Tuesday, November 10, 2015

The Overlook: Star Wars: "De-specialized Edition"

by JB
I just re-lived a piece of my childhood.

Last week, a beloved colleague of mine (Thanks, Bruce!) made me aware of a "de-specialized" version of the first Star Wars film. A man named Petr “Harmy” Harmacek, who seems to have major-league OCD (Obsessive Cinephile Disorder, a malady I share), was bothered by the innumerable changes and tweaks wrought over the years by the original filmmakers. He vowed to scour the globe for transfers of the original, untouched film and its soundtrack, and perform a homemade restoration of his own. Homemade, that is, if one's home just happens to contains tens of thousands of dollars of sophisticated video and computer equipment. Harmy even made his own mattes so that he could combine pieces of different versions of the original in the same frame!
What's more, my colleague burned a copy me a copy of Harmy’s final movie on good ol' DVD. It really and truly is Star Wars – not A New Hope, not Episode IV. It’s Star Wars from when there was only Star Wars… and that was enough.

If you would like to learn more about Harmy’s project, try here or here or here.

NOTE TO THE COPYRIGHT POLICE: Please don't put my friend in jail. Please don’t put anybody who watches this movie in jail. This pristine transfer and restoration was not made for public showing or monetary gain. No rights given or implied. Babies, clearly there are legal issues here… so, am I telling you to download this, watch this, or burn this to disc? NO. (I am also NOT telling you to do all three.)
What I am telling you is that this is the film I remember from when I was 15. It looks great. It must be the transfer; to these tired eyes, this is the closest a DVD has ever come to looking like a Blu-ray disc. How good is this transfer? My lovely wife, who claims that she does not ever require a Blu-ray disc and player and 4K screen—that she would be just as happy with a 19-inch RCA television from 1977 as long as there “were a few colors on it”—ACTUALLY SAW A DIFFERENCE IN THE TRANSFER AND COMMENTED ON HOW GOOD IT LOOKED. Hallelujah!
Watching the original film in this beyond-pristine transfer makes me realize that the Special Editions use too much digital noise reduction. The de-specialized edition has better skin tone and texture, and the original sound effects were better too. It’s nice to see the plain, green “Lucasfilm Limited” logo again. Similarly, it’s nice that the famous opening crawl no longer reads, "Chapter Four -A New Hope." It's nice to have the original puppets back in the Cantina scene where, obviously, Han shoots first. I don't miss cartoony Jabba in the docking bay scene—at all. I don't miss Biggs. I don't miss that the big explosions don't have fancy rings of light and debris shooting out of them.

(I do miss Peter Cushing. That is, seeing him reminds me that he is so good in Star Wars—so classy and professional, so effortlessly evil—that I wish they had found a way to let him appear in the sequels. What if Grand Moff Tarkin had become The Emperor? Oh, no—now I'm doing the very thing for which I'm taking Lucas to task.)

Have I mentioned that this transfer is amazing? Some of the scenes on the de-specialized version look almost 3-D. The progenitor of this project took crazy great care to get this right. In this age of 4K scans and Blu-ray playback, we can see what a tremendous difference a stunning transfer can make. Doug Pratt of the DVD/Laserdisc Newsletter used to opine that there are so many impediments to truly immersing ourselves in a movie—so many ways the director's vision can be compromised by the presentation—that it is absolutely essential that the delivery system not add any more impediments to pleasure. Now, every time a new restoration of an older film comes out, if the transfer technicians have done their jobs and have removed decades of haze and muck and distorted sound, my highest compliment becomes, "this looks like it was filmed yesterday."
Yet with the three original Star Wars movies, I believe that the idea of “restoration” was taken too far, moving into the realm of “remodel.” I see it as a case of the director himself compromising his own original vision by piling on unnecessary distractions and eye candy that distract us from the film itself.

We can’t know why George Lucas really decided to tinker with his original masterpieces. Was he simply trying to update the technology and effects because he could? Was it merchandising greed—the thought that, unless it was somehow “new and improved,” the theatrical re-releases would have flopped? Or was it the fact that he couldn’t sit still – because for the 25 years between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, he didn’t make a new film?

Turning a beloved film into a "spot the differences" trivia exercise benefits no one -- and denigrates the original film. Unless the purpose of motion pictures as an art form is to sell a few new action figures, I began to suspect that Lucas might actually hold his beloved franchise in contempt because the original trilogy imprisoned him as the gatekeeper of the franchise for so long. In discussing the matter with my wife—who is possibly an even more enthusiastic Star Wars fan than I am, judging by the fact that all her notebooks have “Mrs. Han Solo” written over and over in sparkle pen on their inside covers—I posited that maybe die-hard fans had tired of the originals and cried out for something new. She convinced me that that was not the case. Instead, perhaps it was partly the artists and technicians behind the original Star Wars who—as newly developed technologies transformed their arts and widened the possibilities of what they could achieve on film—rued the fact that they didn't have those cool new tools at their disposal when crafting the original. Maybe those technical artists had long ago tired of the film and could only see its flaws. Yet I can't think of a single change in the special edition that made it a better film.
Perhaps Lucas felt that making changes was the only way to help the world see it with new eyes. I am reminded again of a story Roger Ebert used to tell about his literature professor at the U of I, Dan Curley: Curley once told Ebert that if he could have one wish, it would be to read Romeo and Juliet again for the first time. Well, after almost 20 years of being able to only see the “Special Editions,” seeing this “de-specialized” version was like seeing Star Wars again for the first time.

