Harmy's Despecialized Edition: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:56, 12 June 2025

Revision as of 17:27, 8 July 2025

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Although Harmy's Despecialized Editions have been widely praised, some have remarked that they are still technically reconstructions using digital effects and upscaling of low quality sources,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDz8VMMJU6I&t=767s |title=Introducing the Despecialized Edition and Its Sources |date=2021-03-11 |type=Motion Picture |language=en |publisher=Harmáček, Petr |place=Czech Republic |access-date=2023-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725204203/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDz8VMMJU6I&t=767s |archive-date=2023-07-25 |url-status=live |people=Harmáček, Petr (Director)}}</ref> rather than truly unaltered preservations. This led to subsequent attempts at improvement, such as the ''Silver Screen Edition''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dreamaster |date=2016-04-22 |title=Info: Improving Silver Screen Edition colors on the cheap |url=https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Info-Improving-Silver-Screen-Edition-colors-on-the-cheap/id/49565 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725204204/https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Info-Improving-Silver-Screen-Edition-colors-on-the-cheap/id/49565 |archive-date=2023-07-25 |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Original Trilogy.com}}</ref> and ''Skywalker Edition.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collipso |date=2018-09-18 |title=**4K77** - Released - Original Trilogy |url=https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/4K77-Released/id/60815/page/17#1241141 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725204203/https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/4K77-Released/id/60815/page/17#1241141 |archive-date=2023-07-25 |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Original Trilogy.com}}</ref>

One of these efforts, ''Project 4K77,'' is a fan project to scan and restore original 35mm prints of ''Star Wars'' from 1977.<ref name="NYTimes2024" /> The project name refers to the [[4K resolution]] used and the film's release year of 1977.<ref name="NYTimes2024" /> In 2016, a few 35mm prints were located and donated to a group of fans called "Team Negative 1" (TN1), who scanned these prints at 4K resolution. TN1 released the film online in May 2018, first in the form of a 4K UHD file and then a [[1080p]] downscale. According to the ''Project 4K77'' website, 97% of the restored video came from a single print that was dubbed in Spanish, with the remainder from an alternate print and some frames upscaled from the official Lucasfilm Blu-ray.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Project 4K77 {{!}} The Star Wars Trilogy |url=https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k77/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028162528/https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k77/ |archive-date=2020-10-28 |access-date=2020-10-04 |language=en-US}}</ref>

TN1 followed ''4K77'' with ''Project 4K83'', based on an original 35mm print of ''Return of the Jedi'' (released in 1983) that was discovered and scanned in 4K.<ref name="NYTimes2024" /> According to their website, this print required little cleanup, and the restoration was released in October 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Project 4K83 {{!}} The Star Wars Trilogy |url=https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k83/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028162547/https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k83/ |archive-date=2020-10-28 |access-date=2020-10-04 |language=en-US}}</ref> TN1 released a subsequent improved V2.0 of this restoration in 2023, which contains more "theatrically accurate" colors due to a technical error when encoding the original release.