How Fans Saved Star Wars - Laserdisc Bootlegs (Part I)

[@Cowclops]

The "original" TR47 release is in fact Cowclops v1.0 and TR47 can even confirm that. The first one actually wasn't a collaboration at all, he just snagged a copy from me and then spread it around the internet. The second time, I was in college and flat-ass-broke but he coughed up the money for a better LD player and I had a better capture setup so I did that "anamorphic" (really just cropped and resized) V2 version. The first one was hilariously done by hooking the s-video out of a laserdisc player into a sony TR7000 digital8 camcorder, but the second version was done via uncompressed capture to a PCI card. Making LDs look good without technology that would come much later (or just, actual copies of the film to scan) was a brutal task and the best you could really do at the time was minimize the loss of quality in the conversion rather than "actually improve it."

[@SG10FilmArchive]

Thanks for the clarification Cowclops! The naming scheme for that bootleg was hard for me to determine seeing that all the threads and NFO files were authored by TR47, but other users always associated it with you. Very glad to see you here!

[@CarolinaBloomquist]

I just wanted to thank you for your contribution to saving the trilogy. My FIL had his own company as a film producer and was so upset by what happened. I wish he was around today to see how people like you managed to save the theatrical version.

[@kingsteegg]

Jeeeesh. Super nostalgic. I saw star wars in the theater with my dad. My buddy's dad got a laser disc player when I was 12ish. We were not allowed to flip the disc over ourselves. Had to get a grown up. Finally, the bootlegs running around the internet. Damn, I'm the old guy now. When I was a boy....blah blah blah blah.

[@RS-oq4wu]

Look, bottom line, I think we can all agee that we dont know how the hell we all watched this stuff on TV sets and thought anything looked good. We are all so spolied now by 4K 60 inch sets. I remeber thinking how great DVDs were. I think soon all media will be instantly available and immersively projected at hyper real quality.

[@halo3odst]

The sad thing about the 97 laserdisc release was that we were SO CLOSE to having the trilogy in its close to original form WITH 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound.

[@alexjohnward]

what was wrong with the laserdiscs?

[@coreym162]

@@alexjohnward Sonic Ring explosions and the crappy additional CG deleted scenes that were pointless. I do however have a soft spot for the sonic rings and wish it ended there.

[@fuzzywzhe]

@@alexjohnward Low resolution. It doesn't matter, because Lucas won't release that originals, and the new releases are, well, subpar, when they no longer have nostalgia value, they won't even have historical value, and they will be entirely lost.

[@Scripture-Man]

You can't win, George. If you strike down the Theatrical Cut, fans will come together to make it more prevalent than you could possibly imagine.

[@JUSLOFI]

its like poetry... it rhymes.

[@jnnx]

⁠@@JUSLOFIAT-STs? Vistas? We can minimize the effects of it?

[@treystephens6166]

I have too many LaserDiscs & VHS of it.

[@ModelLights]

The Star Wars That I Used To Know parody song. I will never see Lucas as anything but the Lucas from that song again..

[@rager1969]

I had a friend that was an assistant colorist in Hollywood working with the colorist that worked on the original transfer of Raiders of the Lost Ark for VHS. They weren't happy with the old transfers that were given to them for the DVD. My buddy borrowed my bootleg DVD that was a transfer off of LaserDisc and his colleague showed it to the powers that be. I don't know if Spielberg was in the room, but that convinced Paramount to do a new transfer.

[@matthewpaul6904]

George....that's what "state of the art" means. It was the pinnacle of what was possible in 1977.

[@RobertR3750]

The only theory that has ever made any sense to me why George Lucas made so many changes is his attitude towards his ex-wife, Marcia. She was the editor on the originals. He was EXTREMELY bitter about her divorcing him, bitterness that remains to this day. He hates the existence of the product of her editing. It also may be the case that altering the films cuts her out of any money coming to her from them. For this reason, it's apparent to me that an official release of the originals will never happen as long as George Lucas is alive. It's up to the fans.

[@no1DdC]

Isn't it out of his hands now that he sold the entire franchise to Disney?

[@spyczech]

I kinda hate to say it, but the misogynstic ex husband who downplays their ex wife is a powerful trope. I admit that reasoning for changes entered my mind but I do hope its not such an ugly reason

[@mxcokoko]

@@no1DdC Yes, but expecting Disney to release the original cut of a film when the altered version is by far the best known to modern audiences is unrealistic.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

If that is the reason why he's doing this then that reflects very badly on him showing him to be an individual motivated by petty spite.

[@dsatt57]

@@mxcokoko Oh I don’t know. Disney is still milking their cash cow and if they thought they could make money, they would. But I doubt it would go to theaters, it would go to Disney+.

[@michaelvincent4280]

Was the first person to purchase Laserdisc products in Northern Arizona in 1978. Was on the 'zone one' list for product mailing from Ken Cranes Laserdisc. Still have first pressing of Star Wars which still runs clean. The problematic 'turning the disc over' thing was our food and toilets break. Main reason this system was moved past is they couldn't attach anti-piracy to it so one can print out perfect copies in several different formats. Clarity recorded to VHS was superior for visual and sound. Local video store sold firs release of Hunt For Red October $120.00 in stereo while my Laserdisc copy in surround sound was $31.98. First series of DVDs were from Laserdisc masters. The sound system in the home was better than the theaters up the road. We are well versed in this system and continue to build on and enjoy it.

[@brazil-y2y]

In 1978, how has nobody questioned your error.

[@oildalejones567]

@@brazil-y2y "The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978."

[@robertrada4783]

@@brazil-y2yWhat error?

[@alericc1889]

One my officers in my Guild bought a Laser Disc Player a couple years ago from the 80s and INSIDE IT was a laser disc of The Empire Strikes Back with the behind the scenes and original deleted scenes. I cant get him to sell it to me.

[@MajorOutage]

@@brazil-y2y 1978 is the first year laserdisc was commercially available.