I am fond of saying that art is not a democracy. Clearly, George Lucas takes our votes away from us by making the original version of Star Wars very, very difficult to see. But this is the version I'm going to choose to watch in the future. I am voting for something old and true, something trustworthy—I am voting for the Bernie Sanders of Star Wars editions.

But hey, it’s Star Wars—one of the most popular movies of all time. So what was Overlooked? Why, just the wonder and magic of the original film, babies. We’ve all been overlooking it for almost two decades, but I am here to tell you that it is still there.

May The Force be with you… always.

17 comments:

  1. Excellent article, JB. I'm convinced that the original version of Star Wars is one of the greatest films ever made, not least because of its fantastic editing. I've already sounded off about the Empire special edition, but by far the original Star Wars is the most compromised by its revision. So many things bother me. We all know about "Han shot first," but did you ever notice that when Han talks to Jabba in the special edition, they speak the exact same dialogue that Han and Greedo say earlier? That's because when Lucas realized they weren't going to be able to pull the "Jabba" scene off back in 77, he rewrote the Greedo scene to incorporate that dialogue. That made the Jabba scene completely superfluous. Of course, that didn't stop Lucas from reinserting the scene with some god-awful CGI for the revision.

    And frankly, while the new effects for the Death Star battle look great, they are a slap in the face to all the technicians who worked so hard on the film back in 76-77.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One more thing...

      In the original Star Wars, our first view of the Millennium Falcon is a special moment. The film builds up to it with Luke and Ben going to the docking bay, the cut to the bay itself, and the gradual reveal of the ship with John Williams' music swelling. Then Luke humorously undercuts the moment by exclaiming, "What a piece of junk." Another reason the "Jabba" scene is so detrimental to the film is that it shows us the Falcon earlier, before this carefully crafted moment. Someone unfamiliar with the movie might watch the special edition, get to Luke seeing the Falcon for the first time, and wonder "Why are they making a big deal out of this? We saw it earlier."

      Delete
    2. Damn - what you've described there is a great, stand out scene that I don't even remember thanks to the fact I've been watching the SE that ruined that moment for the past 15+ years. I won't keep an eye out for it when I don't watch this particular edition.

      Delete
    3. Steve, the repeated dialogue stuck out to me when I first saw the SE in the theater. It's one of the absolute worst things about the SE. I can't believe people don't seem to notice, but I guess they're distracted by that SyFy Channel version of Jabba.

      Delete
  2. Nice - I certainly won't seek this out because, you know, having bought 2 VHS variants, a DVD and a blu-ray doesn't entitle me in any way to the one goddamn version Lucas won't let me buy - and I certainly won't use it as an excuse for my OCD to let me watch something Star Wars out of order as I work my way through "The Clone Wars" TV series. Thank you for telling me NOT to do any of those things, JB, you are keeping me on the path of the Jedi.

    If there's one positive thing resulting from Lucas's endless tinkering with these movies, it's that it serves as a great jumping-off point for a larger philosophical discussion on the relationships among art, the artist and the viewer. Artistic creation is all about building, destroying, revising and changing - what obligation does the artist have to declare something finally and absolutely complete? Films in particular have a release date and an exposure to a (hopefully wide) audience - is the artist obligated to preserve that particular experience? The fact the movie won Academy Awards for specific audio/visual elements - does that further obligate the artist (or someone else?) to preserve those elements for posterity? Are audiences obligated to accept Lucas's assertion that the evolution of the medium itself allows him to now better realize his original vision? Are there right answers to any of these questions?? Who am I talking to???

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I watch the original three films (Episode IV-VI) by myself, I watch the untouched theatrical versions that were "special features" on the DVDs from 2006. when I watch them with my daughter, we watch the new Blu-rays that flow with the Prequels. I appreciate what Harmy did with his versions, but I still prefer all the matte lines and muted colors from the theatrical release. His transfers just feel too warm and slick to me, but maybe it's because I grew up with the muted VHS colors. Anyway, right after those 2006 versions came out, fans were passing around anamorphic transfers, which supposedly looked even better than the laserdisc version from 1995 and hadn't had any color timing upgrades. That's what I watch.

