Ever since I first watched Star Wars: A New Hope in the early 2000s with the added CGI I had always wanted to experience the original 1977 theatrical release exactly as audiences saw it.
For years, I searched for an original VHS copy but never had any luck finding one. Even if I had, by the time I became serious about tracking it down, televisions had advanced to at least 1080p, and an old 480p VHS transfer simply wouldn’t have done the film justice.
Recently, I discovered Project 4K77, along with its companion restorations, 4K80 and 4K83, which preserve the original theatrical versions of the original trilogy. I was incredibly excited to learn these projects existed, and today I finally got my hands on 4K77.
Yes, the film is grainy, the lighting isn’t as polished as modern releases, and there is no CGI and that’s exactly the point. This is the closest experience to what audiences saw in theaters back in 1977, preserving the original look and feel of the film.
Wanted to share this with the community in case there are other Star Wars purists like me. 4K77 Link
I have a set of DVDs where one disk has the unmodified original film and the other has the first pass of digital additions.
Harmy’s Despecialized Edition is an excellent work of community service as well.
I lean towards the Despecialized editions over 4K77, but they’re both great works and you can tell the effort put in to them.
Honestly surprised that Disney hasn’t released the theatrical versions in the decade(?) since they’ve owned Stara Wars. They have the rights and they love money.
I know people speculate that the original Star Wars prints are lost, but those movies were in wide cinema release and enormously popular to collectors ever since. There are supposedly dozens of film prints available in private collections, I’d be surprised if there were none in corporate film vaults.
Either way, glad the dedicated fans have made these available.
They’re working on a restoration project right now actually. Images have surfaced from accounts on social media that could only be from the original restored prints. They’re likely doing a theatrical re-release of the original trilogy.
Nice! I may actually go to the cinema to see a Star Wars film again. Didn’t think that would happen again tbh.
50th restored theatrical rerelease:
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-50th-anniversary-theatrical-release
Thanks for this. I have an original ‘80s VHS copy, but it’s not in the best shape. I’ve been wanting a decent un-fucked-with copy of the original for a long time.
Here is my copy I inherited from my great aunt. I haven’t played it in 20 years, I have no clue its quality. I need to find a VCR.
Used to watch the heck out of these while I was playing Tie Fighter on PC.
This is incredible. What I would have given to have had something like this in the early 2000s! Thanks for sharing.
This is amazing! thank you for sharing. Hi-Fi baby!
Star Wars always had CGI. The special editions added more, of course, but even the original used CGI in the Death Star attack briefing scene.
The 4K rips are superb and with none of the bullshit added.
I found it much more enjoyable without the added CGI, as it allows the original filmmaking and practical effects to shine.
Man 100%. Especially in the cantina.
And the original audio…
If anyone is looking to buy their own copy: https://showtownapparel.com/star-wars-trilogy-4k77-80-83-4k-uhd-non-dnr-blu-ray-bundle/
I’m pretty sure I have some very early pre CGI vhs rips
I always wondered why Disney never released the original theatrical cuts after the acquisition
Glad the fans were able to do the job preserving them
Wondering why this doesn’t mention the theatrical DVD release… was there anything wrong with that (except the resolution, obviously)?
It’s letterboxed widescreen ripped from the laserdisc release. It’s not the original theatrical version.
It’s not? Damn. The German box literally says “der original Kinofilm” on each box.
The US says that too. The problem is George Lucas was tinkering with the films while they were still in theatres. The original was lost early on.
What’s the current progress on 4k80? How far is it from release?
According to the linked Wikipedia article, it was released in February 2024.
Strange, when I looked last year I only found an unfinished pre-release version with the final release date TBD.
The whole trilogy has been done.
Or, lean into the effects and check out Revisited: https://swrevisited.wordpress.com/
ESB photo comparison: https://goo.gl/photos/4XiG7c3jVGMYQJg38
No thanks.
