In fact, one of the earliest changes made to Star Wars was within weeks into its theatrical run that included the “more-widely distributed 35mm release had a 2-track Dolby Stereo matrixed 4-channel optical soundtrack rather than the original mono mix that was released in June 1977 for exhibition in cinemas”. So, the big question remains, will we ever see the original Star Wars Trilogy officially released again?įor those unfamiliar, George had been slightly tinkering with the original Star Wars Trilogy since shortly after the first film hit cinemas in 1977.
The simple fact that TNT had paid out a reported 250 million dollars in order to play the Blu-ray version is something that is unreal, at least in my opinion. Once again, and opportunity for the original versions to be played on some sort of official medium was missed. Did AMC even ask for the original version? Who knows…įast forward to last week, TNT television aired all six Star Wars films that included the original Star Wars trilogy. Imagine the media attention that AMC could have had if they had shown the original versions over the 2011 Blu-ray’s. However, it seemed like something was missing and an incredible missed opportunity was lost for a company that paid millions to screen it.
Soon, ‘Star Wars: A New Hope” began, and we found out the answer as we all watched the 2011 Blu-ray version play out on the big screen.ĭon’t get me wrong, the AMC movie marathon event was a wonderful fan experience that I will never forget and talk about for years to come. Of course, the main topic on the table was “are we seeing the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars Trilogy tonight”. Naturally, as with most Star Wars fans at various events, a few fans in the cinema gathered together to discuss “all things Star Wars”. Before that, I had only seen ‘Star Wars’ (after Young Frankenstein played) on the big screen in 1978′ inside an old yellow Mustang at the now demolished 100 Twin Drive-In in Minnesota. It was the first time I had seen ‘Star Wars’ on the big screen since the “Special Edition’ release back in 1997′. Last year, I had the honor of hanging with hundreds of wonderful fans for over 20 hours watching all seven Star Wars films for the AMC movie marathon. With Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on the horizon, could there be a glimmer of hope that we may see remastered the original theatrical versions some time in the future? Some hope that might be the case! Right now, the only versions available on home video is some form of these altered versions. If there’s one thing that some Star Wars fans want more than anything is the chance to see the unaltered versions of the original trilogy without the infamous Special Edition enhancements. From my personal copy of the original ‘Star Wars’