    Fan edits are interesting. A fellow by the name of Adywan has also amassed thousands of downloads with his cuts of the films, which retain the "good" special edition changes, and there's also The Phantom Edit, which removes Jar Jar from The Phantom Menace. I wish we could get the original theatrical films in an official capacity soon. None of this would be a thing if 20th Century Fox and Disney could work together to put them out (it hasn't been in George Lucas' hands since he sold the company). It seems like there's too much money on the table to NOT put them out, eventually. Still, the original theatrical versions that I love are a bit muddy looking, so putting them on Blu-ray without cleaning up all the matte lines and messing with the color would be controversial and probably cause nerd outrage; they still wouldn't be "original." Then there's the issue of different theaters in 1977 having prints with slightly different edits of the film, so someone is going to say "that's not the version I saw in 1977!" They already say that about the 2006 versions of the film that Lucas dumped on those bonus discs. Plus, the original cuts will confuse kids who grew up in a post-Prequel world. "Who's that old guy standing next to Yoda at the end of Return of the Jedi? What happened to the smokin' blues-rock song in Jabba's palace? It was my favorite! I hate Star Wars now!" But yes, it's time that we get an official re-release of the theatrical cuts, especially since it's been nine years since the last one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice comment Heath I love blu ray but there's something about vhs and laserdisc that I'll always have a place for in my heart. I know this isn't about the OT but I've been thinking about episode 7 and I think one of the things I'll miss most is the Fox fanfare during the opening. I know its not a big deal not having it but it really added to the excitement of knowing that your getting ready to watch something great when you watch the OT

      Delete
    2. Agreed. For years after Star Wars, whenever I saw the 20th Century Fox logo, I expected Star Wars to begin. I still expect to hear the Sopranos music whenever I see the "static-filled" logo on HBO.

      Delete
    3. Loved Adywan's New Hope and The Phantom Edit was okay. Has Adywan released Empire?

      Delete
    4. I thought he had (he was promoting it this time last year), but it looks like the answer is no.

      Delete
  4. The original, pre-Special Edition films have been online for decades at this point.

    Why would you have waited for a fan edit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. P.S. Not to mention that you can buy the 3-pack VHS pre-SE films on ebay all over the place.

      Delete
    2. I was not looking for these. I am not the biggest Star Wars fan. (That would be Heath.) These were brought to my attention, and I commented on them. Also, fan edit is a little reductive and dismissive. This disc was more of a fan restoration. Finally, I no longer have the ability to play a VHS tape.

      Delete
    3. The pre-Special Edition films available for decades are still not the original theatrical versions. The first VHS tapes were pan and scan. Then, the laser disc was 4:3---that is, except the Japanese version that came out in the early 80s. From what I can tell, that is the closest to a theatrical version out there. And yes, they are available on Ebay for about $100. The point here is this--Every version that has every been released is different from the theatrical versions in one way or another. And I agree with JB, a "fan edit" is a little reductive. The attention to detail is amazing on these versions. It is an attempt to historically restore something that only existed at one time. Kind of like someone going through the time and effort to restore a Model-T or a B-17 bomber.

      Delete
  5. This is awesome. When I was a kid, the Special Editions came out in theaters and VHS, so that's what I grew up with. But, being a fan, I eventually heard about the controversy and sought out the DVDs with the Laserdisc transfer. That's what I watch now, but it's not anamorphic and so it's kind of a bummer. Still, I think they're better movies (particularly A New Hope, as Steve said), so I'm excited to check these out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post, JB. I agree with you 100% on this. I saw Star Wars in 1977. I have fond memories of seeing it in mid-summer 1977 at the Mt. Prospect Cinema and then later at the Twin Drive-In in Wheeling. There's something very nostalgic about seeing these versions and you can tell that Harmy has the utmost respect for the original. This is not so much a "fan edit" as it is an historical restoration. As it stands, the version that won Academy Awards back in 1978 does not exist for the public. Lucas has never even submitted a copy to the National Film Registry. According to John Landis, Lucas told him a few weeks ago that Disney was planning on releasing the theatrical versions of the original films sometime soon. That'll be interesting how the rights issues between Fox and Disney will be worked out. When that happens, I'll be the first to buy another copy of the trilogy and add it to my collection. Until then, I'll watch the Harmy versions for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Possible bad news...the law changed a few years ago and now says that lack of monetary gain doesn't protect one who shows a movie, etc publicly without permission. In fact, the way that it's written at the beginning of videos these days it sounds like you could get done for hosting a movie party in your home if they really wanted to.

    Meanwhile, there has been original edits (no "A New Hope" to be seen) available on DVD for possibly ten years. The discs are a middle finger to the fans because Lucas refused to let the films be released anamorphic - but they're still better than have no copy at all. Sets in a Best Buy exclusive tin box come up for sale some times (amazon #B005ERFXUQ). (And - full disclosure - I'm thinking of selling my set...but that's not the one listed now.)

    ReplyDelete