The original, unaltered films on the dvd look poor because the transfer was done in the early 1990s for laserdisc, and was hopelessly outdated by the home. For the third film, star wars episode vi, return of the jedi. The image above is of the laserdisc set that was released in 1993. Of course, there was the first big confrontation between luke and darth vader as well with the dramatic revelation that vader was lukes father. The definitive collection was a home release of the original star wars trilogy in laserdisc format. See the title crawl to star wars before it was known as episode iv. I loved the original star wars trilogy when i was a kid, but loathe all of the current dvd, bluray, and streaming versions available today. Thanks to schorman for providing us all with the laserdisc audio archive. An original film print of star wars has been restored and. Jun 01, 2014 is the black box laserdisc set of the original star wars trilogy the best version out there. Unfollow laser disc star wars to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. The first ld players were top loading, meaning the top of the player popped up and allowed you to input a disc in the fashion of a portable cd player.
Back in 2006, lucas released a dvd set that contained the original cut of star wars, but its a lowquality transfer made back in 1993 for the laserdisc, not a proper dvd release to say. Sure, laserdiscs were bulky the size of a vinyl lp and could only store a limited amount of footage. Take a look at all these wonderful star wars laserdisc editions. As a technical sidenote, these are the only laserdiscs of the star wars films to be encoded with faroudja labs super ntsc process which produces greater color resolution, reduces chroma noise and eliminates most of ntscs artifacts such as dot crawl and. Star wars trilogy the original unaltered trilogy download. This is an a graymarket release of the film, only available as a huge download on bittorrent. A new hope opens with a rebel ship being boarded by the tyrannical darth vader.
A two disk set with both the remastered and original film version in the case. The first shot is from this star wars trilogy the original unaltered trilogy and the second one is like all 700 mb versions from tpbuploader thestealthbannana. Apr 19, 20 the star wars trilogy definitive collection laserdisc set can still be found even new and sealed on ebay, but even with the additional dirt and scratches i think i would look for the japanese special collection myself, since like the definitive collection they also came formatted in cav. This week long congregation of star wars fans featured as its keynote event an interview with the director of the upcoming star. Bootlegs of star wars products have not been restricted to fan edits, spoofs or cinematic content. Changes in star wars rereleases vary from minor differences in color timing, audio mixing, and take choices to major insertions of new visual effects, additions of characters and dialogue, scene expansions, and replacement of original cast members with newer ones. The best versions of star wars you can buy on ebay. The list below is what i currently own and plan on preserving. An uncut and nonremastered list of star wars editions. As this is based on gforces avisynth script, it has the additional saturation and yellowshift to star wars.
Star wars is one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time. The unaltered original versions of the movies probably will never see the light of day if it is up to disney now that they own the franchise. Included were a sixteenpage booklet with production notes and a hardcover book. Watch the original star wars trilogy as it was before. Vanity fair recently dropped a plethora of new images and. Star wars widescreen uk vhs 1995 cover internet archive. After that, i think your best bet would be to check garage sales or to go on ebay for the first vhs release of stars wars or the 1995 vhs thx edition black box. Dec 06, 2016 perhaps the most egregious changes were to the 1977 original itself, which, because of lucass prequel plans, would later be relabeled as star wars episode iv. The definitive collection would be also ok, if you have the player to use it, but you wont have a better image than with the dvd, as the. I loved the original star wars trilogy when i was a kid, but loathe all of the. Aug 24, 2016 unboxing the faces laserdiscs of the original trilogy of star wars from 1995. The rise of skywalker, and their return might connect directly to darth maul. Disneys song of the south is another movie thats available on laserdisc but not dvd, according to astengo. This post will be updated as i finish individual releases.
The despecialized edition, is a fancreated film preservation of the original star wars trilogy films star wars 1977, the empire strikes back 1980 and return of the jedi 1983. That means youll be able to enjoy star wars as it first appeared in 1977, empire in 1980, and jedi in 1983. This is from before the dark times before the special edition. Star wars original versions with hd video online collider. Even the tecnidisc is a dead torrent, and probably only available now on. You can watch an unaltered version of star wars in hd. Star wars laserdisc so i gotta know does anyone have the stars wars widescreen set the one with the book, i am curious is it worth a hundred bucks has yours rotted does the case hold up. Why finding the original 1977 star wars verges on the. Even the tecnidisc is a dead torrent, and probably only available now on one of those newsgroup things. They primarily focus on the rebel alliance trying to free the galaxy from the clutches of the galactic empire, as well as luke skywalkers quest to become a jedi and face sith lord darth vader.
