@@chrono2959 What if it was delivered by a muppet that had been killed and thrown down a pit... which is apparently the Star Wars way of regeneration now...
I saw STAR WARS 18 time in its original run. Then 6 times with the Episode IV 'A New Hope' tag added, finally 4 more times the Specialized versions for a total of 28. Who knows how many time including VHS, DVD etc. I got a copy of the the Despecialized version and realized as I played it for the first time this was actually my 19th time seeing the real 1977 STAR WARS.
The amount of strings fans are pulling to collaborate on a project of this cultural magnitude is staggering. The equipment, effort and efficiency displayed is so much more vast than most will give credit for. Keep up the good work, folks.
I'm a sometime amateur documentary videographer, and I've been learning open source video editing on kdenlive. I tried to color correcting footage from one camera to look like footage from another camera and, frustrated, quickly realized that it's not the tool, it's me.... someone who knows photography like I know computers would make quick work of what takes me hours to discover by trial and error. Seeing the color corrections done by Star Wars fans above has me green with envy. A green that should be slightly more orange-y, if only I could figure out how to do it...
@@latestred6510 I mean, they are fan edits. It would be illegal to sell/purchase them, so I understand that. What I don’t understand is the non-Special Editions not being remastered. George is a jacksss for that.
Harmy you're still around! Thank you for everything, I show the despecialized edition to all of my friends and it has completely changed the way we watch Star Wars.
I'm glad I got to see Star Wars at the theater in 77. I was 9 years old. It was the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Seeing the text roll and then the huge Star Destroyer was/is the biggest one, two punch in movie history.
Same... All I had to go on before the movie was a still from the New Zealand TV 'Listner' mag showing C3PO and a silver C3 in a corridor... I went in thinking they were going to be the aliens like those sketchy Flash Gordon B&W replays that were about as good as Sci Fi was back then...
Hey Frank, but before even that there was the intriguing "A long time ago..." caption then the massive POW and fanfare of the title which blew me back into my seat. THEN the title crawl and star destroyer. The greatest constructed opening titles and set up for any film. All films had opening credits back then, this time there was none of that, strap in - we're off. It was wondrous wasn't it!
I was able to get my hands on the Harmy editions from a friend. My mind was absolutely fucking blown away!!!!! To every person involved in all these projects thank you all so very much! There are millions of us who are grateful to be able to share our childhood with our children.
I saw the original trilogy movies on each of their first week's of release from 1977 to 1983. Im now 55, and I only ever watch Harmy's versions, as I want to see the versions I fell in love as a kid. That's where the nostalgia of my childhood is with these movies. I can not thank Harmy enough for giving me that privilege 🙏
Which did you see? The 35mm or 70mm version? Mono or stereo sound? Each version has different lines of dialogue and different sound affects. There is no “original” version. The Specialized versions are the movies, get over it.
My feelings exactly. Thank goodness for Harmy and everyone working together to give us the closest versions to the originals possible and in such great quality.
@@菊池清太郎-p9i Anyone who thinks a version where Greedo shoots first (or indeed at all) and contains a completely redundant scene where Han steps on a weirdly-morphed Jabba's tail "is the movie" must be an utter idiot. And if they spell it "sound affects," they've confirmed that status and are easily dismissed.
Hey, maybe you'll know. I have Star Wars 4K77 and Return of the Jedi 4K83 but for The Empire Strikes Back I have D+80. What is that? A despecialised version? Is there an Empire Strikes Back 4K80?
@@FrancisXLord 4k80 they're having some trouble getting the film reels fully restored but they are working on it. D+80 kicks ass, it's mostly the 4k blu-ray, but edits out the special edition changes using some 4k scanned shots from the original film.
@@FrancisXLord Yeah sure, in fact those are my personal favorite versions. The editor posted about it here and he commented about v2.1 in the comments: originaltrilogy.com/topic/D80-Empire-Strikes-Back-4K-Theatrical-Reconstruction-Released/id/74712/
@@FrancisXLord The D+ versions are kind of the best of both worlds, taking the latest Disney 4K blu rays and restoring the altered scenes with parts from the 4K77 releases, which are made from a processed private film scan.
What I distinctly remember is that in 1996 or thereabouts, over the course of several months, each of the film in the original trilogy received a theatrical re-release and they were specifically marketed as "the last time to see the original films before the new special editions replace them". Then, after those re-releases, a second round of re-releases occurred, this time it was the updated versions, where the FX were updated, the ship-to-ship dialogue was elevated above the musical score in the final battle, etc. So this struggle to find the "original" was deliberately set up by Lucasfilm in order to create a demand that had never been there before - a demand for preservation. The funny thing is that copyright law was conceived in such a way that it should require that the original material be available for evaluation of any copyright claims. Failing to do so should be considered a strike against the defensibility of infringement claims. But in practice it isn't. Because American IP law has deteroriated into basically a garbage can of special interest industry folks with powerful lobbyists. Combined with judges who have about as much understanding of artistic creation as Donald Duck has with a Shakespearean actor.
1995: The last time the trilogy was released (on home video) before the Special Edition. 1997: The Special Edition released in theaters, and then later on home video. 2006: Lucas releases DVDs of the original trilogy with the unaltered theatrical versions on each bonus disc. This is for a limited time.
@Petr Harmy your work is a gift to the fandom. I applaud you not only for having the courage to restore the films, but most importantly your dedication to it. You did what many Star Wars fans thought was impossible. You deserve an award, or something for it. I grew up with the Special Editions. I saw the theatrical versions (the GOAT DVDs) for the first time in 2015. A few months ago I saw the Despecialized Editions and they blew me away. Anyway, thank you!