[@JCole78]

For me the ultimate preservation of the franchise is Star Wars 4K77, 4K80, and 4K83. It’s also amazing that they went back to improve their original scan of 4K77 once it became possible. Those guys have probably put in more work than anybody else in the effort.

[@nathaniles5456]

This is the best way to watch Star Wars these days. Truly amazing work. It's like rediscovering the movies all over again.

[@Defensive_Wounds]

What about the Despecialised versions fans did of various media sources??

[@PacoVJ]

@@Defensive_Wounds despecialized version is a multiple LD/DVD/BR/etc source cuts made in the movie. The SW 4K77, 4K80 & 4K83 are 4k scans of the actual SW reels, provided by fans of the project. They go directly to the source to get the movie, one thing that George Lucas never wanted to do. This is why the 4KXX project is the best way to watch star wars. It is a true restoration of the original film, just like it was presented in the theaters when they first came out.

[@EricCabana-cj6se]

I was floored when I first saw 4K77... The colors were as I remembered seeing them way back in '77!

[@DillonAuto]

Yep. And their version is better than any original version due to the scanning of multiple prints that filled in the missing information.

[@keithbk]

The original cut of Star Wars won the Academy Award for "Best Film Editing" in 1977. Who edited that film? Marcia Lou Lucas, George's ex-wife. Some fans will dispute that this comprises any role in George's refusal to release the original cut of Star Wars, but I simply cannot discount that it plays some part. After all, she won the award, and George erased that cut from history.

[@JohnS-il1dr]

She got too much credit for editing. It was the japanese guy (cant remember his name) who did most of it.

[@spyczech]

@@JohnS-il1dr Who are you to say she got "too much" credit? Why do people pop up to discredit her contributions or downplay them

[@garysmith1863]

@@spyczechmaybe he’s the Japanese guy whose name he can’t remember

[@DisFantasy]

Lionizing women has been in vogue for decades. They get credit for literally nothing.

[@JonathanStrome]

Bootlegging pretty much saved everything in history.

[@anonamatron]

Bootlegging is really like pirating to sell. Fan preservation is... preservation.

[@spyczech]

@@anonamatron There really is no difference once you strip petty morals and intellectual property concerns

[@SG10FilmArchive]

Part II has been released! kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHbdm4KVi72ij8U CORRECTIONS: - At 2:25, I mistakenly claim that the lost pieces of Metropolis were found on a 16mm reduction print decaying in a “Peruvian Cave.” While these pieces weren’t found in a literal cave, they were found in a Argentinian archive with abysmal storage conditions. They likely would’ve survived longer in an actual cave than the archive they were found in. - In my conclusion, I reference a forum post discussing the use of Dual-Layer discs for fan preservations. While writing to Dual Layer discs did become commonplace in 2004, I’m sure that there were forum posts out there discouraging the practice (early on, consumer writing to Dual-Layer discs was expensive and often resulted in burn errors). Unfortunately, I cannot actually find the posts I referenced anymore. Consider this little addendum apocryphal story telling. I realized this near the end of my editing process, but decided to leave it in, as its final message still stands true.

[@shortshaker9236]

Awesome video I can't wait for part 2.

[@TheJFGB93]

Metropolis wasn't found in Perú, it was in Argentina. Someone had imported a full length German cut and embedded Spanish intertitles and written inserts (letters, signs). This copy was then placed on storage. Years later, since the copy was in nitrate film (a fire risk) it was decided to copy it to 16 mm and dispose of the original (which was, in fact, pretty beat up).

[@AptIrrelevance]

Original Trilogy forum user here. (I think my original reply got deleted so I'll try this again.) My recollection of the dual layer debate from back then had to do with 1) dual layer burners and blank dual layer discs being significantly more expensive and less reliable at the time, and 2) the release of projects was done via file sharing rather than selling of discs, so the end user was required to provide their own hardware for disc burning. It wouldn't make much sense to release a dual layer DVD file that hardly anyone could burn themselves. Eventually, new projects started being released in both singe layer and dual layer formats to appease everyone. Also, selling of any projects was strictly prohibited on the OT forum and anyone caught doing it was banned. This is why you usually only saw those DVDs being sold by third parties rather than the original project authors.

[@Yubl10]

Metropolis isn't a complete movie it's only about 99% complete because it's still missing 2 scenes that will likely never be recovered.

[@matthewgaudet4064]

@@Yubl10 , like how the King Kong Spider pit sequence is lost. I keep hoping someday a dupe will be discovered.

[@AptIrrelevance]

A someone who was involved in the community at the time, this brings back a lot of memories. Great video and can't wait to see more.

[@calebcustombricks2631]

Very well documented video, can't wait for Part 2!

[@acerimmer1023]

Great video 👍. I have the despescialised versions of 'Star Wars' and 'Empire'....and it is literally the only way I can watch Star Wars, at all. I find the Special Editions to be irritating....they completely messed with the rhythm of the movies. The only redeeming factor, to me, was the digital matt backdrops in Bespin. But thank God for the Star Wars preservation community ❤️

[@c1ph3rpunk]

I have often, when seeing Jabba added to ANH, wanted to find that exact scene on the DVD, and scratch just those bits off, gone forever. I usually just turn it off at that point. Until the despecialized editions… My 28 year old son said “dad, now it makes sense, I see why you all fell in love with it back then”.

[@Scripture-Man]

I've always said I mostly prefer the Special Editions, though this is about overall effects. Interesting you mentioned the "rhythm" being messed up. That's something I wasn't aware of, something you probably can't appreciate in KZbin shot comparison videos. Makes me want to reconsider the originals.

[@treystephens6166]

Just get a VCR.

[@no1DdC]

The Special Editions on VHS were how I experienced Star Wars for the first time outside of video games, books and comic books based on the franchise. Even as a kid with no prior knowledge of any of the history behind these altered editions and barely even a concept of what CGI was, the added digital clutter on screen frequently felt out of place.

