7FN

Great news indeed :)

Well folks, it was 35 years ago today it all kicked off! Still can't believe it's been quite so long (I feel old!).

Any of you celebrating? Having screenings? Dressing up etc? Seems an appropriate excuse to get the projector out and fire up Puggo's 16mm transfer of Star Wars for my part :)

I actually didn't see Star Wars until 1980, in a double-bill with Empire. I will NEVER forget that day - absolutely blew me away and it's remained my favourite film ever since (I'm now 38). Had the comics, the figures, the toys, lapped up the radio series when it was on etc etc etc. Remember how long the wait seemed until Jedi 3 years later. I don't think that anticipation will ever be topped, for me at least.

Anyways, great days/memories!!!

Happy 35th :)

- 7FN

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/star-wars-35th-anniversary_n_1542414.html

Any idea what tape deck your Mum used for this? Must have been a pretty good deck and mic?

- 7FN

Jonno: Just downloaded the TV Times scans you kindly provided - awsome! That issue bought back so many memories! Love the old adverts! I was 10 when Star Wars premiered, and distinctly remember that issue. Wish I'd kept our southern 'TVS' variant. Having said that might well be in the loft somewhere... must check!

Thanks again :)

My mistake - I think it was actually 1981 here in the UK, and the States.

Would love to find someone with scans of the Radio Times original listings for all 13 episodes!

Oh wow this sounds absolutely amazing! Surprised at the clarity/sound quality actually! That Nakamichi deck is obviously well aligned and getting the most from this tape - best tape decks ever made. Amazing to think this is an actual in-audience recording from way back. You can sense the enjoyment and awe of the audience! A superb slice of film history - A huge THANK YOU to all involved :)

Love the reaction when R2 gets zapped haha!

Back to the listening!

- 7FN

P.S. I'd LOVE George Lucas to hear this :p

Pm sent also :)

Thanks for the replies folks :)

Yes it does seem unlikely I'll be able to get a decent copy inc. all the ad. breaks and wotnot - sometimes the past remains the past I guess. I seem to remember (on TVS - not sure about the ITV region) that The Smurfs was on before-hand, though will have to check out the awsome TV Times PDF which Jonno has so kindly linked to - many thanks for that (those go for anything from £10-30 on Ebay!).

Jonno - thanks for all those links! Look forward to going through all those after posting this. Yes I saw that screener advert last year - so somebody must still have it in their possession (and if you're reading this PLEASE get in touch if so - I can put it onto DVD-R for you). Likewise I got in touch but no luck :/

We didn't have a video recorder back then so I recorded it onto cassette (and heaven help anyone who talked or DARE sneeze through it hahaha!). That along with the Story of Star Wars was my go-to version for years, along with some reel-to-reel recordings I made of the Star Wars Radio Drama (aired in 1980 on BBC One Radio). Good memories! :)

- 7FN

Hi folks!

This is probably a futile search, but have any of you in the UK still got a copy of the ‘TVS’ premiere of Star Wars which aired in 1983? With all the ads intact? It’s my Star Wars Holy grail in many ways.

Fingers crossed!

7FN

Really looking forward to this - what a nostalgic blast from the past! Brings back fond memories of recording all my favourite films onto audio cassette (with a mic! I used to go nuts if anyone talked hahaha!). We must have been one of the last families in the UK to get a VHS recorder!

I'd prefer to hear it untampered with in any way, as it was originally recorded. People can always do the patches and alternate cleaned up versions later.

generalfrevious said:

I have a question that has been going around in my mind: Did GL create SW just to destroy it over the course of 20+ years, tricking millions into loving a franchise, and them pushing them into misery with the SE and the prequels?

I think that Lucas always wanted to destroy the originals, but decided to wait over the course of 20 years in order to bring people into the SW tent, then withdraw the originals and replace them with PTSE as we know it today. Something this sinister could have come from Lucas. And with the certainty of losing the OOT in all but fan preservations, I think that Lucas was a fraud the whole time, probably cheated his way through USC, made people believe he was a genius when he was not, and then make others miserable and getting away with it because he is a billionaire (and probably the least deserving one in history). I am firmly convinced he has no soul and probably showed sociopathic behavior as a child.