Star wars episode i was a late release, mid2000, but mission. Marketed from 1978 until the first years of the 21th century, was the. Star wars is close to holy for many fans of cinema. Dec 11, 2015 the best versions of star wars you can buy on ebay. It is a high quality replica of the outofprint theatrical versions created by a team of star wars fans, with the intention of preserving the films. Basically a guy called harmy went and reconstructed the original versions from. The first was a major leap forward for scifi movies and their production, almost revolutionary compared to what had gone before. I actually recorded star wars off tv when i was a kid when it had its network television premiere in 84 i think, and the colors on this version seem pretty much the same as that broadcast i always remembered the explosions on the tv version being kind of green in the battle between the falcon and the tie ships. The star wars trilogy definitive collection laserdisc set can still be found even new and sealed on ebay, but even with the additional dirt and scratches i think i would look for the japanese special collection myself, since like the definitive collection they also came formatted in cav. The best versions of star wars you can buy on ebay the verge. In 2010, casey pugh put out a call for star wars fans to recreate the 2004 special edition of a new hope, via 472 15second scenes. For those who want the most original way to watch the first star wars. The knights of ren are making a comeback in star wars. Jan 17, 2018 a 1978 fan film called hardware wars, which lampooned star wars by using kitchen appliances to stand in for the original films spaceships, did quite well in short film festivals and became george lucas favorite parody of his own films.
Dolby digital also called ac3 and dts, which are now common on dvd releases, first became available on laserdisc, and star wars. This is the best version of star wars and watching it is. Two days after the official release it arrived via ems courier from japan, wrapped in bubble wrap and tissue paper and packed in a very sturdy pizza style box. One last time the star wars trilogy a digital star. The laserdisc database collections, wishlists, marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats ldcedvhddvhshd dvd. The reason i ask is because damn it i dont want to watch the special editions before december but i want the best legal quality version i can get. Though changes were also made to the prequel trilogy, the original trilogy saw the most alteration. Han shoots first version of the first three star wars films. The despecialized edition is the yearslong 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. All three films were presented in the standard play cav format, offering fullfeature access to every frame. That was all great, but the ending with han solo was really what made this film stand out. Where can i find the best version of the original star wars.
This is the first release to include all of these, and also the first dvd release to include the new 5. How many people want a laserdisc have a laserdisc player are old enough to remember laserdiscs in the first place. Impossible 2, the sixth day, xmen, and a number of others came out in japan in 2001, and some were released in the u. Star wars was such a mind blowing experience for me when i was a kid i was blown away to find out that there would be more episodes in the series. The films were distributed by cbsfox video on several formats, such as vhs, betamax, and. Marketed from 1978 until the first years of the 21th century, was the best analog video format. Introduction in april, 2015, lucasfilm limited, a company founded by filmmaker george lucas and recently acquired by the walt disney company, sponsored a massive convention called the star wars celebration in anaheim, california. This is the best version of star wars and watching it is a. First and last laserdisc question home theater forum.
If its opened, but never used you may get a better price than something thats been used many times. Special edition, something called deadbeat by dawn, sleepy hollow, a couple of japanese monster movies. When the first ever of the star wars films, a new hope turns 40 in 2017, millions of dedicated fans of the immensely popular franchise might get a. This is a free editenhancement, if you bought this edit from someone you have to go kick them in the nuts and get your money back this was also adys suggestion in the pop up video section listing all the changed of anh. Han showdown, it was edited to make greedo shoot first. Star wars trilogy the definitive collection the star. Japanese laserdiscs command a higher price if they come. The plot then follows the life of a simple farmboy, luke skywalker, as he and his newly met allies han solo, chewbacca, ben kenobi, c3po, r2d2 attempt to rescue a rebel leader, princess leia, from the clutches of the empire. Others had their contents altered when transferred to dvd, making titles such as the original star wars trilogy a popular laserdisc series even though it was massproduced and not difficult to find. The subtitle episode iv a new hope was retroactively added to the opening crawl in a subsequent release.