[@ThomasBiddle-c2d]

I am fortunate enough to have the first CAV multi-laserdisc release (only 30 minutes max per side) of the original trilogy. Original versions of the films (no "A New Hope" on Star Wars, for example) and they are still pretty watchable. Never tried to sell it, though I am told it is pretty valuable.

[@gutsysquirrel3283]

Are you sure that it doesn't have "A New Hope"?

[@bmw128racer]

I have the CAV LD release as well. It's a nine-disc box set which also included a hardcover book, "The Creative Impulse."

[@JG-ds6qs]

As a kid, I’ll never forget when my father brought home a bootleg copy of Star Wars back in the early 80’s. Later he got a laser disk player and had it there too. I don’t know what happened to those copies.

[@LisaAnn777]

I just read somewhere that laserdiscs are breaking down due to age, something about the glue falling apart on them.

[@paulblay2330]

​@@LisaAnn777if they aren't stored in a warm dry climate they will probably get laser rot.

[@no1DdC]

@@paulblay2330 The same thing can also happen to other optical discs up to HD DVDs, so if you have media that is rare, you should copy it to a more reliable storage medium now. I've personally only ever seen this with very early CD-based games.

[@mrburns366]

The fans care WAY more about Star wars than Disney or lucasfilms. That's for sure!

[@matthewgaudet4064]

ET is a bad example because the Special Edition in 2002 is suppressed. You can only get the original in HD. You have to get the 20th Anniversary cut on DVD. I find it incredible Spielberg does not understand leaving the choice up to the viewer. As in how he released 3 cuts of Close Encounters.

[@Garch-the-Great]

The ET special edition was heavily criticised, which I never thought it deserved. Spielberg didn't fundamentally change things like Lucas, he just gave it a few tweaks and additions that weren't bad.

[@jamescarter3196]

One of the Close Encounters cuts, the 'Special Edition', only exists because he was pressured into shooting new footage for the TV presentation. If that hadn't happened, he might have never bothered with the other director's cut. Personally I like the original cut partly because it has the scene of Roy at work and makes it clear he's not just 'childish, aimless and ineffective' like the other versions make him look. He didn't need to seem totally worthless as a person and it only makes his breakdown less-meaningful.

[@coreym162]

@@jamescarter3196 I never know this. I've only seen a cut where he just seems nihilistic and annoying with the times. I'll find that cut and rewatch it.

[@TheEvanBennett]

Patiently waiting for the next part! Keep up the good work.

[@chrisvillanueva_]

Thanks for documenting this history, it's great to see all the efforts for the sake of preservation.

[@TheCheat420]

"Lucas never saw the final cut of his film..." Wouldn't it be crazy if he just never watched it? Was just like "Welp I'm done with that!"

[@agfagaevart]

4:20 That's not what he said.

[@oildalejones567]

I think that's what he said after the first drafts of the PT. 😆

[@marioboi323]

@@agfagaevartthat’s why he says “wouldn’t it be crazy if” IF!!! IF!!!

[@BobKatzenberg]

Joaquin Pheonix

[@JoergWessels]

Yeah. Wouldn't it be crazy if an AI didn't know what it was doing and emphasized the narration in such a way that some viewers thought the sentence ended right there?

[@jontoubeaux7361]

Fantastic, thank you. Well done. Looking forward to part 2.

[@sampoernaquatrain1710]

Excellent video, looking forward to more! I could watch this all day.

[@dazlaz6458]

4K77 have done amazing work.

[@markyamaguchi9571]

When Jedi came out I was in high school and had a class mate who said he could get me a pirate take pirate tape of Jedi in beta video for 50 dollars I was amazed it must of been taken from the film it had the black bars top and bottom so it was the full screen very high quality I still have it I never asked him how he got it I was just happy I have it just weeks after Jedi was released in theaters

[@LisaAnn777]

Copy it and post it online somewhere for the preservers.

[@jlutell]

I have the original VHS and laserdisc releases besides all the dvd releases....my wife thinks I'm nuts. But she has watched them just as often as I.

[@drkmagneto]

I still remember the original theatrical release of Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi. I miss them!!

[@ScrapKing73]

By 1988 when he spoke before Congress, Lucas had already made alterations to Star Wars. The original theatrical cut was different from the Laser Disc, which was different from the TV premiere edition, which was different from the original VHS, which was different from...

[@Takeshi357]

I feel like this is such a disingenuous argument and the special edition apologists seem to love it. Yes, the films had been altered through the first 20 years of their existence, but apart from adding the "episode IV" title card, all of the changes had been to the sound mix which even the most ardent fans would have trouble telling apart, so it's a near pointless argument to make.

[@oojason-otcom]

@@Takeshi357 Absolutely this. Plus some of the fan preservations at the time had these various sound mixes over the years included as an option to choose from - preserving those variances in the sound mix. The more modern fan preservations even have a whole range of subtitles and language tracks to choose from, too.

[@sirtorndr]

Thanks for this documentary! I had no idea about most of it. I also love that you included the Pauline verse at the end. That is a verse to live by!

[@nathancruz9172]

I only wish they would have kept the original version of Star Wars trilogy in blu ray, digital, and Disney + content.

[@SG10FilmArchive]

You should check out Project 4K77 at www.theStarWarsTrilogy.com :)

[@matthewpaul6904]

If George stood by his version so much, then allow the theatrical edits to exist for comparison. Ridley didn't try to bury the 1982 cut of Blade Runner.

[@bigtomboye]

😂People still subscribe to D+ lol😆

[@bigtomboye]

​@@matthewpaul6904Interesting, gr8 point

[@SplinkProductions]

Check out 4K77, 4K80 and 4K83….

[@youreprobablymad6648]

Man this was an awesome video. Please keep this kind of content up.

[@Ryglado]

Lucas never appeared to understand what made Star Wars great and the more control/less collaboration he had, including Return of the Jedi, the worse the movies got.

