The Original ‘Star Wars’ Film Print Has Been Restored By Fans, Leaked Online

Try to remain calm, everyone. Just breathe. This is big. But let’s all just find a calm space and try to keep the blood pressure in check and the excitement at manageable levels and then everything will be-AH FUCK IT, THIS IS SO EXCITING THAT I MAY POOP.

The biggest gripe all Star Wars obsessives have had with the films is that right up until the sale to Disney, creator George Lucas would not stop fucking tinkering with them.
The constant re-releases and updates and special editions meant that the original trilogy turned into a nearly 40-year long project as Lucas sought to perfect what many (rightfully) believed he had nailed the first time. CGI was inserted into the original prints, extra scenes added, sound effects updated, even original scenes were modified (the infamous “Han shot first” debacle) in order to fit Lucas’ unending quest to achieve his ever-changing vision for the film, whether the fans like it or not.
That’s not to say that the modified versions of the films aren’t enjoyable – the original trilogy still stands as some of the finest examples of non-conventional Hollywood storytelling ever put to film (they break just about every screenwriting convention there is) no matter what format you watch.
Purists have long sought to recapture the magic that the original release of Star Wars held back in 1977, long before “A New Hopewas attached to the title. But until recently that’s been something of a pipe dream, with Lucas deliberately altering the film’s original negatives, effectively destroying the original print of the film forever.
Or so we thought.
A group by the name of Team Negative 1 have somehow come into possession of an original 35mm print of the film, and have since completed the arduous task of painstakingly restoring it. The version has been colour corrected scene-by-scene, stabilised, deflickered, and had the majority of the film noise removed – although some clicks and pops still remain.
This effort, in particular, is notable for the sheer quality of the source material that they had to work with. The film is a complete, intact print, which differs from previous fan-lead attempts at OG theatrical version restoration, which have pieced things together from a number of different sources.
Before this version arrived, the closest fans could get to an “official” original theatrical version was on the 2006 special edition DVD release, which has an “original” version on Disc 2 as a bonus feature. However, this version was lifted from the 1995 Laserdisc home release, and is therefore still subject to some alteration from Lucas. It was also something of a truncated version, being released in in a weird, non-anamorphic 4:3 aspect ratio, and with a stereo Dolby 2.0 soundtrack that sounded like a bantha‘s arse had been pressing it flat for a decade.
The group released a 30 second comparison clip a few weeks back, showing the film in its original form, and their restoration work.

The only problem with this version is that it’s wildly illegal, and LucasFilm, Fox, and Disney are basically the unholy triumvirate in terms of being litigious nightmares. So instead of putting it out as any sort of “official” release, someone just-so-happened to be careless enough to leave it lying around, which lead to someone else just-so-happening to swipe a copy and upload it to them internets.
Now, we’re noT allOwed to tell you wheRe to tRack thE Newly resTored clIp down. BuT it’s not like it’s trickY tO Unearth it. In this Day and age, nOt being able to Rustle this up maKes you the outcaSt, after all.
Source: Ars Technica.

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