A Different Kind of 'Star Wars'

The “Star Wars” film phenomenon is really like no other. Despite the criticized prequels, the much maligned changes George Lucas made with his ’97 special editions and other fan squabble, the near limitless throng of fans just keeps on growing. 

Some “Star Wars” devotees have taken huge steps in fandom, including those who spend countless hours creating their own edits of the films. Sure, there are fan edits of other movies out there, but none seem to garner the same passion and intensity as the “Star Wars” flicks.  

Thanks to my pal, Travis Gamelin, I’ve taken a peek at a few, and to say I was blown away is an understatement. These projects are not only incredibly impressive, but should certainly quench the thirst of fans as they await the arrival of the new trilogy.

“Star Wars: Revisited”

A technical wiz who goes by the name Adywan has created what some are calling the definitive version of “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.” The changes and tweaks he’s made to the film are exhaustive, and it took him two years to do it. The more than 250 changes include Han Solo shooting Greedo first and impressive CGI work in the Cantina scene. The latter features brand new facial movements given to the bar’s rubber-faced clientele, which are seamlessly added to the movie. Adywan color corrected the film, re-mastered and restored shots, re-composited special effect shots, and created entirely new sequences. This is definitely what Lucas’ special edition should have been, and Adywan is now working on edits of “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” I can't recommend this one enough.

You can read a list of the changes here: http://swrevisited.wordpress.com/anhr-change-list/

“Star Wars ’30s Serial Edition”

George Lucas has always said that one of his big influences was the cliffhanger sci-fi serials of the 1930s. A fan editor known as The Man Behind The Mask took that to heart and has condensed the entire six-part saga into two films, each about an hour and a half in length, and transformed them into black and white serial-style productions. The voices and sound effects have been removed, dialogue cards have been added, and John Williams’ score dominates. “Star Wars ’30s Serial Edition: Part One” features the whole prequel trilogy condensed into one film. It actually results in a far more pleasant experience than the original prequels, and the black and white look helps remedy that distracting CGI gloss. The biggest bonus may be the fact we don’t have to hear Jar Jar Binks at all. Even his gibberish is replaced with correct English on the dialogue cards. I’ve yet to see “Part Two,” which sandwiches the original trilogy into one chunk, but I imagine it’s a fantastic and interesting way to experience “Star Wars” in a different way.

“War of the Stars: A New Hope Grindhoused”

With this edit, The Man Behind The Mask morphs “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” into a C-grade exploitation flick.  A cheesy soundtrack, blood splatters, a distressed print look, the addition of deleted scenes and more make this a whole different movie going experience. Even some snarky James Earl Jones dialogue from other movies has been added here and there to make Vader’s lines cheeky. Darth Vader’s eyes even glow an evil red when he’s getting down and dirty. While it doesn’t improve on the original, it’s a complete blast to watch.