I'm sure this is a discussion that has been posted 1000 times before and I'm sure this is a debate that could go on for years, but I do have a very specific thing I am looking for: My ideal edit would be to see the original trilogy with all of the original scenes fully intact (no weird re-do of the cantina band for example) but to use as much of the digitally remastered footage as possible in order to make it a more modern and cleaner viewing experience. For example I have no problem with added CGI of creatures and ships in the background. I have no problem cleaning up spaceship scenes or making the landspeeder more realistic, or even adding windows into space that weren't there before. I do have a problem with changing the actions in a scene and/or removing or changing critical elements (Han and Greedo, the cantina band as I already mentioned, etc.). And I don't have a problem with certain added scenes (X-wings going into battle, etc.) Are there well known fan edits out there that do something like this? This is the way I'd like to show the films to someone who has never seen them before. To summarize: I'd like to see the original trilogy with all the original scenes, dialogue, actions, characters, music, etc. completely intact, but remastered, cleaned up, and enhanced as much as possible using the new versions. I don't mind anything added as long as nothing is taken away. Any suggestions?
Star Wars Revisited by Adywan sounds like exactly what you're looking for. It's pretty well known - the project even has its own website. He's doing versions of all six films, but Empire is still in production as far as I know. But they're damn cool - the sheer number of tiny changes and details is most impressive.
Thanx! Looks like he totally started from scratch. Pretty ambitious. And looks like only ANH has been finished. Anyone else have thoughts on this? I'm happy with an edit that just uses all existing material.
Is there any version that adds in stuff like rotj sandstorm deleted scene?I saw pretty much almost all the OT deleted scenes on youtube really well cleaned up.
My ideal saga fanedit would be one where all of the official changes remain untouched but the special effects which don't hold up 100% anymore would be amped up like in Adywan's version
The Despecialized Editions are recreations of the original unaltered versions - so no CGI, nothing that wasn't in there when they were first released.They're my go-to versions when I want to watch the OT. They're really works of art in themselves, considering the time he spent and how painstakingly it was made.
i like the newer editions but i really admire the skill the fans have used to de-specialize the oot. this is a cool article that has the above vid in it STAR WARS: Fans Make Things Clearer Edition — Latino-Review.com
Thanx for the replies so far everyone! Still open to more suggestions. But it sounds like the Despecialized is a great version for getting as close to the original as possible. And it does sound like the Adywan version is more towards what I'm looking for. I just wish Adywan had already finished V and VI. How many Despecialized episodes are there?
The entire OT has been despecialized, but only ANH and Empire have v2s, meaning they use Blu-ray footage, have more accurate color correction, etc. ROTJ is only in v1 but it's still great. As for Adywan, it's been two years since the original intended release date but considering the time, work and money going into it - even building new miniatures - and with very little budget I forgive him.
I'm a little late to this party, but I found this one not too long ago: kk650's Star Wars Semi-Specialized Edition. I haven't seen any of them, but it sounds like it might be right up the original poster's ally. Has anyone seen these versions yet. "Like many, I was unhappy with a lot the changes that were made for the Special Editions and most recently the blu-rays. Harmy's Despecialised Editions are great for those that want to see the films exactly as they were when they were originally released theatrically, but some of the changes (especially the updating of special effects) actually make the films better IMHO, so I decided to make 'Semi-Specialised' editions of these films to remove what I considered the bad changes while keeping all the good changes/additions. After working on and off on these three films for almost two years, the Star Wars Semi-Specialised original trilogy is finally finished. Below is a brief summary of the changes made to this film: Star Wars: Audio changes: Original Krayt Dragon call restored New lossless pcm audio track created to fit this semi-specialised edition, based off Belbucus's excellent 1993 Star Wars PCM audio mix Video Changes: Regraded to remove blue tint running throughout the whole film that was introduced for the first time in the special edition DVD and was carried over to the blu-ray R2D2 no longer hiding behind a CG rock when Obi One Kenobi appears Silly CG droid and jawa antics when they enter Mos Eisley have been removed Jabba scene removed Han shoots Greedo first with no awful CG head dodging action Lightsabers made more consistant so they are not constantly changing colour, Vader's lightsaber is now red all the time rather than turning pink."