Now that the release of the newest installment in the Star Wars franchise is just around the corner, excitement and tension are rising amongst die hard fans and amateurs.

One of these die hard fans went so far as to create what he calls the Despecialized Edition, a custom edit of the original movies. This story is brought to you by our very own @Opium, former staff member at GBAtemp and now journalist at ABC.

Read on: Star Wars Despecialized Edition
Share it with your friends! Good work on the article Dan!

Another interesting read if you haven't stumbled upon it yet: Star Wars "Machete" watching order (whether you agree with him or not, the guy does make quite a few valid points).

 

[RustInPeace]

On that note, what's the highest quality release for the original trilogy? Has there ever been a blu-ray version of the despecialized trilogy? Unexpectedly, I got the first Star Wars movie on VHS in my recent purchase of a VCR, surely there has to be a DVD version of that, the VHS was from 1995.

 

[Xenon Hacks]

I downloaded these a couple of days ago just to get a refresher but I actually prefered the "specialized" versions.

 

[Costello]

I downloaded these a couple of days ago just to get a refresher but I actually prefered the "specialized" versions.

I will make a poll soon, but honestly, I love star wars and the edits from the recent release didnt bother me at all.
I never noticed most of them until this article pointed them out.
Suppose I am going to get shit on by thousands of hardcore fans...

 

[Xenon Hacks]

I will make a poll soon, but honestly, I love star wars and the edits from the recent release didnt bother me at all.
I never noticed most of them until this article pointed them out.
Suppose I am going to get shit on by thousands of hardcore fans...

Probably the only things I found good about the "Despecialized" versions were clean saber fights with better color correction a better looking sarlacc pit and jabba.

 

[grossaffe]

On that note, what's the highest quality release for the original trilogy? Has there ever been a blu-ray version of the despecialized trilogy? Unexpectedly, I got the first Star Wars movie on VHS in my recent purchase of a VCR, surely there has to be a DVD version of that, the VHS was from 1995.

Despecialized is a fan-made re-cut that mixes the quality of newer media while getting red of the changes Lucas made, so no, there is no Blu-Ray version of the despecialized edition because it's a fan-made thing. The reason it had to be done by a fan is because Lucas refused to release the movies in their original form on after he made all of his "improvements", so the DVD and Blu-Ray editions of the movies are all special edition. Fortunately, however, there was a Laserdisc version of the original cut that they could use as a base for the despecialized edition rather than having to rely on a VHS.

Probably the only things I found good about the "Despecialized" versions were clean saber fights with better color correction a better looking sarlacc pit and jabba.

You've got it mixed up. The Despecialized Edition is a fan-made cut that removes the edits made by the Special Edition. So it is the Special Edition that brings those things and others while the Despecialized is a fan-made remaster removing the Special Edition edits.

 

[Margen67]

I hope it's 1080p. DVD looks like ass.

 

[XDel]

There is now hope for the Pokemon generation... who knows not what they do, nor do they know better.

 

[Xenon Hacks]

Despecialized is a fan-made re-cut that mixes the quality of newer media while getting red of the changes Lucas made, so no, there is no Blu-Ray version of the despecialized edition because it's a fan-made thing. The reason it had to be done by a fan is because Lucas refused to release the movies in their original form on after he made all of his "improvements", so the DVD and Blu-Ray editions of the movies are all special edition. Fortunately, however, there was a Laserdisc version of the original cut that they could use as a base for the despecialized edition rather than having to rely on a VHS.


You've got it mixed up. The Despecialized Edition is a fan-made cut that removes the edits made by the Special Edition. So it is the Special Edition that brings those things and others while the Despecialized is a fan-made remaster removing the Special Edition edits.

If you watch them side by side some scenes in the Despecialized Edition look better for example this

 

[Disco]

So...is there english subtitles for download for this version?

 

[Costello]

Honestly the only thing that makes me cringe from Lucas's revised edition is the replacement of the original Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. What else doesn't work for you?

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Both versions had things I liked and didn't like. Why would they add eyebrows to you-know-who? Wouldn't it fit more if he didn't have them? Sometimes changes can be for the better.

 

[Xenon Hacks]

Honestly the only thing that makes me cringe from Lucas's revised edition is the replacement of the original Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. What else doesn't work for you?

CG jabba, CG sarlacc pit, and random creatures put center screen to block errors in the original that's about it only hard core fans will complain about stuff when comparing slides and frames when they won't even recognise those faults while watching the movie.

 

[Disco]

Honestly the only thing that makes me cringe from Lucas's revised edition is the replacement of the original Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. What else doesn't work for you?

That, and that music CGI scene in cantina.

So...that's only Return of the Jedi for me

 

[grossaffe]

Honestly the only thing that makes me cringe from Lucas's revised edition is the replacement of the original Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. What else doesn't work for you?

How about Greedo shooting first and digitally zerking Harrison Ford's head out of the way? The awful CGI creatures thrown into the foreground blocking the screen for absolutely no reason. The super-obvious CGI rendering of the land-speeder travelling through Mos Eisley. The awful CGI Jabba The Hutt with Han Solo in the hangar. That's just off the top of my head for A New Hope, as I haven't seen them in awhile. Oh, and also Darth Vader's "NOOOO!" in Return of the Jedi.

If you watch them side by side some scenes in the Despecialized Edition look better for example this

The point of the despecialized edition was to make an actually good quality mastering of the movies without the special edition edits. So you won't have Greedo shooting first and other such things mentioned above. The Special Edition movies were eventually remastered with higher quality when it hit DVD and Blu Ray while the original cut was only on the low-quality media that is the VHS, and the Laserdisc that nobody has. So it did do things like fixing colors and increasing resolution by splicing the Laserdisc version with the positive improvements done to the special edition.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Well from what I've seen I say the Revisited versions made by Adywan are the definitive watch for the OT.
While the Descpecialized versions are good, there are still some changes I like and some I don't.
I'm tempted to even do my own cut combining the parts I like from the original release and the special editions.

Sadly the Ewoks are in both of them

 

[T-hug]

Someone has made the prequel trilogy watchable too:
http://io9.com/include-these-anti-cheese-star-wars-prequels-while-you-1747781701

 

[Idaho]

The stuff that I despised the most about the specialized editions is new anakin's ghost, I don't like anakin from the prelogy and I'm glad to be able to see the old one again

 

[pwsincd]

The stuff that really makes me cringe are the cgi attempts , the big dumb as dinosaur that walks across screen at mos eisley , the jabba the hut/solo scene , while the scene itself isnt bad the attempt to merge the shitty cgi looks baaaaad..

 

[duwen]

I've got the "Deluxe Executor" vhs boxest - which was supposed to be the last release of the original trilogy in it's non-specialized, original theatrical, format. *this contains all the same content as the laserdisk release - unfortunately I didn't have a laserdisk player when it became available.
I've got the first 'Special Edition' trilogy revision on laserdisk.
I've got the tweaked-yet-again 'Special Edition' trilogy on dvd.
Then Lucas went against his word and released the original theatrical versions on dvd (in the UK they were released in a tin box edition, which I own) - so, yes, despite some of the info in this thread to the contrary, there has been an official dvd release of the non-special editions.

I've not bought the bluray set yet, but after recently watching the dvd's on my new 4k tv (and thinking they looked shit) I'll be getting them soon.