Thank you very much for this work Harmy and to all the people involved in it who did a luxurious job!. For years i have followed your editions and they are the best thing that has happened to me, to go back a little to remember the versions that i saw as a child is a breath of pure nostalgia!, i can't wait to see version 3.0 in 4K!!!, greetings from Argentina!, Que la Fuerza te acompañe, SIEMPRE!.
I'M IN LOVE WITH THE DESPECIALIZED VERSIONS AND HAVEN'T WATCHED ANYTHING ELSE IN YEARS! THANKS HARMY! There's even a despecialized version used for a recent reaction, first time watching video.
Thank you Harmy for all of your effort to save Star Wars for future generations. The history of the film is important. Watching the original masterpiece in its original form is glorious!
@@SamLowryDZ-015 It is. Just like we call Predator 1987 or Predator 1 to not misinterpret it with new Predator film, or Halloween...Star Wars has now 12 canon movies, we call it New Hope to point which one.
I'm old enough that I remember seeing the original films on the big screen. As much as I liked the enhanced versions, I always had this longing for the original experience. I am very grateful for the time and effort put into patching together the originals. Thank you for this.
its amazing how much effort goes into this project! Big THANKS to everyone who helped bringing the original Star Wars Feeling back... Special thanks of course goes to Harmy itself... this is really amazing!!
I just cannot THANK YOU enough for doing what you are doing!! It just Baffles me that the powers that be a Lucasfilm do not understand how truly special this film(s) (especially the original Star Wars) Really is - It was a life changing “experience” for a generation. Thank You Thank You Thank You!!🙏
Can I just say that you have a wonderful way with you. Your voice makes me happy :) I love your passion and the depth of your knowledge! Many thanks, I'm glad I found you, great work well researched but it is the overall warmth that makes your stuff so ace! :) x
Thank the maker! Harmy deserves all the credit in the world for his passion and dedication to making this happen, and for keeping our love of the original films strong!
Wowww, ....Thanks for the docu. Harmy,to all involved w/ such lofty expectations, their hard work and time! Thanks to everyone in search of the original version! I LOVE that George was trying to represent the original the best that technology allows today, from "His original vision;" however, ... a lot is lost in translation! Thanks for trying to restore the original; with all its flaws, aging and lack of technology! from the time!
just a quick thanks, excellent work. i haven't watched original trilogy in maybe close to 20 years and the last time I saw it was special edition and don't remember particularly enjoying it, not like when i was a kid. so seeing this version today was like a breath of fresh air. grateful for the all the work you guys put into this. peace
10:52 "Crushed Blacks" Too funny. A friend of mine went up to Skywalker Ranch many, MANY years ago for a job interview for a video engineer position. During his interview, as they were walking around the facility, he actually had to point out to them that... iirc, some of their equipment was calibrated incorrectly. The problem? You guessed it: crushed blacks. As I remember it, they offered him the job, but the pay was so low, it was below a living wage for the bay area, so he had to decline. Seems like they didn't pick up on his observation, as this was definitely pre-2004. *sigh*
I thought this meant the 3.0 trilogy with 4K sources has been finished. And the documentary has been updated to explain those sources. But no, it's a 4K reupload of the documentary itself. Lol.
me too :/ was totaly excited - and just found the old 720p Files "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."
I'm glad to say that I got my hands on a 'despecialised' trilogy set of BluRay disks, and will NEVER watch any other versions again. They take me back to the original experience of watching them for the first time at the cinema in the 1970s / 1980s.
Of all the films this could have happened to, why did it have to be the best film, and best trilogy of all time? It’s insane that they would mess up masterpieces.
The color correction looks off in the intro of episode 4. Btw, that argument about Oscar winning does not hold up, no movie edit or cleanup ever got an award, if that were true I would expect at least on HD release to have an Oscar. The original negative deteriorated in the time from 77 to 97, that is why it now exists only in the 1997 configuration, it needed to be fixed in some areas. And also, the people that made the Oscar winning decisions agreed with Lucas for the changes or at least talked with him to tweak them. You did a very good job Harmy and i commend you for that, i just think you spread a bit of misinformation when talking about some subjects.
I love that there’s a 4K reupload of this little doc. It’s like Harmy had to enhance and upscale his own footage from his own “originals”. Lol. It all comes Full circle!
Harmy rocks. I love you man! My grandkids watched “Star Wars” in HD and were as amazed as I was when I saw Star Wars in the theater for the first time. Thank you for doing this. It meant so much to me to see the look of awe in their faces as the story unfolded. This all on you. Amazing!
No, this is what happens when a dysfunctional and entitled fanboy thinks he somehow owns Star Wars and can vandalize it to his liking. Only George Lucas has the right to determine what the movies are. Face it, George Lucas has already won. The Special Editions are the movies, get over it.
@@菊池清太郎-p9i actually my comment was from 2 years ago I don't exactly feel the same way I did back then but yeah you know continue to get all riled up over a comment
@@菊池清太郎-p9i This is what happens when an artist loses his artistic vision and destroys his own work. This is a dedicated group restoring the original work, after the creator lost his art & his mind, and vandalized the original. 😎
A theory I heard years ago as to why George Lucas will never hand over his masters to the Library of Congress is so as not give royalties to his ex wife, who was one of the editors. I believe George is just petty enough to do that.
