BFI to screen Star Wars 1977 Theatrical Version — Page 2

Omni said:

Bizarrely, I saw some people on twitter upset that they’re “going against George’s vision” or whatever. People are so stupid, they don’t even realize they should also respect 1977 George Lucas’ vision.

Crazy people. They must be young.

That is definitely an IB print. They are unmistakable when you see them. It’s astounding the 1981 new crawl is on a separate reel and was not spliced into this print. Making this possible the most valuable print of Star Wars in the entire world for having the original crawl and rollup and starfield.

I was lucky enough to see this tonight. It was amazing to see the original theatrical version. The audience cheered when Han shot first. (There was, of course, no Episode VI: A New Hope.)

I also got to see the continuity script, which really brought hope how much was changed in the edit, & on set/behind the scenes Polaroids.

As the BFI video below explains, it’s a dye transfer print and, as a result, has maintained its colour really well. There were quite a few scratches, lines, shakes & blobs during the Tatooine scenes but that really added to the nostalgia.

For those asking whether Lucas knows about the screening, it was approved by Lucasfilm. Kathleen Kennedy was there & paid tribute to George & ILM. She said there were big plans for Star Wars’ 50th anniversary but there was no indication of a wider release of the original cut.

oojason said:

Inside the Archive: Star Wars in Technicolor | BFI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bsCliOges0 - a 9 minute video from the official BFI youtube channel.

 
The blurb: 'In our latest Inside the Archive video we go far, far away - all the way back to 1977 - to examine an original IB Technicolor dye-transfer print of Star Wars (Dir. George Lucas, 1977), held in the BFI National Archive’s collections.

Join Kieron Webb (Head of Conservation) and James Bell (Curator of Fiction, BFI National Archive Programme Director, Film on Film Festival), as they explore the history of this precious object, and examine other unique items related to the film’s production.

Video produced with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.’
 

Jealous. Does this kind of technicolour version form the basis for any current fanedits?

For those asking whether Lucas knows about the screening, it was approved by Lucasfilm. Kathleen Kennedy was there & paid tribute to George & ILM. She said there were big plans for Star Wars’ 50th anniversary but there was no indication of a wider release of the original cut.

That would really be something.

Seeing this on the big screen also really brought home how brilliantly paced the original theatrical version is.

The Guardian interviewed fans about their recollections of first seeing the film in cinemas in 1977/78. It really brings home how groundbreaking it was, whic is hard to imagine now when blockbusters are a dime a dozen: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/12/it-was-simply-mind-blowing-readers-remember-seeing-star-wars-for-the-first-time?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Mocata said:

Jealous. Does this kind of technicolour version form the basis for any current fanedits?

For those asking whether Lucas knows about the screening, it was approved by Lucasfilm. Kathleen Kennedy was there & paid tribute to George & ILM. She said there were big plans for Star Wars’ 50th anniversary but there was no indication of a wider release of the original cut.

That would really be something.

Just out of the 20:30 showing and echo all of the above; a genuinely emotional and remarkable event.

It’s just the whole innocence and magic of the thing.