Disturbing... I think the only one showing signs of sociopathic behavoir here is unfortunately yourself. I don't post here as often as I'd like like due to health issues, but I read the forums when I can. It's evident from what I've read that you're absolutely obsessed with George Lucas as someone who's evil. Who on earth would create a grand plan to create a film then destroy it BY DESIGN, just to piss people off because Lucas 'has no soul' and wanted to push 'fans into misery'?!!! Listen to yourself! Absolute clap-trap and it's getting kind of annoying reading it to be honest! Sorry but posts like these DO give fans a bad name. Geez I actually feel sorry for Lucas right now after reading this nonsense!!!

Baronlando said:

7FN said:

We could mention the many reasons that have - over the past decade - given rise to the current bad feeling between George and many of his fans.

I think there should be only ever be ONE thing to publicly hold against GL at this point, the OT. The other stuff is just matters of taste and we should 't be mixing that in with a concrete, legit issue.

Yes you're absolutely right, and I agree - was just throwing some ideas out there. The one thing we don't want is to come over as rabid nerdy type fans - coming over from the point of view of a fan of film is probably the way to go, sticking purely to the facts, and keeping emotions out of it. Focussing on the film history/preservation side of things only perhaps.

I'm sure with a banner headline like, "An open letter to George Lucas regarding film preservation" media curiosity would be peaked. Some carefully worded statements and questions to him couldn't really be ignored, assuming we managed to get an advert in Variety. Perhaps we might then get some famous names coming out of the woodwork if it was worded compellingly enough...

Crazy idea time: perhaps us fans should club together, take out a fullpage ad in Variety, and respond to dear George telling him exactly WHY many people have issues with him, albeit in a well worded, and polite manner! Not only would this be a damn-near direct line of contact with him, but would likely stir up a hornet's nest amongst the media, whip up interest, so it couldn't be shoved under the carpet any longer...

We could mention the many reasons that have - over the past decade - given rise to the current bad feeling between George and many of his fans.

1) The fact many actually didn't like the prequels, and the to the point/succinct reasons why... (not in an attacking way, but well reasoned arguments).

2) The fact that a Special Edition shouldn't need revising every few years. Fix what needs fixing and move on. If he wants to tinker, then fine - but he must respect the fact once he's released these films to the PAYING PUBLIC, we DO have a say/opinion! These films aren't JUST HIS - if he's pissed off by negative reactions, don't release films to the public/paying audience...

3) The many additions aren't the problem per-se. The fact that many have been done in a hap-hazard manner, and created continuity errors (disappearing rocks; inconsistantly added Ewok eyes; extended doors which aren't extended on the inside; inconsitant saber effects; do we REALLY need 4 revisions of the Greedo shooting scene and so on).

4) (The BIGGY!) The simple reason that George could wipe out just about ALL the bad feelings towards himself/Lucasfilm by many, by releasing the original versions as a companion set to his preferred versions. Obviously many millions LOVE the original versions, we PAID again and again to see them, and own them for nearly two decades before he started his assault on them. The original cuts are part of American cultural history. You cannot release something to the paying public for years, then take it away and KEEP changing it, and not expect some bad feelings! IF he released both versions, he would make everyone happy, AND would do his bit to honour film history, and the artists who contributed to make the films as could as they could be, given the state of the art in 1977/80/83. Could end the ad on a simple WHY would you not want to do this?......

This shouldn't be a character assasination, but a well worded and thought provoking ad. that just about anyone reading would agree contained some important facts, and would open the door for Lucas to do some serious thinking about exactly WHAT he has against releasing both versions to keep people happy, AND honour film history...

Anyways folks.. just a crazy idea! I have NO idea how much it costs to take out an add in Variety, so perhaps this is utter dreamland/fantasy stuff, but since all the major players read it, it might just be the one way to REALLY get this out there once and for all. It couldn't be ignored then...

- 7FN

Enough is enough with all this nonsense from Lucas. He's acting like a petulant little child with these films, and damaging film history too. He's also setting a bad precedent for present/future directors to treat their films in exactly the same way. Imagine if everyone was this selfish - they'd be no original films to archive!!!

I'm desperately thinking of ways to swings things around to our favour again. The only way I can think of is to create a comprehensive list of ALL the people whose work has been changed/altered/deleted in the trilogy. A real thorough list with screen caps/comparisons. Try to find their addresses, or their agents, and send them a petition to sign stating that these films NEED to be preserved, along with the valuable work you guys did to them.

We also need to get some celebrities batting for us too - Simon Pegg would be an obvious contender, and I'm sure there are others who would be all to pleased to aid in breaking Lucas' stranglehold on the original films.  Phil Tippett is also not impressed by Lucas' tinkering with the films - I'm sure he'd be another valuable voice.