@@samuel-wankenobi George Lucas was the chief editor on the original Star Wars. He oversaw the entire process and edited the acclaimed gunport sequence himself. His wife Marcia only edited a third of the movie and left to work on another movie before the final edit was even completed. There were two other editors who edited the other 2/3 of the movie. The notion that Lucas had nothing to do with the editing of the original movie, that he's a terrible editor, or that his wife singlehandedly saved from the movie from him--it's all a myth. ua-cam.com/video/olqVGz6mOVE/v-deo.html
Thing is, the original release wasnt some pristine print. Back in the day in the movie theaters sometimes part of the charm was the grain, cigar burns in the print and soundtrack crackle.
Damn, I forgot he even "specialized" the Krayt Dragon sound Ben made. Such pointless changes. Very much looking forward to the next round of Despecialized, as I believe only the ANH of 4K77 has a "degrained" version that's remotely watchable on a modern TV. Thankfully the D+ editions fixed that, but they still technically have "specialized" content...even if the content is innocuous and almost impossible for most fans to spot.
3 роки тому+1
Despecialized Edition v2.5 Sources 10:20 Official 2011 Blu-Ray 11:25 You_Too's preliminary CC 11:59 I.B. Technicolor print screening 12:03 Official 2006 "GOUT" DVD 13:04 Project Blu V1 13:30 Project Blu V2 13:47 Official 2004 DVD 14:04 2004 Version HDTV 14:33 "Flunk" 1997 Special Edition 15:06 Team Negative 1's LPP print scan (Silver Screen Experience) 12:53 Laserschwert's clean-up 16:29 Puggo Grande 17:29 Variety of still images
Great use of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" for background music. Did Luke's lightsaber-training scene on the Falcon change the blade'a color back to white?
I found and downloaded a 1977 theatrical release copy of Star Wars from the Internet Archive at least 3 years ago, it's probably still on there, so all this fuss about despecialised edits is NOT necessary.
Hi Harmy, I have introduced many people to the Despecialised trilogy & it continues to be the only version my friends and I watch. I've had them all over the years, OT VHS, SE VHS, OT LD, various DVDs... and while we only have the v1 copy, for us it's a dream come true. Thanks for correcting this huge error!
Seeing as how one of George Lucas' big motivations in film making, and life in general, is advancing the art and technology of film making (and a key reason why he's no fan of the sequel trilogy, the lack of innovation), I suspect that deep down, he gets a kick out of all these efforts to restore the films to their original versions, and the techniques that have been developed in the process.
@@samuraigeorge71 That's why I said "deep down". Publicly, he has to maintain the line that his artistic integrity is the most important thing, that these are his movies, and this is how he wants them presented. He did the same thing with THX-1138 and with American Graffiti, only *his* versions are available, no original theatrical cuts (and if the National Film Registry comes around for either of those, they'll get the same response). Still, the technical innovation and ingenuity on display with these versions can't be denied. Not even by George. Why do you think Harmy and others have been allowed to get away with it for all these years? ;)
Some of that isn't knock off music, but the original played in reverse. And some of that is the original temp music that Williams based his score one. Mostly Holst's "Planets" in this case.
Actually a lot of the music was Gustov Holst's "Planets". Lucas used that music as filler in the initial cuts before the proper score was finished. I thought that made it perfect for this video!
Aliasing is "alias" as in "a false name" and "-ing" as in "-ing", not whatever the pronunciation is in the documentary. (From the signal processing field, it's the result of sampling a signal at too low a rate resulting in *false* information in the sampled data.) Nevertheless, thank-you Harmy et al from letting my kids see what I saw at their age.
Why not restore the original cyan/green color grading of the theatrical release? You can clearly see the color tint in the highlights of the interior scenes in the 4K77 version and in the photos taken from film frames printed in the jacket for The Story of Star Wars vinyl record. That was how it looked. It wasn't a 'natural' color palette. It was actually quite a trendy color grade in that era. The Cronenberg film Scanners also had such a color grade. When Empire Strikes Back came out, they did a different color grade for that film and the third one, and when the Special Editions came out, all of the films were regraded to match one another, and the original greenish color grade was lost.
@@Clay3613 Film doesn't turn green with age, and it certainly doesn't add color/pigment. When film fades, the yellow layer tends to go first, causing a magenta cast. And as I said, the greenish tint is very visible in the records and the publicity photos from the era. (And you're forgetting something else: I was there watching it on screen in 1977.)
THIS, is the only thing that still keeps me interested in Star Wars. Hear that Disney? I want only a proper release of the originals, unaltered. I WILL buy those, but I will never buy the awful new movies you make.
Someone should do this with Queen's concerts for example, like my favorite one "Live At The Rainbow", my favorite Queen concert ever, which was heavily altered and edited changing the original sound and footage in its recent re-release, or concerts like "Live at The Odeon", "Live At The Bowl", "Live Aid", "Rock Montreal", "Live At Wembley", "Hungarian Rhapsody" and not only that, with many other historically significant concerts and music events, a great example if a company/estate properly doing these cleaning and re-release of footage is last November's release of Jimi Hendrix live a Maui, both the footage/audio was in fantastic condition and the edition and cleaning was beautifully done… People should put effort towards preserving history, "special editions" are it necesarilly a bad thing but we should always try to preserve and pass on our history and legacy as people, entities and collectively as a culture.
A lot of effort and care went into making sure the Despecialized Edition are as true to the original theatrical cuts as possible. I just assume Disney did not ask for and did not want copies of the original theatrical cuts otherwise 4K remasters of them would be on Disney+ by now.
Anyone know where I can currently re-download the Despecialized Edition, without having to use programs that will crash my computer again? I want to get a 100gb blu ray disc so I can put all three films on one disc. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for doing what you do Harmy.
I always saw GOUT as not so much making quick money off the craze of laserdisc transfers, but more as "We've given you the original cut that you've been pestering us for. We've told you that's all your getting. Now SHUT UP and accept the version we want to present."