[@matthewgaudet4064]

I'd actually like to see Marquand's cut of ROTJ that Rinzler viewed to write the making of book.

[@bluedistortions]

Yeah, even as a young 20 something watching the clips in the "behind the scenes" he comes across as a doofus, and everyone else is laughing nervously and does exactly what he says. Lucas: "Ok. Add an alien here who is all surprised and says, "what the?!" Like that." Staff: nervously laughs, "yeah yeah, that'll be great!" *Adds exactly that* Me in the theatre: "um.... Ok? Is this a kids cartoon?" Then you see his original vision for Yoda, being a Mexican jumping bean with a tiny lightsaber, and you really understand he has nothing to do with any of the parts of Star Wars that were good, and he is as unfairly praised.

[@scottb3034]

@@bluedistortions exact creating the thing, writing Empire and ghost directing it. Ever think that maybe it is as dumb to call him completely clueless as it is to call him a genius? It's usually somewhere in the middle.

[@agfagaevart]

@@bluedistortions people make mistakes. but at least he had the humility to see some of his. he wanted c3po to sound like a car salesman until anthony daniels took on the role.

[@theessentials450]

Lucas bankrolled the whole thing. Try saying No and who's to say that NO is correct? So dumb

[@mistaecco]

Super fascinating! Ive introduced several people to the original trilogy exclusively through the despecialized editions, and I've always been curious about the other histories behind what went into making it. Excited to learn more about how the "scene" developed!

[@luismaaah]

Its so amazing that we even have Vader narrating this video!

[@trevorbrown6654]

The original film will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027. I can see no better way to celebrate this than a theatrical re-release of the same print that was shown back then, exactly as it was seen by audiences at the time. No CGI or post production tinkering for subsequent versions (beyond the sound mix) and with the original text crawl without mention of Episode IV etc. Lucas many not approve but I think there is a big enough demand for this to make it worthwhile for Lucasfilm. Show it as it was shown originally so people can relive their memories. Let's go retro and release some 35mm and 70mm film prints for those theatres that still have projectors. To quote James Earl Jones character of Terence Mann from the movie Field of Dreams "People will come, from all around, and they won't know why". And I think recreating 1977 all over again for the 50th anniversary would be well received, from the oldies reliving their youth and the youngsters wanting to see it out of curiosity.

[@Andrew-cw2fs]

I doubt it would happen but this would be a great way to celebrate the anniversary.

[@indiana2096]

My brother and I would love this, the original is the only Star Wars film we have not seen together!

[@MetroPolo1]

Yeah... that's never gonna happend

[@jonathanwoods9843]

When I was nine years old I saw Star Wars in the theater. It said "Episode IV". I recall that specifically because it confused me right from the start. I understood Roman numerals, but couldn't understand why it said this was episode 4. I put that thought at the back of my mind and enjoyed the heck out of the rest of the movie.

[@CollaborativeDataAccounts]

It will never happen unless Elon Musk buys Disney.

[@mattf5630]

I have the dvd edition with the disc two theatrical cut. I found them by chance, and soon after that they were stripped off shelves and replaced with copies minus that feature

[@donwyoming1936]

I transferred them 20yrs ago from Laser Disc to DVD using a Go-Video DVD/VCR combo. They look fantastic. Even using a modern Blu-Ray player & 4K TV.

[@no1DdC]

I would recommend you compare your copy to what Harmy has accomplished. I'm sure what you did was fine for the time, but having seen the old Laserdisc versions, "fantastic" is not the word I would use to describe them, no matter how much hard work your modern TV is doing to upscale them. It's not just sharpness, but also color reproduction, which is incredibly flat (although that too is quite often, somewhat clumsily, fixed by modern TVs, usually going too far though to the point of garishness). Even the best Laserdiscs were only fine for blurry old tube TVs before people figured out how to properly master DVDs, which already look awful on anything that isn't a CRT.

[@russellbaum1488]

What version of the trilogy is on the special Best Buy Tin Box edition?

[@stevensole1909]

You all do realize the original theatrical versions were indeed released on DVD in 2004, albeit using the same master used for the laserdisc. Despecialized or the 4k scans are the way to go.

[@sketchylense]

Correct, they have a bonus disc and on the back it says it’s the 4:3 laser disc wide screen. Best to watch it on a crt tv or flat screen with a zoom feature

[@no1DdC]

@@sketchylense The resulting image didn't look particularly great even 20 years ago though. Effective resolution is so low, you can sometimes barely tell that the actors' mouths are moving.

[@gfdggdfgdgf]

If I remember correctly they used this DVD version as a color reference.

[@almendraman]

This is gonna be an AMAZING series

[@AndrewAHayes]

We had a pioneer laser disc, it would work for 3 or four weeks then go back for repair for 5 to 6 weeks, rinse and repeat 3 times and then we got a refund.

[@TheVCRTimeMachine]

I have a Pioneer Laserdisc player that I bought in 1991. Still works. Never had an issue

[@indiana2096]

You must have just got a lemon. I have 2 pioneer laser disc players, the newest was built in 1999, both play perfectly with an occasional hiccup and both have less problems than any of the DVD players that I ever had.

[@nojustno242]

I have a pioneer that doubles as a karaoke CD player with mic inputs and key adjustments still works great

[@ianrotten4453]

I remember getting a bootleg video tape back in the dial-up era, but Laserdiscs? Man, I'd live to get into film preservation. Any suggestions on how to make that happen?

[@SG10FilmArchive]

I would recommend joining the forums over at www.theStarWarsTrilogy.com. It's an excellent resource and that's how I got started! You could also check out FanRestore.

[@DaleESkywalker]

I had a vision that Star Wars would become huge with stories about the Mandalorians (we only knew them as bounty hunters back then) -- a girl in Mandalorian armor, and after the nostalgia wore off or original fans died, it would be remade. I wasn't upset for the reasons George did it. I was *not expecting him to do it* ten or twelve years later.

