MovieChat Forums > Star Wars (1977) Discussion > It's prob'ly been asked a thousand times...

It's prob'ly been asked a thousand times, but I haven't found it...

posted 6 years ago by artguylarry (498)
9 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone know if the "despecialized" versions of the original trilogy exist other than the first VHS releases? I would like to find then in some form. Particularly Return of the Jedi. I don't care if it's illegal. Screw that. Anyone know?

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78561) 6 years ago

The trilogy was available on lazerdisk, original versions, none of the stupid additions Lucas jammed in later

Check out eBay, it pops up there sometimes (it's usually $40-$60 used)
Not sure where lazerdisk players can be found though...

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7984) 6 years ago

I looked yesterday on amazon and the cheapest Laserdisc player was $268 plus shipping. It was $90 plus shipping for all the Star Wars movies on Laserdisc. I really don't feel it's worth that much just to see the original versions.

[–] MikeCable (1915) 6 years ago

If you know about torrents, you can find them there.

[–] furiousstyles (4392) 6 years ago

Yes , any torrent sites have them including 4k versions

[–] Ace_Spade (9658) 6 years ago

They released versions awhile ago (mid-2000s) that had the current updated version (with whatever BS George put in there) packaged with a "bonus disk" of the original film without any updates at all.

Lucas was clearly bitter about it (the bonus disk versions don't have updated sound or picture quality as though George was going, "You don't like my edits? You want the original films? FINE! HERE! THEY'RE UNCHANGED IN ANY WAY! HUMPH!")

Here's a link on Amazon:
New Hope:
https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Episode-IV-Limited/dp/B000FQJAIW
Empire:
https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Empire-Strikes-Limited/dp/B000FQJAJG

I couldn't find Jedi. Sorry...

[–] MisterE (740) 6 years ago

Not only are the theatrical cuts not cleaned up, they are also letterboxed and not anamorphic widescreen.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Episode-VI-Limited/dp/B000FQVX78/ref=pd_bxgy_74_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000FQVX78&pd_rd_r=4c8a0a26-2f43-11e9-a3ae-8ba2ee50221e&pd_rd_w=ZaIa4&pd_rd_wg=YsTBL&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=B9Y4ZV1NBC40AJPS99X2&psc=1&refRID=B9Y4ZV1NBC40AJPS99X2

80 bucks for Jedi!

[–] BillySlater (4282) 6 years ago

Look up Harmy´s despecialized Star Wars trilogy. They´ve been around for a long time, I believe he went to painstaking efforts to put all the various footage together from every release so that the picture quality is good but it remains as faithful to the original theatrical cut as possible. You can pretty much find them on any torrent site.

[–] janelsenor (2048) 6 years ago

They exist but the mods here do not allow discussion that tells how to obtain them. All I can say is, Google is your friend...