I wonder if say Lucasfilm didn’t re-release the trilogy on DVD in 2006 with non-HD quality of original versions, Harmy still would’ve been able to make his Despecialized Editions.
I have the despecialized edition on a hard drive, watching it on a brand new 4k Samsung OLED TV, and it looks good, but the Disney+ version looks better. What am I doing wrong?
I'm afraid that what you're doing wrong is expecting a 720p fan-made restoration from twelve years ago to look as good as a new professional 4K transfer. But check out Return of the Jedi Despecialized v3.1 - that's new, 4K, and uses the Disney master as it's main source. The goal is to get all three to that same level of quality but I have far less spare time to work on it now, so it's taking me ages.
Maybe because I am older than Star Wars I could not for the life of me figure out WHERE the files are in that guide that we are directed to. I still have those low res bonus dvds from the one release.
I am not a Star Wars fan (I prefer Trek), but the absolute original should be preserved for its historic value. That said, some of the later edits I think are worth keeping, like the windows in the Sky City to make it look like it's really in the clouds, rather than a set.
4:09 I don't the force can alter someones voice that much so a crayt dragon will still make the original scream but this is obi wan trying to mimic one to the best of his ability
Saw Star Wars in a single screen theater in 1977. I was in the third grade and it was my first PG movie lol. Came in during the trash compactor scene and I thought Chewie was on one side of the wall trying to crush the other human characters lol. It’s amazing how technology has advanced to a point where we can recreate an earlier low-tech production for posterity 😆
The first time I saw the OT in it’s entirety, was around 1996, with the Leonard Maltin interviews of George Lucas before every film. If I’m not mistaken, these were the original films, but they remastered the sound and music with THX’s latest technology. Not that you have to mention these editions, but they are technically another edition of the film...an in between if you will. The original in it’s glory, but with better sound mixing. I think if they released these editions and not the original cut, most people would probably be happy.
Despecialized Edition should be submitted to the Library of Congress.
nope
They wouldn't take it and that's a shame
@@chrono2959 What if it was delivered by a muppet that had been killed and thrown down a pit... which is apparently the Star Wars way of regeneration now...
@@TheButlerNZ that might work
They need something more accurate like 4k77
I saw STAR WARS 18 time in its original run. Then 6 times with the Episode IV 'A New Hope' tag added, finally 4 more times the Specialized versions for a total of 28. Who knows how many time including VHS, DVD etc. I got a copy of the the Despecialized version and realized as I played it for the first time this was actually my 19th time seeing the real 1977 STAR WARS.
The amount of strings fans are pulling to collaborate on a project of this cultural magnitude is staggering. The equipment, effort and efficiency displayed is so much more vast than most will give credit for.
Keep up the good work, folks.
I'm a sometime amateur documentary videographer, and I've been learning open source video editing on kdenlive. I tried to color correcting footage from one camera to look like footage from another camera and, frustrated, quickly realized that it's not the tool, it's me.... someone who knows photography like I know computers would make quick work of what takes me hours to discover by trial and error. Seeing the color corrections done by Star Wars fans above has me green with envy. A green that should be slightly more orange-y, if only I could figure out how to do it...
It’s a shame that they had to resort to this due to George’s attitudes and behaviors regarding the non-Special Editions.
@@HabitualJokerYeah, and that you can't buy 4K77 / Despecialized editions sucks!
@@latestred6510 I mean, they are fan edits. It would be illegal to sell/purchase them, so I understand that.
What I don’t understand is the non-Special Editions not being remastered. George is a jacksss for that.
Harmy you're still around! Thank you for everything, I show the despecialized edition to all of my friends and it has completely changed the way we watch Star Wars.
You are watching a vandalized version of the movies. Changing an artist’s work is vandalism and you support that. You’re awful.
One day they’ll release a version where Greedo just commits suicide for no reason.
😄
My sides 💯
Rofl
Or his laser blast hits a wall and bounces back to hit him
McKlunky!
I'm glad I got to see Star Wars at the theater in 77. I was 9 years old. It was the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Seeing the text roll and then the huge Star Destroyer was/is the biggest one, two punch in movie history.
Same... All I had to go on before the movie was a still from the New Zealand TV 'Listner' mag showing C3PO and a silver C3 in a corridor... I went in thinking they were going to be the aliens like those sketchy Flash Gordon B&W replays that were about as good as Sci Fi was back then...
Hey Frank, but before even that there was the intriguing "A long time ago..." caption then the massive POW and fanfare of the title which blew me back into my seat. THEN the title crawl and star destroyer. The greatest constructed opening titles and set up for any film. All films had opening credits back then, this time there was none of that, strap in - we're off. It was wondrous wasn't it!
I was able to get my hands on the Harmy editions from a friend. My mind was absolutely fucking blown away!!!!! To every person involved in all these projects thank you all so very much! There are millions of us who are grateful to be able to share our childhood with our children.
I saw the original trilogy movies on each of their first week's of release from 1977 to 1983. Im now 55, and I only ever watch Harmy's versions, as I want to see the versions I fell in love as a kid. That's where the nostalgia of my childhood is with these movies. I can not thank Harmy enough for giving me that privilege 🙏
Which did you see? The 35mm or 70mm version? Mono or stereo sound? Each version has different lines of dialogue and different sound affects. There is no “original” version. The Specialized versions are the movies, get over it.
My feelings exactly. Thank goodness for Harmy and everyone working together to give us the closest versions to the originals possible and in such great quality.
@@菊池清太郎-p9i Specialised version not as good. The OP knows a good thing.
