Following a request, I managed to track down the original star wars trilogy from my uncle's laserdisc collection, the rare editions that have not been remastered, and that Mr Lucas refuses to release on DVD. My unc gave me a quick preview of them, and they are crystal clear, real nice! I'll no doubt get them transfered to dvd for my own personal use eventually, but if I get enough interest in them just now, I'll go ahead and get them done asap.

I don't know anything about this, but have heard for years about Lucas not releasing the original versions and fans wanting to see them. I know the recent DVD set had extra footage included, like Jabba being in the original Star Wars in that set, something that wasn't included when I first saw the movie in the theatres in 1977 - is that the only difference? Or, what?

The original trilogy recently released on DVD was pretty much a special special edition: the 1997 special editions released to theatres with even more editing and remastering to change and "fix" things.

I would be totally interested in your original version:wave:

I mean, Lucas may have been able to doctor it the way he wanted, improving it, but for nostalgic reasons, it was the original version that was imprinted on my young mind as a masterpiece, and that's the one I want to see when I go skipping down memory lane.
The new improved may be nicer to look at, but it doesn't have the mark on my childhood like the original does.

I mean, what if they did that to other masterpieces I marvelled at as a child, like Dark Crystal, the first Indiana Jones, Alligator (yes, that was mind-blowing when I was young)? If they added extra scenes, people, sounds, they just wouldn't be the same movies I fondly remember!
We should be able to choose which to watch.

I have all 3 of the star wars movies on DVD as they were originally shown in the movie theaters. Got these a while back, excellent quality.

I don't know exactly what was changed in the remastered versions, but I do know that this set is what was originally released, before any special editions came along. The obvious benifit of transfering them from laser disc is that unlike the theatre version, the quality is far superior (i.e. no reel change flashes, etc...).

I don't know exactly what was changed in the remastered versions, but I do know that this set is what was originally released, before any special editions came along. The obvious benifit of transfering them from laser disc is that unlike the theatre version, the quality is far superior (i.e. no reel change flashes, etc...).

Yeah, thats the ones I have, the laserdisc transfers. The released DVD sets are the special edition ones that have the redone special effects, scenes added in. I have the original movies the way they were shown in the movie theaters when they first came out. They are 9.5/10 quality. Most star wars fans have had them for years. They are actually very common to find if you visit the right sites.

ok, you might as well do the trading then if you have them already. I think I'll go ahead and get mine transferred anyway. That way I can do them up with real nice menus and covers, and get a true ntsc encode on them.

cheers,
jie