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Cliffs71

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Join date
30-Jun-2019
Last activity
4-Jul-2021
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Post
#1287213
Topic
70mm print of the pre-SE Star Wars film on Saturday in Academy Theater in CA!
Time

I was there as well. My understanding (unless I totally misunderstood what Dykstra said) was that this print was a 70mm UK print struck in the early 90s for one off special screenings, such as charity events. It was damaged the first time it was run with a decent 2’ / 2 second tear during the explosion of the Death Star (which is in the MIDDLE of the final reel). It was immediately pulled from circulation and left gathering dust, never to be run again for 25 or so years. Dykstra made it sound like the Academy projectionist is the one that actually repaired the damage which allowed it to be shown again (which might also explain why it was a last minute announce/addition to the programming).

As for the print itself… Holy Jeebus! I can’t imagine it looked any better opening day of any of the 70mm re-releases. It was gorgeous and other than that 2 seconds of damage (which, BTW, didn’t require any frames to be lost to repair and didn’t affect the sound), the print was pretty immaculate. Dykstra did say there was considerable effort of the part of many to get Lucas’s approval, so I sadly wouldn’t hold out much hope that this print suddenly finds its way into more and more screenings. I think it could be seen again, but my gut tells me (to quote Indy) only on special occasions. The bigger news to me though is just the knowledge that this exists in the first place and therefore it IS possible should that occasion ever happen.