@@菊池清太郎-p9i
Anyone who thinks a version where Greedo shoots first (or indeed at all) and contains a completely redundant scene where Han steps on a weirdly-morphed Jabba's tail "is the movie" must be an utter idiot.
And if they spell it "sound affects," they've confirmed that status and are easily dismissed.
The amount of passion, work and effort put into this is incredible
George Lucas is awesome and this guy is a artwork vandal.
To anyone wondering why 4K77 wasn't included, the original video was made and uploaded before the release of 4K77.
Hey, maybe you'll know. I have Star Wars 4K77 and Return of the Jedi 4K83 but for The Empire Strikes Back I have D+80. What is that? A despecialised version? Is there an Empire Strikes Back 4K80?
@@FrancisXLord 4k80 they're having some trouble getting the film reels fully restored but they are working on it. D+80 kicks ass, it's mostly the 4k blu-ray, but edits out the special edition changes using some 4k scanned shots from the original film.
@@usul573 Thank you. See? Want answers? Go to UA-cam.
@@FrancisXLord Yeah sure, in fact those are my personal favorite versions. The editor posted about it here and he commented about v2.1 in the comments: originaltrilogy.com/topic/D80-Empire-Strikes-Back-4K-Theatrical-Reconstruction-Released/id/74712/
@@FrancisXLord The D+ versions are kind of the best of both worlds, taking the latest Disney 4K blu rays and restoring the altered scenes with parts from the 4K77 releases, which are made from a processed private film scan.
What I distinctly remember is that in 1996 or thereabouts, over the course of several months, each of the film in the original trilogy received a theatrical re-release and they were specifically marketed as "the last time to see the original films before the new special editions replace them". Then, after those re-releases, a second round of re-releases occurred, this time it was the updated versions, where the FX were updated, the ship-to-ship dialogue was elevated above the musical score in the final battle, etc. So this struggle to find the "original" was deliberately set up by Lucasfilm in order to create a demand that had never been there before - a demand for preservation. The funny thing is that copyright law was conceived in such a way that it should require that the original material be available for evaluation of any copyright claims. Failing to do so should be considered a strike against the defensibility of infringement claims. But in practice it isn't. Because American IP law has deteroriated into basically a garbage can of special interest industry folks with powerful lobbyists. Combined with judges who have about as much understanding of artistic creation as Donald Duck has with a Shakespearean actor.
1995: The last time the trilogy was released (on home video) before the Special Edition.
1997: The Special Edition released in theaters, and then later on home video.
2006: Lucas releases DVDs of the original trilogy with the unaltered theatrical versions on each bonus disc. This is for a limited time.
Harmy's version should go into the national film archive.
Nope because it’s not 100 the same but maybe the could put in 4k77
Star Wars should be banned from the national film archive due to the arrogance of its director in not submitting the original movie.
No, an archive of the original should go in there, like puggo grande for example.
archive.org/details/StarWars16mm
@@billygray6776 like 4k77
@wespozo the archive only takes the original theatrical release
@Petr Harmy your work is a gift to the fandom. I applaud you not only for having the courage to restore the films, but most importantly your dedication to it. You did what many Star Wars fans thought was impossible. You deserve an award, or something for it. I grew up with the Special Editions. I saw the theatrical versions (the GOAT DVDs) for the first time in 2015. A few months ago I saw the Despecialized Editions and they blew me away. Anyway, thank you!
Still so sad to remember Lucas' attitude towards the original movies. Thanks Harmy and others who have helped.
Its CrAZy that Lucas is both the worst person to have behind _Wars_ in general & yet the number one person you need to create it.
Thank you very much for this work Harmy and to all the people involved in it who did a luxurious job!. For years i have followed your editions and they are the best thing that has happened to me, to go back a little to remember the versions that i saw as a child is a breath of pure nostalgia!, i can't wait to see version 3.0 in 4K!!!, greetings from Argentina!, Que la Fuerza te acompañe, SIEMPRE!.
I'M IN LOVE WITH THE DESPECIALIZED VERSIONS AND HAVEN'T WATCHED ANYTHING ELSE IN YEARS! THANKS HARMY! There's even a despecialized version used for a recent reaction, first time watching video.
This is awesome! I have the 2004 realeses and I keep telling my kids how much better the originals on VHS tapes were when I was a kid.
Same
Thank you Harmy for all of your effort to save Star Wars for future generations. The history of the film is important. Watching the original masterpiece in its original form is glorious!
Never get tired of telling people that 'Star Wars' was an Oscar winning film - 'A New Hope' was not!
It's the same movie, dude.
@@TGWNN. This movie got title New Hope in 1981, before any special editions (which improved the visuals btw).
@@Сайтамен No it isn't - you troll.
@@Сайтамен um, no.
@@SamLowryDZ-015 It is. Just like we call Predator 1987 or Predator 1 to not misinterpret it with new Predator film, or Halloween...Star Wars has now 12 canon movies, we call it New Hope to point which one.
I'm old enough that I remember seeing the original films on the big screen. As much as I liked the enhanced versions, I always had this longing for the original experience. I am very grateful for the time and effort put into patching together the originals. Thank you for this.
He's starting to remaster his own videos. xD
he is also changing the music just like Lucas
@@samuel-wankenobi Wouldn't it be ironic if one day people were gonna create despecialized versions of Harmy's videos? 😂
@@RÅNÇIÐ yep
@@samuel-wankenobi "You were the chosen one. It was said that you would destroy the remasters, not join them!"
Yeah, but the original version is still available 😉 😀
Prequel fans: We want the 4 hour cut of ROTS
Original Trilogy fans who still haven't gotten the original cuts of their trilogy: First time?