A space odyssey pointed the way, and the star wars franchise picked up the ball and ran with it. A new boxed set brings star wars to the next generation. Episode i the phantom menace japanese import 1999 2000 lucasfilm, ltd. First, star wars is ed by lfl and you have to own a copy of the films in order to own a copy of this edit. Later ld players have a tray in the style of a dvd drive in a computer. Somehow, a group of fans dubbing themselves team negative one found an original 35mm film print of the first star wars movie, and have spent years cleaning it up, scanning each frame of film and.
Disney could then in many years time release the 4k edition and all those fans who bought hd bluray will go out and buy the 4k edition. The original trilogy were the first films of the star wars saga to be produced. Torrents to search and download the files using a torrent software. Here, ill take a look at the brief history of star wars bootlegs and fan preservations, and where the current state of the art stands. Star wars and the best official release of the films to date duration. You can watch an unaltered version of star wars in hd today, if you. Perhaps the most egregious changes were to the 1977 original itself, which, because of lucass prequel plans, would later be relabeled as star wars. The original trilogy is sometimes called the classic trilogy in. I swapped this disc out and looked at the star wars. Star wars fans with 4k players will buy the hd bluray even in the absence of a 4k edition.
The empire strikes back not only delivered with the action and adventure, but had a cliff hanger that had people waiting three years to find out the conclusion. A rare 1984 laserdisc containing 30 minutes of behindthescenes star wars. The first film was released in 1977 under the title star wars. Episode i the phantom menace 1999 which was released on laserdisc in japan, is among the first home video releases ever to include 6. Other slightly more sceptical reason for not releasing the 4k edition yet is. Unboxing the faces laserdiscs of the original trilogy of star wars from 1995. The original star wars trilogy was an incredible cultural touchstone, and. Is the black box laserdisc set of the original star wars trilogy the best version out there. Every new releasein theaters, on dvd, and on bluraycomes with more added garbage than the last. No need to hunt for the file on those awful torrent sites with all their porn ads. The toploading laserdisc players use an orange gas laser to read the. Star wars trilogy the definitive collection the star wars.
The save star wars website is a fascinating resource for changes made to the series over the years, and its story about a 2010 screening of a oneofakind technicolor imbibition dyetransfer print sparks a tiny hope that one day a 4k or 6k scan of the original film will digitally preserve star wars for decades to come. Star wars reremastered to high quality 1977 version. The force awakens stuff, and they havent even seen that movie. The despecialized edition, is a fancreated film preservation of the original star wars trilogy films star wars. Return of the jedi footage is recovered from lucasfilms editdroid archives. Star wars despecialized edition gets a remastered release. In this video i talk about star wars, and the best legal way to see the original unaltered trilogy. It doesnt look anything like the 1993 laserdisc or the 2006 dvd, with all of its. No, 97% of project 4k77 is from a single, original 1977 35mm technicolor release. As a technical sidenote, these are the only laserdisc s of the star wars films to be encoded with faroudja labs super ntsc process which produces greater color resolution, reduces chroma noise and eliminates most of ntscs artifacts such as dot crawl and flickering rainbows on closely spaced diagonal lines. With the slew of star wars rereleases weve had over recent decades its been hard to tell the wood from the trees in relation to getting the original films, so here are a few pointers to help. Aug 18, 2014 the despecialized edition is the yearslong 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.
Watch the original star wars trilogy as it was before george. May 12, 2015 back in 2006, lucas released a dvd set that contained the original cut of star wars, but its a lowquality transfer made back in 1993 for the laserdisc, not a proper dvd release to say. Why a star wars laserdisc website in the 21st century. Ever since 1997, every version of a new hope, the empire strikes back, and return of the jedi has had horrendous cgi effects added in that george lucas deemed necessary to bring his ideal version to life. Harmys despecialized edition, also known as star wars. Since 1997, george lucas has been hell bent on ruining the original star wars trilogy.