[@j.martinez8282]

Great video and fascinating flashback to the days of Laserdisc. However, unless you mentioned it and I missed it, Fox did in fact re-release the original theatrical versions of the original "SW" trilogy on DVD. They did this back in 2004 as an added bonus disc to their "Special Edition" DVD releases. I know this because I own them. When announced that they were available, I made a special trip to Costco on my lunch hour to be sure and buy them all ASAP before they sold out. In fact, when the later sequel trilogy came out all of my neighbors asked me if they could borrow them to show their kids the original versions before taking them to the theater to see the sequels. That said, there is still a weird omission even on the 1977 film. There was a moment when Han and Chewbacca are being chased by a group of storm troopers through the halls of the Death Star. One of the pursuers says, "Close the blast doors! Close the blast doors!" but Han and Chewie make it through the closing doors just in time and so the gaggle of Storm Troopers now have to say "Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!" Having seen the original in theaters about 12 times back in 1977 and again in 1978, this is a vivid memory. But even in the DVD theatrical version, you only have the second half of that exchange without the "Close the blast doors!" first part, thus losing the humor of the scene. Very strange. Finally, as an aside, in addition to the changes to "ET", back in 1980 Spielberg and Columbia Pictures also released the "Special Edition" of "Close Encounters" which has the pointless, tacked-on, trip inside the UFO "mother ship" which added nothing to the film and ruined the mystery of the original version. Fortunately the DVD release of that film also has the 1977 original version. But again, thanks for the great video, it was very interesting and entertaining.

[@SG10FilmArchive]

I know the DVD’s you’re talking about! Those are the 2006 GOUT DVDs. I do plan on talking about them in the future, but it’s important to note that those DVDs are just official Laserdisc transfers from the 1993 master. I have them as well :) Also, I believe that sound discrepancy comes from the fact that the 1982 stereo mix was used on those bonus discs instead of one the 1977 mixes.

[@RedVisor1]

​@@SG10FilmArchive A good start to your series of preserving the original versions. I hope in your upcoming parts you will cover the various sound mixes that have changed over the years, particularly the mono mix with Aunt Beru's re-done lines and un-distorted X-Wing chatter (as all of us kids from the late 70s/early 80s experienced from the storybook LP), as well as the 1993 THX mix that went way over the top with sound effects such as shattered glass when shooting up the monitoring devices during the detention block raid. Another topic I hope you'll cover is the recently recovered 35mm print that has been digitally scanned and released by various groups with different amounts of tinkering (e.g. digital cleanup and colour-correction). Keep up the good work!

[@j.martinez8282]

@@SG10FilmArchive Thanks for clarification. Again, great video. One Q: what is "GOUT"? Other than the painful affliction, that is.

[@SG10FilmArchive]

Sure thing! GOUT stands for "George's Original Unaltered Trilogy". It was the acronym given to the bonus DVDs by the fans.

[@SG10FilmArchive]

I've actually already made a video discussing the differences between the 1977 stereo and mono mix :)

[@jacob_n_r_z8755]

When I was a kid in the mid 2000s, I remember my first experience with Star Wars is with a bootleg dvd my dad bought at a public market. And it had both the prequels and the original trilogy.

[@mrburns366]

You know that knight from Indiana Jones and the last crusade? You know, the one that is still alive after thousands of years in the cave. That's how old I felt when he said, "not many people know what a laser disc is" 😂

[@dvdmike007]

Good video, but your understanding of the LD format is missing a bit of info It's more than marginally better for pq, by far it's close to twice the "resolution" Most people using LD in the late 80s and 90s when pioneer ran the format 90% + of players had auto side change

[@SG10FilmArchive]

I appreciate your insight! However, I have to respectfully disagree. Both VHS and Laserdisc were viewed on SD television sets, and in the US at least, those only displayed 480 lines of resolution. Even when these discs are digitally captured, they are usually done so in 720x480. This is also the standard resolution for VHS capture. I will concede that their image stability is indeed better than VHS, and they don’t succumb to the same types of artifacts as they age. However because of how letterboxed Laserdiscs don’t utilize the full resolution of the screen (even if it is around twice the resolution of a VHS), most of that goes unused. I didn't know that some players had auto-side change! Do you know how this mechanism works?

[@TreadwellJay]

@@SG10FilmArchive mike is correct. The displays were 480 but not the signals sent to them. LD had 420 while VHS only 240.

[@SG10FilmArchive]

Understood! I stand corrected.

[@bobtopps460]

@@SG10FilmArchive i believe they had a laser head on both sides of the disk and from what i remember there was still a break if not a pause while it changed sides

[@ClaytonMacleod]

There’s some misunderstanding here of just what exactly resolution refers to. NTSC had 480 visible scan lines, but that isn’t what we are talking about when we talk about the resolution capabilities of various formats. Those 480 scan lines did not change between all the various formats, so they all had the same vertical resolution. When you see “lines of resolution” being talked about it has nothing to do with these scan lines. It has to do with the video bandwidth available in the various formats differing quite a bit, and this is what determines the resolution in the other direction, horizontal resolution. All had 480 lines top to bottom. That’s fixed and is not changeable. Where they differ is in the resolution left to right. Here are examples of typical lines of resolution for some media types: VHS 240 Cable/broadcast TV 330 S-VHS 420 Laserdisc 425 These figures are taken from a 1:1 horizontal:vertical region, so they have to be multiplied by 1.33 (4:3 aspect ratio of TVs then) in order to get the number of pixels for the whole screen width. So: VHS 320x480 Cable/broadcast TV 440x480 S-VHS 560x480 Laserdisc 567x480 Each step had a higher frequency carrier and more available video bandwidth, so they gave a higher resolution picture than the last. I remember paying a crazy amount of money for an S-VHS VCR in the early ‘90s so I could record TV shows without any noticeable loss in quality. Was very nice at the time. Hehe. When DVD came along at 720x480 it was a fair step up again, but one of the huge advantages was the lack of having to deal with the noise of an analog storage medium. This made its image rock solid in comparison. Laserdisc wasn’t super noisy, but the other formats sure were, and the complete lack of noise in digital storage was a big win. Although the image accuracy variability then shifted from carrier noise to compression artifacts, it was easier to deal with that by using more bits than it was to reduce analog noise as much as possible.

