Info Wanted: Best theatrical original trilogy fan preservations?

I’m new here, sorry if I’m posting this question in the wrong place. I was just wondering if you guys could tell me what is generally considered to be the best fan preservation of the original trilogy? Dark_Jedi’s or Harmy’s?

I don’t mean any disrespect by asking which one is better. Both DJ an Harmy have obviously invested a tremendous amount of time and effort into these projects and from what I have seen from the screenshots and clips they both look like outstanding pieces of work. I also know that everyone here works together and contributes to each others projects so Harmy has borrowed from DJ and vice versa.

However, I’d still like to know which edits are currently considered by the community here to be the definitive version of the original theatrical trilogy. Which is most faithful to the original and which has the best picture and sound quality?

I guess this is subjective and both versions have their pros and cons so perhaps a better question to ask is, which version do you prefer and why?

Also, how will DJ’s upcoming v2 Blu Ray differ from Harmy’s v2.5 despecialized edition? The sources all look quite similar.

Thanks for your time; I hope these aren’t stupid questions.

DJ's project is a PRESERVATION.

Harmy's project is a RE-CREATION.

If you lean on the conservative side and you don't mind the picture quality (you don't have a choice until the BDs come out, unfortunately) get DJ's sets. Take a look at Puggo's preservations of the 16mm versions of the films while you're at it - I think they're absolutely beautiful, but I may be crazy. Both are my preferred versions, and, as it's been pointed out, they're actual preservations.

If all you care about is excising the major changes and/or you want decent picture quality get Harmy's edits. Personally, I think they're remarkable work, but they're not quite where I'd like them to be yet.

As for DJ's upcoming BD sets I recall him posting a preview screenshot of the new version of SW with the appropriate frame from the DVD version for comparison. The difference is certainly there and it's pretty amazing considering what these guys have to work with. You might want to look through the appropriate thread. It's worth keeping in mind they won't look as good as Harmy's Despecialized versions, because he's working with higher quality sources.

Thanks for the explanation everyone. You guys are awesome!

Is anyone able to offer a step by step guide or to provide a link to a step by step guide for downloading either of these movies?  I'm very new to the concept of fan films and and want to become a collector, but torrent is totally alien to me.  

If this is totally legal to do as long as I own a purchased copy of the ( alleged ) original, why can't I just click on a link and download the thing?  It seems excessive that I have to install something, learn how to operate within a community of, ( Torrenters?  Torrent people? ) make my computer available to other people, and whatever seeding is...  I know this post is probably causing a flurry of eyerolls out there, but I am seriously stuck. I  don't want to engage in risky behavior with the computer on which I earn my living.  

Is there a reasonably safe way to get copies of these edits that doesn't amount to a game of Russian Roulette with my computer?  Is there a legal loophole which lets us just flat out buy a digital copy or something?  

If my noobness about this annoys you, sorry about that.  If you are the kind of person that can help me, thanks in advance.  :)

There is so much in that last explanation that assumes a certain level of knowledge on my part, (MITM'ing on the wire, SSL encryption, NZB's, seeding,) that I feel like I just need to quit while I'm ahead and find a less hardcore place to learn this stuff.  Seriously, thanks for the answers.  If someone is willing to spend a little time and spell this all out for me step by step, please feel free to private message me.

KilroyMcFadden (and threepio)-

Star Wars attracts some of the BIGGEST nerds and geeks (which isn't at all a bad thing)!  Certainly, this forum lacks certain amenities, but if you can believe it…the code driving this forum was created from the ground up by one of its members (to help emphasize the nerdy and geeky point).  But what it lacks for in comforts, it more than makes up for in the AMAZING quality of its outstanding members and the sheer wealth of unparalleled volume and quality of original Star Wars fan projects and discussion.  THIS is the place to be if you are looking for the BEST community of Star Wars fans there is!

As explained above posts, fan edits and preservations are a legally gray area.  To try and help keep this forum above the above board legally, there are some clearly defined rules against the direct distribution of fan projects, simply put only discussion and some helpful pointers are allowed…for more on this:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Notes-on-Piracy-Please-Read/forum/17/topic/13347/

The two PRIMARY spots you're gonna find fan project releases (such as the ones you are after) will be on a private torrent site called MySpleen and on Usnet.  There are certainly advantages both, but if you don't know what Usnet is (and you don't)…the significantly easier, more straight forward (and NO cost) option is going to be torrent.

