R2- D2 have destroyed his home and killed his aunt and uncle. Obi- Wan and Luke hire smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca to transport them to Alderaan on Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon. Upon the Falcon's arrival at the location of Alderaan, the group discover that the planet has been destroyed by order of the Death Star's commanding officer, Grand Moff Tarkin, as a show of power. The Falcon is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. While Obi- Wan goes to disable the tractor beam, Luke discovers that Leia is imprisoned aboard, and with the help of Han and Chewbacca, rescues her. After several escapes, the group makes its way back to the Falcon. Obi- Wan disables the tractor beam, and on the way back to the Falcon, he engages in a lightsaber duel with Vader. Once he is sure the others can escape, Obi- Wan allows himself to be killed. The Falcon escapes the Death Star, unknowingly carrying a tracking beacon, which the Empire follows to the Rebels' hidden base on Yavin IV. The Rebels analyze the Death Star's plans and identify a vulnerable exhaust port that connects to the station's main reactor. Luke joins the Rebel assault squadron, while Han collects his payment for the transport and intends to leave, despite Luke's request that he stay and help. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses after several unsuccessful attack runs, leaving Luke as one of the few surviving pilots. Vader leads a squad of TIE fighters and prepares to attack Luke's X- wing fighter, but Han returns and fires on the Imperials, sending Vader spiraling away. Helped by guidance from Obi- Wan's spirit, Luke uses the Force and successfully destroys the Death Star seconds before it can fire on the Rebel base. Back on Yavin IV, Leia awards Luke, Han and Chewbacca with medals for their heroism. Lucas favored casting young actors who lacked long experience. To play Luke (then known as Luke Starkiller), Lucas sought actors who could project intelligence and integrity. While reading for the character, Hamill found the dialogue to be extremely odd because of its universe- embedded concepts. He chose to simply read it sincerely, and he was selected instead of William Katt, who was subsequently cast in the Brian De Palma- directed Carrie (Lucas shared a joint casting session with De Palma, a longtime friend). Foster, for one, turned down the role because she was already under contract with Disney and working on two films at the time. Instead, Lucas asked the actor to assist in the auditions by reading lines with the other actors and explaining the concepts and history behind the scenes that they were reading. Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's portrayal and cast him instead of Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte. Lucas commended Cushing's performance, saying . Adored and idolized by young people and by people who go to see a certain kind of movie. I feel he will be fondly remembered for the next 3. It sounds like something that flew out of a cupboard. Lucas needed an established actor to play the important Obi- Wan Kenobi character. Producer Gary Kurtz said, . At the time, sci- fi movies still looked quite cheap as the effects were not advanced and he had a lot of samurai pride. He agreed to take the part of Kenobi on the condition that he would not have to do any publicity to promote the film. He was always prepared, always professional, always very kind to the other actors. He had a very clear head about how to serve the story. Thirty well- established voice actors read for the voice of the droid. According to Daniels, one of the major voice actors, believed by some sources to be Stan Freberg, recommended Daniels's voice for the role. The 7 feet 3 inches (2. Chewbacca after he stood up to greet Lucas. Door opened, and George walked in with Gary behind him. So, naturally, what did I do? I'm raised in England. Soon as someone comes in through the door, I stand up. He chose the former because he wanted to play a hero; British actor David Prowse took the other. Michael Leader plays a minor role as a Stormtrooper known for accidentally walking into a door. He was unsuccessful in pitching his idea to several major Hollywood studios because it was . Eventually, Lucas presented the treatment to 2. Century Fox, and the film was approved. One of the claims is that he intended to make the film a Space Western. Originally, Lucas wanted to adapt the Flash Gordon space adventure comics and serials into his own films, having been fascinated by them since he was young. Of course I realize now how crude and badly done they were.. He pushed towards buying the Flash Gordon rights. So I began researching and went right back and found where Alex Raymond (who had done the original Flash Gordon comic strips in newspapers) had got his idea from. I discovered that he'd got his inspiration from the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (author of Tarzan) and especially from his John Carter of Mars series books. I read through that series, then found that what had sparked Burroughs off was a science- fantasy called Gulliver on Mars, written by Edwin Arnold and published in 1. That was the first story in this genre that I have been able to trace. Jules Verne had got pretty close, I suppose, but he never had a hero battling against space creatures or having adventures on another planet. A whole new genre developed from that idea. And he says, 'Well, I'll just invent my own.'. After spending the next two years completing American Graffiti, Lucas turned his attention to The Star Wars. Lucas would discard many of these by the time the final script was written, but he included several names and places in the final script or its sequels. He revived others decades later when he wrote his prequel trilogy. He used these initial names and ideas to compile a two- page synopsis titled Journal of the Whills, which told the tale of the training of apprentice CJ Thorpe as a . Frustrated that his story was too difficult to understand, Lucas then began writing a 1.
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