[@indiana2096]

I am an original 1977 fan, and I just prefer what was presented when I was that innocent wide eyed 9-year-old kid. I don't have many happy memories growing up, but I was so excited when my parents said they were taking me to see it. I had the VHS tapes as soon as they came out and watched them over-and-over, and I needed to replace them because they wore out just before the SE came out and buried the theatrical version. I later bought a LD player so that I could get the Definitive LD set, along with some other movies that never made it to DVD, the Godfather Saga edition and at the time Let It Be and Paul McCartney Rock Show and a few others. I ended up finding the Dr Gonzo OT set and I love it and still prefer it over the official DVDs or the SE that I occasionally watch to remind myself of what was changed!

[@JeffCreates]

Star Wars really is the real-life saga of a once creative and good individual who turns to evil for power and money isn't it.

[@badcommentbot8349]

Not really ,no

[@JakeBlake-m3d]

Question mark 😂

[@JIAbbot]

Comma very much needed, also.

[@internziko]

Amazing video. Keep up the great work.

[@GregJoughin]

@8:22 Heh. I was the third, anonymous member of the X0 Project.

[@LisaAnn777]

Yeah and I was one of the 300 who held the Hot Gates against the Persians.

[@redacted5035]

Zion?

[@SG10FilmArchive]

If you're interested in being interviewed for Part III (GOUT Upscales and the X0 Project), feel free to reach out to me at [e-mail]!

[@chestyvulva]

The narrator sounds like Egon from The Real Ghostbusters, and I enjoyed it. 👍

[@dannydoolhoff7657]

While interesting, this leaves out much information. I look forward to part 2. During the first very long theatrical run, there were at least 3 different edits shipped to theaters. Dialog, edits, and effects actually varied between different prints. It was always fun to go see itvsfain to see what else may have changed next! I stopped counting at seeing it the first run away 15 times. I know I went at least another 5-7 times before the last closing show which I also watched. That was a sad day, the end ofcan era, when it would no longer be possible to go see Star Wars!

[@localenterprisebroadcastin5971]

This was an amazing video 👍

[@michaelbanak1441]

The bootleggers. we can't live with them, we can't live without them. In Willam K. Everson's masterbook on "Laurel and Hardy", he explained well how much of our surviving Silent Film stock, is traceable to bootleggers. Archaeologic Science has been advanced by dodgy dealers. Harold Lloyd's best talkie, "The Milky Way", suffered mass destruction by Samuel Goldwyn, who bought the rights, then bought and destroyed all the copies and the negative. He wanted to pave the way for his remake, "The Kid from Brooklyn"(Danny Jaye). We can enjoy Lloyd's classic comedy because Lloyd happened to own a nitrite original. We would do well, if George Lucas was more like Harold Lloyd.

[@eriksmith6873]

Funny thing, the same is true for oh, 75 percent of everything that survives of old-time radio. If it wasn't for the fact that collectors back in the day made unauthorized copies, it just wouldn't be here today.

[@RealRabbit1124]

I def had VHS that was more wide cut then the DVDs… so were those bootleg? I can only imagine how much those are worth now….

[@zappa1971]

Glad I still have my Laserdiscs and two working players. Eff the special editions. I still don't own the Blu-Rays. Lucas HAD to stipulate that the original versions would never be released before he sold to Disney. Disney would make a mint if they did a complete restoration and released them.

[@Blink_____]

The best version would objectively be all the 4k scans supervised by Harmy. The raw scans are nice to have, but I'd still rather watch a Harmy treated version using mostly pristine footage from the blu rays.

[@ProBreakers]

With Lucas out of the picture, they should release the original cuts again, they would make bank I’m sure, if they are worried.

[@frankschalk7790]

I remember buying a Chinese bootleg DVD set of the original trilogy in 2000, years before it was officially released. Man I cherished that set! Made from the original laserdiscs. Now, I have a bootleg blu ray set made from the despecialized editions which are quite nice.

[@momosgarage]

Where are the master copies or at least tapes for local TV broadcasts of the Holiday Special? Did I miss something or did someone already do homebrew remaster of these?

[@zeer0squared]

I was always a Harmy fan. Still have his Despecialized versions on my PC.

[@rooskiwolf1653]

I have a rather large collection of these laserdisc rips that I obtained myself in the 2000s. They have been stored since about 2010. I should compile a list.

[@TheRegularjoe1365]

Do you have the extended Dead Poets Society? My LD player died before I could rip that one and I shrugged thinking, this will be out on dvd any day now. Ah hahaha was I dum.

[@thomasokane]

I keep checking back at least twice a week for part 2. 😂

[@SG10FilmArchive]

It's currently being edited! :)

[@mghc7]

Did they use the videodisc as well to get original versions of the movie,I still have mine with and player and they still work

[@jcollins1305]

I have the dvd versions from the early 2000’s where you flipped over the disc and the original movies played. Good enough for me, am I missing something?

[@anthonyintexas]

I have an excellent VHS original release and it's like a holy grail. I think I will watch it tonight. Complete with Han shooting first, and the orange "force-field" under the land speeder.

[@sky173]

The original Star Wars was the best. For my birthday in '79, I received a bootleg VHS copy from someone who worked in the industry. I watched it so many times, I wore it out... and yes, Han shot first.

[@obviouslysub-dude9082]

3:42 The quote by George Lucas has an asterisk next to it... "I changed my films because they weren't complete. They weren't the way I had envisioned them." Just sayin'... I haven't watched the whole video yet. 😃

[@obviouslysub-dude9082]

Han shot. Greedo had his chance. Holding someone at gunpoint is grounds for being shot. 😜

[@emamartinez3789]

2:20 Metropolis footage was found in Argentina, not Peru.

