You can also check the end credits to see what version you have. Harmy puts the version number at the very end of the credits or he did on the newer versions anyway. Older versions might be missing that.
It is sad to get confirmation that we won’t see a commercial release of the theatrical versions.
I can rest easy knowing all the hard work that has and is going into making these available to the fans.
Thanks to everyone who has helped with that work. It is greatly appreciated by a lot of people.
Thanks for the info ChainsawAsh. You are always a big help when we are trying to sort all this info out. 😃
@Danfun128 ah yeah the grindhouse version…totally forgot about that one. It really is a labyrinth of versions to keep track off. Thanks for mentioning that.
It took me a bit to track down this information as well so I wanted to post this here for people to stumble upon this thread later in time. As of posting these are the current best versions of restorations we have available to us. (Thanks ChainsawAsh for helping me get an understanding on all this)
2011 BluRay Versions OT and Prequels
Buy the BluRays and rip them to your computer. Super easy to get those.
Original Trilogy - Theatrical Versions*
There are various options for this. The 4k77 (4k80 yet to be released) and 4k83 are really good 35mm scans of the films in 4K. The Harmy’s Despecialized versions are really great too. Pick your poison. (*There is also the 1981 rerelease of Star Wars that added the Episode IV to the crawl. This version is available online as well as an offshoot version of Harmy’s Despecialized.)
1997 - Special Edition Trilogy
Harmy made a 720p “Respecialized Edition” for Star Wars. Adywan made a 1080p version of The Empire Strikes Back. The best currently available for Return of the Jedi are laserdisc rips.
2004 - DVD Trilogy Changes - OT and Prequels
Schorman’s HDTV Preservation is the best for HD versions of these.
Prequel Trilogy - Theatrical Versions
Episode I - Best we currently have are laserdisc rips.
Episode II - Best we have is a cam recording from a theater.
Episode III - Schorman did a really good restoration of this and it sounds like the new one in the works.
I’m not getting into the mess of audio mixes but from a visual standpoint these are the current releases. Thankfully a few projects are in the works to make the missing versions in HD. Hopefully in time we’ll have everything in HD. 😃 Lots of great projects around here.
Thanks for all the hard work Schorman13. Can’t wait to give these new versions a look. 😄
This looks really nice. Great work. 😄
Of course, it was never meant to be accurate to the 1981 in terms of the star field, but just a fun bonus.
I appreciate that. It’s nice to watch every now and then as a reminder of what it was like until the Special Editions came out in 1997.
I think towne32’s “v2.6” had an ANH crawl edition, but he didn’t do the same for v2.7.
The towne32 version of v2.6 is on myspleen if you have access there.
This is great news. 😃 Congrats everyone.
Here is a replacement logo for you.
Great work on these, they look awesome.
Has there been any discussion about using Patreon? It would be a good incentive to get people to donate if they get special content just via Patreon. I’m not sure what that content would be but it’s an idea.
Donating now.
I just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this site over the years. Although I mostly lurk these days I do do hope the site lives on in one form or another.
Thanks for all the hard work Jay. I look forward to the future of originaltrilogy.com
Thanks ChainsawAsh. I’m glad I’m on the right track but I wasn’t aware of the Special Edition versions. It’s always fun tracking all these projects but it’s hard to keep up with everything on these forums.
This information is exactly what I was looking for. 😄
I’m trying to figure out a few things with all the various releases of Star Wars in HD and I could use some help. I’m continuing to do my research but I could use a quick nudge in the right direction regarding what are the best versions currently available.
Original Trilogy
1997 - Special Edition Trilogy
It seems like there are projects currently underway to get these scanned from 35mm in HD but nothing as of now.
2004 - DVD Trilogy Changes
Schorman’s HDTV Preservation seems best for HD versions of these. Am I wrong here?
Prequels
Theatrical Releases
These have never been released. It seems like there are several projects currently in the works for Episode I and Schorman did a restoration of Episode III but we have nothing for Episode II?
DVD Releases
Schorman’s HDTV Preservation seems best for HD versions of these. Am I wrong here?
Thanks for all the hard work everyone is doing keeping Star Wars alive and well. It is greatly appreciated. Now off to read more…
yes it will, as both are GOUT synched
That’s great. Thanks for the quick reply.
Finally got a chance to watch 4K77 and the new sound is absolutely amazing. I’m loving it!
Does anyone know if this will sync to Despecialized 2.7?
Despite how good the DNR version looks I still prefer the Despecialized for my go to version of Star Wars and I would love to mux in this audio track if at all possible.
Thanks
I’m on the site at least five or six times a week but I post maybe once a year if that. I’m always lurking and always reading but I don’t have a lot of input to provide. I see the site as more of a way to see and appreciate what amazing things people are working on.
That being said the ability to “like” a comment would go a long way to making someone like me feel like I’m contributing to the community even if I only ever do that behind the scenes.
Rikter… Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time. A long time. 😃
I’m not sure if it will be useful but I have a DVD which contains a laserdisc rip done by Rikter in 2005 I believe. It’s been so long I don’t remember right now. Only thing I remember doing is the menus. I’m not even sure if he released this rip.
I’ll dig that out and upload it to spleen in case anyone can use that as reference for this project or future theatrical Episode 1 projects.
First I heard of that but my lurking skills aren’t what they used to be. Hopefully someone knows the answer to that.
If you are unsure what version of despecialized you have you can always check the end credits. Harmy started to add version numbers at the end of the credits for just such an occasion.
It’s Pete Quill from Guardians of the Galaxy wearing a Darth Vader mask. Or rather just the helmet part of the Vader mask.
^ This is why we need a like button around here. Great work.
I’m actually thinking about releasing the next version with english tracks only and then including links for all the different dubs and instructions on how to add them.
Love this idea.