Thank you Petr for your fantastic work. Star Wars fans will be discovering and celebrating your tireless efforts for decades to come!
its amazing how much effort goes into this project! Big THANKS to everyone who helped bringing the original Star Wars Feeling back... Special thanks of course goes to Harmy itself... this is really amazing!!
Harmy, thank you so much for all the hard work and dedication! We the fans and all future fans appreciate you and your work.
I just cannot THANK YOU enough for doing what you are doing!! It just Baffles me that the powers that be a Lucasfilm do not understand how truly special this film(s) (especially the original Star Wars) Really is - It was a life changing “experience” for a generation. Thank You Thank You Thank You!!🙏
Can I just say that you have a wonderful way with you. Your voice makes me happy :) I love your passion and the depth of your knowledge! Many thanks, I'm glad I found you, great work well researched but it is the overall warmth that makes your stuff so ace! :) x
Thank the maker! Harmy deserves all the credit in the world for his passion and dedication to making this happen, and for keeping our love of the original films strong!
Wowww, ....Thanks for the docu. Harmy,to all involved w/ such lofty expectations, their hard work and time!
Thanks to everyone in search of the original version!
I LOVE that George was trying to represent the original the best that technology allows today, from "His original vision;" however, ... a lot is lost in translation!
Thanks for trying to restore the original; with all its flaws, aging and lack of technology! from the time!
just a quick thanks, excellent work. i haven't watched original trilogy in maybe close to 20 years and the last time I saw it was special edition and don't remember particularly enjoying it, not like when i was a kid. so seeing this version today was like a breath of fresh air. grateful for the all the work you guys put into this. peace
How does a normal joe soap watch these? I'm a tecnophobe with a crappy laptop which has no memory...l can't download files.
You're doing work that cannot be praised higher, Harmy!
10:52 "Crushed Blacks" Too funny. A friend of mine went up to Skywalker Ranch many, MANY years ago for a job interview for a video engineer position. During his interview, as they were walking around the facility, he actually had to point out to them that... iirc, some of their equipment was calibrated incorrectly. The problem? You guessed it: crushed blacks. As I remember it, they offered him the job, but the pay was so low, it was below a living wage for the bay area, so he had to decline. Seems like they didn't pick up on his observation, as this was definitely pre-2004. *sigh*
… many Bothams social lives died to bring us this information.
Powerful collaborating.
Thank you so much, this is an enormous amount of work. And well worth it, these versions are the absolute best of the Star Wars films!
I never realised how much we need this. The originals are so much better. Absolutely fascinating video.
Hey Disney, do you like money!? Well why dont you release the original print in digital 4k and you can make a bunch of money!
Ironic that the despecialized edition is so special.- Palpatine.
Thank you Harmy for your efforts. I was so glad to finally have a copy of the original theatrical release.
I thought this meant the 3.0 trilogy with 4K sources has been finished. And the documentary has been updated to explain those sources.
But no, it's a 4K reupload of the documentary itself. Lol.
me too :/
was totaly excited - and just found the old 720p Files
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."
Yeah I was hoping for the same thing.
Same here!
I thought it all looked familiar haha.
I'm glad to say that I got my hands on a 'despecialised' trilogy set of BluRay disks, and will NEVER watch any other versions again. They take me back to the original experience of watching them for the first time at the cinema in the 1970s / 1980s.
Where can I get a set?
@@gunsrtheanswer My son-in-law got me the set. I will have to ask him and get back to you.
Talk about a labour of love! Can't thank you enough for the work put into this ☺️🙏
Of all the films this could have happened to, why did it have to be the best film, and best trilogy of all time? It’s insane that they would mess up masterpieces.
i have the despecialized versions on blu ray and they are simply the best versions.
" _Star Wars_ is best viewed in the original Turkish."
-- Chancellor Gorkon, probably
"taH pagh taHbe!" - Shakespeare
The color correction looks off in the intro of episode 4.
Btw, that argument about Oscar winning does not hold up, no movie edit or cleanup ever got an award, if that were true I would expect at least on HD release to have an Oscar.
The original negative deteriorated in the time from 77 to 97, that is why it now exists only in the 1997 configuration, it needed to be fixed in some areas.
And also, the people that made the Oscar winning decisions agreed with Lucas for the changes or at least talked with him to tweak them.
You did a very good job Harmy and i commend you for that, i just think you spread a bit of misinformation when talking about some subjects.
I love that there’s a 4K reupload of this little doc. It’s like Harmy had to enhance and upscale his own footage from his own “originals”. Lol. It all comes Full circle!
well done by Harmy and others who are dedicated to authentic editions of the original classic Star Wars movies and love project 4K77 and 4K83
Harmy rocks. I love you man! My grandkids watched “Star Wars” in HD and were as amazed as I was when I saw Star Wars in the theater for the first time. Thank you for doing this. It meant so much to me to see the look of awe in their faces as the story unfolded. This all on you. Amazing!
This is a service to humanity. Thank you for this!❤
Maclunkey! Thank you for everything you have done for fandom!
See it Again…for the First Time.
Thanks, you did amazing work on these!
Thank you so much for all you have done.
This is what happens when someone has George Lucas original passion. Amazing work gets done.
No, this is what happens when a dysfunctional and entitled fanboy thinks he somehow owns Star Wars and can vandalize it to his liking. Only George Lucas has the right to determine what the movies are. Face it, George Lucas has already won. The Special Editions are the movies, get over it.