[@Assimandeli]

And unfortunately, some footage is still missing! Great movie. I hope I'll be able to see it in full someday.

[@mikecrabtree8200]

The changes Lucas made, would not have been so bad if with every adaptation he made, directors cut, smurfs cut, Disney disaster cut. They ALWAYS ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!! Included a copy of the ORIGINAL theatrical release with it. Either on extended DVD/BluRay or on two discs. Ensuring that the original stayed in circulation.

[@LordDementus1987]

The Harmy Despecialized Editions, Adywan and Project 4K saved Star Wars.

[@ActionTalk1]

I hope the Harmy's Despecialized Edition gets brought up at some point in these videos. I don't have and don't care for 4K, so the Harmy version is fine with me.

[@no1DdC]

If there's one thing 4K is good for, it's for preserving fine film grain, provided the bitrate is high enough. It can really make a substantial difference. It's also really excellent for movies that packed every square millimeter of the screen with detail and/or use wide shots with tiny moving detail. Lawrence of Arabia is a film that is doing both all the time. I noticed that it felt like I was missing out on a ton on DVD, even the restored version that used a 1080p digital master downscaled to PAL. It got better with the 1080p Blu Ray, but the most recent 4K release gets at least somewhat close to the enormous amount of lush detail captured by the 70mm film. I think this is one of those films that might sell 8K Blu Ray discs to enthusiasts one day, if that format ever gets released. Provided you're sitting close enough to a good enough screen (it should always mostly fill your field of vision), 4K is the way to watch many films right now though. There is of course plenty of content out there that does not benefit from 4K. Visual effects effects, even matte paintings, can actually look less convincing at higher resolutions. Hollywood mastered films in 2K for the longest time, so the most 4K can do, provided it's not using some awful AI upscaling (looking at you, David Cameron) is reducing visible compression artifacts thanks to higher bitrates. TV shows have been designed around 1080p for years now, since it's the most common streaming resolution, although streaming services usually add enough compression on top in order to save bandwidth costs that the resulting quality is more similar to a bad 720p rip, with crushed blacks and huge blocky artifacts on the whole screen. Even lower quality "made for TV" CG doesn't survive that kind of butchery.

[@dennisp.2147]

where, generally, can i find these?

[@henrykujawa4427]

There's a particular bootleg outfit I like that specializes in old film series. Last year, I got a box from them focusing on one of the NBC Mystery Movie series that is NOT yet had an official release in the US-- "MADIGAN". The TV movies are taken from a French release (in English language, with the opening credits superimposed with English text). But the earlier theatrical film, crazy enough, the disc, while in the widescreen format, had BLACK BARS around ALL 4 sides. The guy who runs the company apologized, and said as soon as he gets a chance to redo the disc, he'd be sending me a freebie (which he's done in a few other cases). I may just go after an official release of the feature film in the meantime. It's nice to know that all 4 sides thing is not a unique occurrance.

[@jamescarter3196]

I have yet to find any version of it which retains the scene where Vader loses control of his ship and doesn't regain control. I believe the 'regain control' shots were added to a re-release somewhere between '78-81 but they weren't in the original prints I saw or the people I've asked who saw it when it was new.

[@stevejordan7275]

I remember seeing him get control back when I saw it for the first time in May '77 with my dad (at a drive-in,) and thinking an in-flight collision like that shouldn't have resulted in Vader's ship flying *away* from the Death Star from inside a trench, when hit from high and behind. I also remember an interview with George where he said, "We had to let him get away..." And he was already talking about a sequel, so it made sense that this was always planned. At least to me.

[@michaelsomething8192]

In 2005 I purchased all 6 DVDs in Brazil. Prequels had 2 discs, one with original CG, and one with updated CG. HopeEmpireReturn had a disc with original 16:9 letterboxed / fillerboxed version, and another with the early CG. My modern blurays are different than both these versions.

[@EtoinShrdlu]

The 2006 limited edition dvds contain the original theatrical cuts as extra content. They’re a poorer scan than the special editions but at least they’re not the special editions.

[@matthewgaudet4064]

Star Wars is a patchwork. It's the 1993 video master with the 1993 audio mix and the 1977 roll up and crawl tacked on. The way you know it's not theatrical is the smashing glass sounds in the detention block shootout. And also the rollup was partially stabilized and doesn't have the camera shake the theatrical had.

[@jasperfox6821]

Nothing wrong with the special editions tbh, nothing wrong with the odd extra cgi bits here and there, besides it's how alot of newer generations saw the og films anyway, including me lol. Although I would like to see the theatrical cut someday.

[@JoJoJoker]

Quality production! Especially for a smaller channel.

[@JamzeGrovedale]

Flipping a laserdisc might sound like a chore now, but was it such a big deal at the time? Its always been the case with vinyl and fans of that format often cite it as something they like to do that connects them to the music.

[@matthewgaudet4064]

Films unless plattered also came one reel at a time. Laserdisc was for film enthusiasts.

[@nekrophiliak]

Even changing the channels via remote was still a luxury in those days.

[@Kodaigon72]

Anyone know where you could watch the early Soviet bootleg at 12:30?

[@deepspacepilots]

I still have a VHS tape with a theater-bootleg of Empire Strikes Back on it.

[@Cuppy88]

As amazing as this is (still watching it), I really wish people wouldn't throw the word 'remaster' around so much when they are actually referring specifically to revisionism. George Lucas himself has done this for years and as a result, it has created so much confusion among the general public who don't actually know what remastering means. Yes, The Star Wars films have been remastered, numerous times, but they have also had a whole lot of other crap done to them that had nothing at all to do with the process of remastering, which is just to clean up and optimize the picture and sound quality to look and sound it's best. Things like altering special effects and re-editing are a totally separate thing that is done on top of the remastering process. You can remaster something and not change a single thing about it's content. THAT is what the term actually should mean but many people use it in reference to other revisionist practices. The 2002 cut of E.T., for example, is not simply a remaster, but rather an entirely different version of the film altogether. A director's cut, if you will, even though it wasn't marketed as that. The current Blu-ray of E.T. in it's 1982 theatrical cut is an actual remaster. They took the original elements, created a digital master of those elements and brought the film's presentation to an extremely high level of quality without meddling with the film's content. Virtually every film ever made has been remastered to some degree whenever it is released on a new format. They often have to create a new video master for films that hadn't previously received an HD or 4K scan for home video.

