Harmáček used several sources to restore the films among these was a digital transfer of a rare 35mm film print and Italian 16mm print, the 1993 LaserDisc editions, the Special Edition DVD releases from 2004, and the 2011 Blu-ray releases that were based on these 2004 masters. And as I worked on it, I learned more and more visual effects tricks, which I could then apply to de-specializing the other two films and eventually make better and better versions.' 'When one of those guys, Adywan, made a great DVD reconstruction of The Empire Strikes Back, I decided to make an HD version of that. 'There were fans before me who took the special edition DVDs and some LaserDisc transfers and tried to blend these together to recreate the original cuts in higher quality,' he explained. To embark on rebuilding the Star Wars trilogy was a long process, and not one Harmáček achieved alone. 'The original effects were completely groundbreaking at the time, and trying to suppress the original versions is, in my opinion, an act of cultural vandalism' When he later saw these sequels in their earlier forms, he was disappointed at how much the films had changed. He first saw the original unaltered cut of Star Wars on TV as a child in the Czech Republic, but was introduced to its sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi exclusively through their special editions.

Harmáček's attempt to restore the original trilogy to its former state was borne of a curatorial interest. 'I wanted to be able to show people who haven't seen Star Wars yet, like my little brother or my girlfriend, the original, Oscar-winning version, but I didn't want to have to show it to them in bad quality,' he explained.Īnd so with the aid of fellow Star Wars fans, he embarked upon creating the 'Star Wars Despecialized Edition': a version of the films that restores them to their original theatrical vision-albeit in HD quality-by collating footage from various sources and then combining them into one seamless edit.

One such devotee, Petr Harmáček (aka 'Harmy'), has spent nearly half a decade pursuing his own long-running saga-to return the first Star Wars trilogy to its former glory.

But for years, fans have been clamouring for a high-quality DVD or Blu-ray release of the original and unaltered Star Wars trilogy.

Star wars trilogy despecialized edition