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TV Recordings of Star Wars Films

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If you look through your old collection of TV recordings, do you happen to come across any that contain footage of the Star Wars films? If you do, post these details:

-Name of the film
-Original or Special Edition
-Time Period Recorded (Doesn't need to be exact)
-If commercial breaks were present, what the commercials were about.
-Number of commercial breaks
-If recording is incomplete.

Any Star Wars indicia other than the films doesn't count. This includes TV specials, cartoons, trailers, TV Spots, and commercials for toys and other stuff.
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I have a VHS recording of Star Wars when it was shown in 1985, I think, with the introduction by Mark Hamill. This was my copy of Star Wars that I had most of my childhood. I still think that when I get the hardware to do it, I'm going to capture it onto DVD for memories sake, being the version I grew up with. Didn't record any commercials, though.
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As for myself:

Name: The Empire Strikes Back
Version: Original
Date: June 1992 (It was the NBC Sunday Night Movie)
Commercials: Listerine, Sea World, Prudential, Free Pizza at Pizza Hut, etc. (there was a promo for Batman Returns in a Diet Coke commercial). Since the 1992 Olympics were next month, there were many commercials related to the Olympics, including Budweiser. There was also Little Caesars promo for Election '92.
# of Breaks: Can't remember
Completed recording: No. Starts when Han enters the Hoth Base, and ends at the beginning of the lightsaber duel. (Sad, but true)

Name: A New Hope
Version: Special Edition
Date: May 2002 (Rough Estimate)
Commercials: Mostly local crap. Since it was recorded on the WB, there were a lot of commercials for the WB shows, like Charmed and Smallville.
# of Breaks: Can't remember
Completed recording: No. Starts in the middle of the opening dialogue, and end at the break before the award ceremony. (Again, sad but true)
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ANH - ESB - RotJ (Ultimate Experience)
Original in Widescreen Letterboxed
1996 Sci-Fi Channel
Billie Dee Williams hosts (approximately 30minutes worth overall)
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Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi.
All taped from a cable TV broadcast in 2002.
The 1997 version.
Pan-Scan, subtitled in portuguese, no commercials.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Star Wars from 1980s ITV broadcast

-Original Mono Mix
- 1984?? From a BETAMAX tape
- Adverts - will have to check
- Complete recording

J

Creator of Star Wars Begins, Building Empire and Returning to Jedi
Follow me on twitter @jamieSWB. Please support me at - http://www.patreon.com/jamiebenning/

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Originally posted by: Number20
I have a VHS recording of Star Wars when it was shown in 1985, I think, with the introduction by Mark Hamill. This was my copy of Star Wars that I had most of my childhood. I still think that when I get the hardware to do it, I'm going to capture it onto DVD for memories sake, being the version I grew up with. Didn't record any commercials, though.


I don't suppose that you are any nearer to doing that transfer are you?? I ask as I have just viewed the 1980's UK TV broadcast and found it to be a very different "cut" to the US and UK VHS and LaserDiscs that were out at the same time. It would be good to see if the US TV broadcast was any different to the 3 currently known versions.

4 - 5 - 3 - 1 - 6 - 2

Discuss…

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Not to post a me-too, but I'd kind of like to see some of these. I vaguely remember the widescreen Sci-Fi version, and the USA Network version that did a really neat effect with the aspect ratio at the beginning and end of the film. (It looked better than any official 4:3 release.) I taped over these in '97 after I got the widescreen SE trilogy and considered my collection complete

I have access to a digital video recorder with a DVD writer, so I can do passable VHS transfers, and do menus, chapters, etc. on my computer. It's not professional grade equipment and I'm not a professional, but if no one else wants to transfer any of these, I'd do a few just for the experience and criticism.
"It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." -- Tom Shales on Star Wars
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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I think mine might have been from ABC around 1987 or so. Sadly i taped over them all years ago, especially my beloved ESB, but a re-recording of ANH from 1993 or so on FOX Saturday Afternoon Movie (remember those?) still survives. My ROTJ was from TMN from around 1989 or so and that has survived intact to this day, albeit with the first half of Jabbas Palace taped over (with superdave osborne!), but i never really cared for that movie too much. All i remember is cool 80's Gilette commericals on ESB and really cheesy polka infomercial on ANH. Man, i would KILL for that ESB broadcast, that was the first SW i taped and the one i watched the most (guess i had good taste).
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In 1993 I recorded off the Sci-Fi channel the original saga Eps 4 - 6 when Carrrie Fisher hosted in full screen. Then I'm not sure, might have been a year later, they had basically the same thing on again only this time showed them in letterbox, but I didn't see the one with Billy Dee. This was the same thing with Carrie Fisher again. Those were both unedited and before the SEs. That was all I thought I needed for a while.