@@菊池清太郎-p9i actually my comment was from 2 years ago I don't exactly feel the same way I did back then but yeah you know continue to get all riled up over a comment
@@菊池清太郎-p9i This is what happens when an artist loses his artistic vision and destroys his own work. This is a dedicated group restoring the original work, after the creator lost his art & his mind, and vandalized the original. 😎
I completely agree with Harmy about the special editions. I would love to get his despecialized editions someday.
you can get them all day long if you know how to torrent.
@@XX-121 I do have the dvds where they have the original cuts on "bonus discs".
A theory I heard years ago as to why George Lucas will never hand over his masters to the Library of Congress is so as not give royalties to his ex wife, who was one of the editors.
I believe George is just petty enough to do that.
That is probably why we got the special edition in the first place
@@samuel-wankenobi George Lucas was the chief editor on the original Star Wars. He oversaw the entire process and edited the acclaimed gunport sequence himself. His wife Marcia only edited a third of the movie and left to work on another movie before the final edit was even completed. There were two other editors who edited the other 2/3 of the movie. The notion that Lucas had nothing to do with the editing of the original movie, that he's a terrible editor, or that his wife singlehandedly saved from the movie from him--it's all a myth. ua-cam.com/video/olqVGz6mOVE/v-deo.html
@@Сайтамен None of that was claimed, Mr. Quixote.
I dont think you have to pay royalties for submitting a film print to a library.
@@Сайтамен People also forget he saved the Empire Strikes Back in the edit and through reshoots.
Thing is, the original release wasnt some pristine print. Back in the day in the movie theaters sometimes part of the charm was the grain, cigar burns in the print and soundtrack crackle.
It was, if you were watching a 70mm print on opening night.
Great work, looking forward to the 3.0 versions of the OT :)
Damn, I forgot he even "specialized" the Krayt Dragon sound Ben made. Such pointless changes.
Very much looking forward to the next round of Despecialized, as I believe only the ANH of 4K77 has a "degrained" version that's remotely watchable on a modern TV. Thankfully the D+ editions fixed that, but they still technically have "specialized" content...even if the content is innocuous and almost impossible for most fans to spot.
Despecialized Edition v2.5 Sources
10:20 Official 2011 Blu-Ray
11:25 You_Too's preliminary CC
11:59 I.B. Technicolor print screening
12:03 Official 2006 "GOUT" DVD
13:04 Project Blu V1
13:30 Project Blu V2
13:47 Official 2004 DVD
14:04 2004 Version HDTV
14:33 "Flunk" 1997 Special Edition
15:06 Team Negative 1's LPP print scan (Silver Screen Experience)
12:53 Laserschwert's clean-up
16:29 Puggo Grande
17:29 Variety of still images
Great use of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" for background music.
Did Luke's lightsaber-training scene on the Falcon change the blade'a color back to white?
The original soundtrack was pretty much just stolen from Holst anyway ha ha 😎
Thank you Classic Star Wars fans. The Best of the best!
The fans are doing the best work.
Harmy's version should go to the Library of Congress.
I found and downloaded a 1977 theatrical release copy of Star Wars from the Internet Archive at least 3 years ago, it's probably still on there, so all this fuss about despecialised edits is NOT necessary.
Hi Harmy, I have introduced many people to the Despecialised trilogy & it continues to be the only version my friends and I watch. I've had them all over the years, OT VHS, SE VHS, OT LD, various DVDs... and while we only have the v1 copy, for us it's a dream come true. Thanks for correcting this huge error!
97 was truly when the seeds of distrust towards LFL were sewn.
Seeing as how one of George Lucas' big motivations in film making, and life in general, is advancing the art and technology of film making (and a key reason why he's no fan of the sequel trilogy, the lack of innovation), I suspect that deep down, he gets a kick out of all these efforts to restore the films to their original versions, and the techniques that have been developed in the process.
@@samuraigeorge71 That's why I said "deep down". Publicly, he has to maintain the line that his artistic integrity is the most important thing, that these are his movies, and this is how he wants them presented. He did the same thing with THX-1138 and with American Graffiti, only *his* versions are available, no original theatrical cuts (and if the National Film Registry comes around for either of those, they'll get the same response).
Still, the technical innovation and ingenuity on display with these versions can't be denied. Not even by George. Why do you think Harmy and others have been allowed to get away with it for all these years? ;)
With the exception of how the downloader times out, it is worth downloading. The picture is very detailed.
I like both the 4K77, 4K80 and 4K83 project and Harmy Despecialized. Plus any projects to restore and archive the originals.
Hyper Awesome 😍
Thanks Harmy Very Much 👏
Praise Star Wars 1978 Makers and people who helped makers release ❤
Nothing against purists, do you, but that 5 year old kid would love Star Wars no matter what version he watched it.
18:12 one of the changes in the one of the rereleases was that they added actors instead mattpsintings for that scene
Shame you have to resort to knock off music instead of the actual SW music, but I think we all understand why.
Some of that isn't knock off music, but the original played in reverse.
And some of that is the original temp music that Williams based his score one. Mostly Holst's "Planets" in this case.
I always believed that John Williams received influence and inspiration from Carl Orff music.
@@StormBringer1966 Everybody is influenced by everybody.
Actually a lot of the music was Gustov Holst's "Planets". Lucas used that music as filler in the initial cuts before the proper score was finished. I thought that made it perfect for this video!
Should've used the score from 'Message From Space'. No, wait...🤔
Aliasing is "alias" as in "a false name" and "-ing" as in "-ing", not whatever the pronunciation is in the documentary. (From the signal processing field, it's the result of sampling a signal at too low a rate resulting in *false* information in the sampled data.)
Nevertheless, thank-you Harmy et al from letting my kids see what I saw at their age.