The basic concept of torrent is you visit a torrent website (with a web browser), locate a file or files that you're after, and download a torrent file (or magnetic link) for each file you wish to download.  You then use a torrent client to open the torrent file and begin the download of the associated file.  When you do this your torrent client will interact with others as you download AND upload bits and pieces of the file until 100% complete…this will NOT allow general access to your computer or any file other than the one(s) specified in the torrent file.  As indicated earlier, MySpleen is a PRIVATE torrent site, so you're gonna need an invite.

Step ONE…

To request a MySpleen.org account, go here:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/An-invite-to-MySpleen-net/topic/8592/

STEP TWO…

Pick ONE (or two) of the following Torrent Clients to download to your computer:

µTorrent (RECOMMENDED…available for both Mac and PC!)

http://www.utorrent.com/

Transmission (RECOMMENDED…MacOS ONLY!)

http://www.transmissionbt.com/

Vuze (stick with the free version, DON'T bother with the Plus version…available for both Mac and PC!)

http://www.vuze.com/

STEP THREE…

Follow invite link that SOMEONE will PM you and set-up your account with MySpleen.  Once there, click on the Torrents link (toward the top), click on the "Star Wars" link (inside the box also tower the top) to limit the field.  Search or browse to find your desired torrents…

These are the titles of the three most current Harmy titles:

Harmy's STAR WARS DE: 2.5 Remastered (MKV)

Harmy's THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Despecialized Edition HD AVCHD

Harmy's RETURN OF THE JEDI 1.0 Despecialized Edition HD (AVCHD)

The best available dark_jedi product (currently) on MySpleen are:

Star Wars Theatrical V3 DVD

The Empire Strikes Back Theatrical V3 DVD

Return of The Jedi Theatrical V3 DVD

…BUT dark_jedi and Team Blu are JUST about to release their latest/greatest Star Wars Original Trilogy Theatrical Edition Blu-ray Set V3(BD25) which will FAR surpass their V3 DVD efforts, but (like Harmy's more refined v2.0 and beyond ESB and ROTJ efforts) the remaining two installments of the Original Trilogy Blu-ray Set V3(BD25) are likely a few (and perhaps several) months off.

Hope that helps! ;)

-A.S.

p.s.  If you hit any snags, write back to this thread (or feel free to PM me)…

p.p.s.  Oh, and (in my mind) the other clear project "to watch" is team negative1's fan preservation from original scans of multiple copies of 35mm film:
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/team-negative1-star-wars-1977-35mm-theatrical-version-release-details-and-updates/topic/14590/

This is the best.  Thank you so much for breaking this down.

Does anyone run a site or is there a thread specifically at OT for keeping up with new fan edit news?

All I can say is .... the answer to your question is totally subjective.  It will all depend on what you like, what you're expecting to see, and what is actually available.

Glad to see you got leads on what to check out.

:)

KilroyMcFadden said:

This is the best.  Thank you so much for breaking this down.

 

Does anyone run a site or is there a thread specifically at OT for keeping up with new fan edit news?

You're very welcome!  Best suggestion I can give ya is to find the projects (and associated threads here in the OT.com forum) that you wanna follow…then, depending on how active those threads are, click the "Subscribe" link in the thread(s) that you wish to receive e-mail updates to when news posts are made…this can be a very useful tool, but could bury you in e-mails on more active threads (like the three that I am about to recommend).

I would SUGGEST against doing this for Harmy's Despecialized project (unless you REALLY like e-mails), but rather subscribe to his newsletter for monthly digest e-mails:

http://eepurl.com/D0Gqb

Aside from Harmy's Despecialized projects, the two suggested topics that I'd recommend keep track of keeping tabs on are:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Star-Wars-OT-1997-Special-Edition-Blu-rays-Info-by-Team-Blu/topic/10550/

…and:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/team-negative1-star-wars-1977-35mm-theatrical-version-release-details-and-updates/topic/14590/

(Sorry, no nifty monthly newsletter either of these latter two).

Probably the BEST suggestion that I could give you is to check back here in the OT.com forum once a week…or a couple/few times a month.  Get familiar with the place, browse and find the threads that most interest YOU, and catch up with your favorite topics that way (as Jetrell Fo suggests above, what's "best" here in the OT.com forum is very subjective…but I think these specific recommendations and general suggestions on where to go from there will help).

Good luck and all the best!

-A.S. 

In follow-up to my post HERE, I got a basic torrenting question via PM that prompted me to provide the following highly suggested reading for those new to torrenting:

-> http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/peersharing/a/torrenthandbook.htm

-> http://www.utorrent.com/help/guides/beginners-guide

-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_BitTorrent_terms

Hope that helps!

-A.S.