[@jonkeau5155]

Here’s another story for you to track down: the movie “The Bishops Wife” is generally only sold in black and white, but years ago there was a tv only version broadcasted which was fully colorized. You couldn’t find or buy it anywhere, it’s as if it didn’t exist and we began to wonder if it was our imagination. I searched a number of times over the years and finally found it a few years ago on The Film Collector’s Society of America for sale!

[@kirkafur3]

Hell yeah I remember them days

[@oojason-otcom]

Seems such a long time ago.... ;)

[@safirahmed]

BBC announced that Laserdisc was the future with their updated Domesday Book on Laserdisc a few years before CDs and DVDs.

[@DanielBMS]

I recently discovered this DomesDay thing even before watching this video. So fascinating to discover a lost utopian ideal.

[@MrDuncl]

As SG10 says, without Laserdisc there wouldn't have been CD, CD ROM or DVD. About a decade ago the BBC put it the Domesday book contents online and it worked great. There were even pictures of inside my local supermarket. Then they transferred the project to The National Archives who somehow managed to break it and took it offline.

[@MntneerWVU]

I still have my Definitive Collection on Laserdisc, and did my own DVD transfer back in 2000. It wasn't the bit rate limitations of MPEG2 video that was the issue for me, I could maximize encodes fairly well, but it was the lack of a component output on my LD player. S-video was no substitute for component.

[@jbalazer]

A LaserDisc stores a composite video signal. So you may not be missing anything if your player doesn't have S-Video or component outputs. The player's composite video output is already transmitting all of the information that the disc stores. Somewhere in the subsequent processing the composite signal needs to be decoded and separated, and there is no perfect way to do that. It always involves guesswork, as original information is lost when a composite signal is generated. Your TV might have good Y/C separation. Or if your LaserDisc player does a better job separating the signal than your TV does, then you're actually helped by having separate outputs on the player. Some players have Y/C separation tuned to the increased chroma bandwidth that some discs feature. The short answer is that it depends on which TV (or capture device) and which player you have. It's nothing like the situation of DVD, where you are always helped by having a component output, since the DVD is natively storing a picture with separate components. References: forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2067 web.archive.org/web/20010425032832/www.frii.com/~rjn/laser/legacy/ld92.txt

[@bigtomboye]

Beautiful story! ❤😢🎞😊

[@Tomattoism]

Heroes! the preservers are

[@rondoe95]

Disney Star Wars is just bad fanfiction to me it's things like this that keep me involved in all things Lucas Star Wars.

[@indiana2096]

Disney has also wrecked Star Wars books as well!

[@jorgezarco9269]

Mark Hamill was cast as "Matt" on Room 222. This ABC TV show was cancelled in January 1974.

[@alexsarria2476]

I bought the double disc special editions with the original unaltered theatrical release with the first updated version. They are rare and will never be released again. I will pass them on to my kids.

[@TLBradbury]

I still have my original version LaserDiscs specifically to avoid the revisionist effects, editing, etc. The pride of my collection!

[@pastorrich7436]

I happen to be the happy owner of a Pioneer Laser Disk/Karaoke system as well as the original laser disk of A New Hope. The only version I care to see.

[@albundy7718]

There's a new factor that prevents a true original copy of Star Wars now, the Mandela Effect! It's hard to spot in this video, but C3PO walking down the corridor has one silver leg now, but mostly older fans remember him being completely golden. I own a keychain from the 80s with a little fully golden C3PO. Another famous example is the line "(Luke) i am your father" which even James Earl Jones remembered with "Luke" in the beginning. Other smaller changes i can't confirm myself. Perhaps we even need a new Mandela Effect free version made with AI.

[@boedilllard5952]

How did George feel about the JarJar "light" version of his movie.

[@mattburley3189]

I bought the Star Wars limited edition box set laser disc set with my first pay cheque. I still have it. I didn’t know anything about the all this!

[@jasperfox6821]

Take the Alien Anthology on bluray for example, you get both the theatrical and directors cut. Lucus could have done the same, I mean I'm happy why my bluray collection, these films have never looked better, og trilogy and prequals alike, but would've been nice to watch the theatrical cuts to see how it was back in the 70s. It's funny how George has always been so bitter about this too :3

[@GonkThePowerDroid]

Re-cutting can work fine using existing material. Creating new material with modern methods and inserting it into an older film can be as jarring as inserting a color sequence into a b+w movie. And some people think it strange and weird that I look for these discrepancies. It's one of my favourite movies. I've seen rhem many times. It stands out like a sore thumb. And even when I can't see an actual difference... it's a feeling... it feels off... dfferent somehow... And I cant say what it is. First time I saw 4K77 I just let out a sigh. For the first time in a long time I was just watching the movie. Not wondering "is there something wrong with the screen settings?". When I first got Smokie and the Bandit on DVD I immediately noticed something. The sounds. They were different. This was not EQ-ing or some processing thing. For the new surround mix some of the original sounds had been replaced. And the original mono mix was not included. And don't some with a space limitation crap. For a mono track 128 kbps is plenty. The space reguired for 1,5 hour at that bitrate is apx. 90 MB. Fortunately the latest Blu-Ray releases include it at last.

[@junkboxxxxxx]

Do you guys do laser treatment? Laser treatment

[@mercurysunlight5689]

I still have my original VHS boxed set of the first three original movies. Still have VCR that plays them too.