Why not restore the original cyan/green color grading of the theatrical release? You can clearly see the color tint in the highlights of the interior scenes in the 4K77 version and in the photos taken from film frames printed in the jacket for The Story of Star Wars vinyl record. That was how it looked. It wasn't a 'natural' color palette. It was actually quite a trendy color grade in that era. The Cronenberg film Scanners also had such a color grade.
When Empire Strikes Back came out, they did a different color grade for that film and the third one, and when the Special Editions came out, all of the films were regraded to match one another, and the original greenish color grade was lost.
That tinting only happens because of the film aging.
@@Clay3613 Film doesn't turn green with age, and it certainly doesn't add color/pigment. When film fades, the yellow layer tends to go first, causing a magenta cast. And as I said, the greenish tint is very visible in the records and the publicity photos from the era. (And you're forgetting something else: I was there watching it on screen in 1977.)
THIS, is the only thing that still keeps me interested in Star Wars. Hear that Disney? I want only a proper release of the originals, unaltered. I WILL buy those, but I will never buy the awful new movies you make.
Thank you Harmy! Your passion is very much appreciated.
What's the background music that you used here? I like it.
Sounded very similar to the Gatica soundtrack. You'll like that...
Gustav Holst - The Planets
Venus, the Bringer of Peace. Holst’s The Planets.
12:05 - Why is this DVD source called "GOUT"? I don't understand why an officially released DVD would have a nickname. Did I miss something perhaps?
'George's Original Unaltered Trilogy'
@@HeyElKappa - Thanks a lot!
keep it up, this is great work
Someone should do this with Queen's concerts for example, like my favorite one "Live At The Rainbow", my favorite Queen concert ever, which was heavily altered and edited changing the original sound and footage in its recent re-release, or concerts like "Live at The Odeon", "Live At The Bowl", "Live Aid", "Rock Montreal", "Live At Wembley", "Hungarian Rhapsody" and not only that, with many other historically significant concerts and music events, a great example if a company/estate properly doing these cleaning and re-release of footage is last November's release of Jimi Hendrix live a Maui, both the footage/audio was in fantastic condition and the edition and cleaning was beautifully done…
People should put effort towards preserving history, "special editions" are it necesarilly a bad thing but we should always try to preserve and pass on our history and legacy as people, entities and collectively as a culture.
Now if I could only download it without a computer science degree.
Right? It's all above my head unfortunately :(
I just bought on eBay. Totally worth it
@@Instantphojo Whaaaat? You can get it on EBay??? Yahoooo
@@30372tube Yes you can!! Just search, “despecialized Star Wars” on eBay. They come in blu-ray.
If you can't follow simple instructions that's on you
All “Congratulations” and ‘Thank you”, is not enough.
A lot of effort and care went into making sure the Despecialized Edition are as true to the original theatrical cuts as possible. I just assume Disney did not ask for and did not want copies of the original theatrical cuts otherwise 4K remasters of them would be on Disney+ by now.
It being called Gout is hilarious
I know it's been said a trillion times but one more won't hurt.....THANK YOU!
Anyone know where I can currently re-download the Despecialized Edition, without having to use programs that will crash my computer again? I want to get a 100gb blu ray disc so I can put all three films on one disc. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for doing what you do Harmy.
description of the video has a link at the top
I always saw GOUT as not so much making quick money off the craze of laserdisc transfers, but more as "We've given you the original cut that you've been pestering us for. We've told you that's all your getting. Now SHUT UP and accept the version we want to present."
I have to get a copy of the despecilized edition.
I wonder if say Lucasfilm didn’t re-release the trilogy on DVD in 2006 with non-HD quality of original versions, Harmy still would’ve been able to make his Despecialized Editions.
Probably yes, since the fan-made laserdisc transfers were only a little bit worse.
I have the despecialized edition on a hard drive, watching it on a brand new 4k Samsung OLED TV, and it looks good, but the Disney+ version looks better. What am I doing wrong?
I'm afraid that what you're doing wrong is expecting a 720p fan-made restoration from twelve years ago to look as good as a new professional 4K transfer. But check out Return of the Jedi Despecialized v3.1 - that's new, 4K, and uses the Disney master as it's main source. The goal is to get all three to that same level of quality but I have far less spare time to work on it now, so it's taking me ages.
@@HarmyDespecialized that makes perfect sense, thank you!
This is not the sound track you are looking for.
Nice touch using Holst The Planets :p
Harmy, we love your work. Keep going.
all hail harmy!
Great job. Thank you forbyou hard work
Maybe because I am older than Star Wars I could not for the life of me figure out WHERE the files are in that guide that we are directed to. I still have those low res bonus dvds from the one release.
Section 3, step 7 🙂
I am not a Star Wars fan (I prefer Trek), but the absolute original should be preserved for its historic value. That said, some of the later edits I think are worth keeping, like the windows in the Sky City to make it look like it's really in the clouds, rather than a set.
4:09 I don't the force can alter someones voice that much so a crayt dragon will still make the original scream but this is obi wan trying to mimic one to the best of his ability
Saw Star Wars in a single screen theater in 1977. I was in the third grade and it was my first PG movie lol. Came in during the trash compactor scene and I thought Chewie was on one side of the wall trying to crush the other human characters lol. It’s amazing how technology has advanced to a point where we can recreate an earlier low-tech production for posterity 😆
The first time I saw the OT in it’s entirety, was around 1996, with the Leonard Maltin interviews of George Lucas before every film. If I’m not mistaken, these were the original films, but they remastered the sound and music with THX’s latest technology. Not that you have to mention these editions, but they are technically another edition of the film...an in between if you will. The original in it’s glory, but with better sound mixing. I think if they released these editions and not the original cut, most people would probably be happy.