Perhaps someone could put together a youtube video CLEARLY showing the nonsense as it's happened over the years. Like 1997 - and show the shite Jabba. Show Greedo shooting first. Then 2004 - the slightly better but still fake looking Jabba. Revised Greedo shooting. Then the 2011 re-re-revision. 2011 R2 rocks. Oh the rocks have disappeared. etc etc. Something to really hammer home how random & badly done all these changes are. Perhaps add in Lucas's voice over about preserving films too whilst all these changes are being shown...

This could be part of the Save Star Wars button/sticker campaign - we need to get coverage on this. At the end of the day the more people that know about this, and understand the issues, the more people we have on our side... and that's half the battle!

Absolutely sickening! This is culturally & historically so wrong! Surely the laws need to be changed now to protect works of filmic art. What if Lucas gets worse years from now and REALLY tried to screw up the trilogy, or decides to replace it altogether - by replacing large chunks of it with CGI - will he be able to get away with it? At the moment - yes!

Honestly, if people like Rick McCallum and others who work for Lucas have a SHRED of integrity left - and realise the importance of preserving all films as they originally were seen - they should stand up to the man, and just walk out now!

Enough is enough now - the man has turned into a true megalomaniac!

The only way around this is by changing the law - how do we proceed with that?...

I'd also like to extend my thanks for this transfer - the colours are indeed as I remember them from TV screenings and old VHS releases. I really do like the colour palette - seems to fit the film perfectly and give it some visual life (unlike the GOUT).

If you're going for a second attempt, perhaps we should all chip in for a top notch laserdisc player. When the transfer is done we can probably sell it again on ebay for what we paid for it, and split the money back between us ;)

There must be someone out there reading this with an XO (or similar) machine who actually is willing to follow through on doing a transfer? A straight transfer of this LD on a top notch player would be awsome.

Chewtobacca said:

jedimike1 said: How exactly do you "add" a certificate folder

You can simply create a folder next to the BDMV folder and call it CERTIFICATE.

Actually, now that I think about, Harmy's workflow when last I heard was to encode the AVCHD with Ripbot and remux it with the additional audio tracks using tsmuxer.  Now, Ripbot seems to use the strict standard for AVCHDs (no certifcate folder) whereas tsmuxer does produce a certificate folder when you remux, so I would guess that it makes no difference either way.  (If you want what Harmy produced, add a certificate folder.)

Remuxed it with TSmuxer and it worked fine :)

Looking forward to firing up my projector and watching this over the weekend!

This was downloaded from a.b.starwars (posted by Hey! It's Me! whoever that is). Looks like it might not be the whole file structure then? At least the stream file is complete and watchable using VLC.

I guess I need to create a Certficate folder then. I think TS Muxer will do the trick.

This is probably me being very dense, but have downloaded ROTJ. I noticed that this one has just a BDMV folder, and not a Certificate folder also.

Using IMG Burn in the past I'm sure it used to create a Certificate folder automagically... Not this time.

Do I need to create a Certificate folder first to burn Jedi properly?

Mucho thanks!

- John

EyeShotFirst said:

Coming soon!!!

In a vein similar to Harmy's restorations I have restored the film posters to the best of my abilities. They may not be 100% accurate, but they are very pleasing to the eye. I did my own take of the Definitive laser disc box set, though it is still quite different. I'm almost done with the discs, so they will be uploaded sometime in the next few days or so.

All art and images are pre 1997 material to make things more legit. The only images on the back that are not from Harmy's preservation are promotional images and what not.

If there was ever an official release of the original theatrical versions on bluray, I'd love them to come out in a package exactly like that! Outstanding! Like a mini version of the LD set (ahh memories!).

Fantastic!!! Thank you so much and again for the actual despecialized movies themselves. You've given MANY Star Wars fan back their favourite film, in a form that just blows away all previous releases/edits.

I'm in Star Wars heaven here haha!

Cheers.

Many thanks :)

Cheers Harmy :)

NICE covers!!! Do they come with the disc art also? (need an excuse to try out my printers DVD printing device!).

Those first three are just stunning works of art! Who's the artist? I'd love to get high-res versions of all those.

Wow looking forward to this one - I have the laserdisc, but with the shrinking aspect ratio alas. Thanks for capturing this :)

AvP - SUPERB disc art!!!