Hi all,
I have been lurking this forum on and off for several years, and especially closely following the progression of Harmy's restoration work. As we get nearer and nearer to the release of the BD/3.0, I just wanted to come forth and express my sincere thanks to Harmy for all of his dedication and endurance to this project. Doing this all voluntarily, on his own time, and without any professional training, on top of school and 'real life' stuff - to achieve the results he has thus far, well it is nothing short of awesome. Harmy you are a god. Too blasphemous? Well, an apostle of the Church of Star Wars then. And we all listen intently to your teachings. What you have done here really cannot be put into words easily. Yes, this is an amazing restoration to the theatrical version of a film, but I think I can echo the sentiments of so many others in saying that Star Wars is so much more than that to us. For those of us who grew up on SW, it became part of who we are. Star Wars was like an older brother; someone that was always there with you throughout your life, a person to hang out with on lazy days, someone who gave you a feeling of pure inner joy and innocence, was there for you in some difficult times, and who you have the fondest memories associated with. And it is precisely because Star Wars means so much to us that we are so passionate about the trilogy in its original scope. To bring that back to us, is a gift we can't easily repay. Yes, it is providing an experience as of being right back in the movie theatres over thirty years ago, but so much more than that; projects like this bring us back a childhood friend long away, a loved possession lost but found again. For that Harmy, I can only say thank you. Largely and sincerely. To you, hairy_hen, You_too, and all the folks who contributed to this project, both in front of, and behind the scenes, Thank You.
I have read through every post on these past 444 pages, and [inane ones aside] am just so impressed with the ingenuity and unifying aspect of people, who are complete strangers to one another for the most part, coming together for the sake of sharing this love, and for a goal of providing the best viewing experience a fan could ask for. I am really looking forward to viewing the BD this Christmas as I never have. The best I could hope for is to return a contribution in some way to the community and spread the love and word (and copies hopefully) of the untouched OT. "Yeah, yeah, Harmy is great...yadda-yadda...love Star Wars - enough already, we've heard it a million times" - well here is why this is important beyond just saying thanks. One of the biggest fears I would have is that Harmy, a guy who clearly loves the original movie as much as any of us, might become saturated with it, working on specific scenes and edits well to the point of exhaustion, to which he could actually get to dislike scenes, or the movie itself. Or even just being so frustrated with colours (skintones!!) and effects that he can't enjoy the film as it is anymore as a whole. Now, I don't think this is the case, as he is clearly still passionately slaving away on the restoration after these years and much critiquing, helpful and otherwise. But still, I just want to say Harmy, that we all appreciate your efforts. You've given something to us that will remain a part of history, even if, by some miracle, the Mouse releases a fully restored print in the future. Be proud of what you have done. Once the BD comes out, I am really looking forward to putting it on the shelf as the definitive edition to view at leisure and share with family and friends. I want my kids to be able to enjoy these movies, and hopefully be touched in even just a small way, the way that I was. I want to show the DEED to people who have never seen SW or don't care, and hopefully make a whole new generation of fans. I am not here to bash George. It's unproductive and there are plenty of other forums/venues to vent nerd rage. What's done is done. In this project though, I feel like a major part of the franchise has been brought back to the status it warrants, and restored my faith and love (and pride) in Star Wars.
/Long story short, thanks Harmy, you're the man with the plan. The Czech Císa?. Nerd royalty indeed.