Back in 1997, George Lucas decided to re-release his original Star Wars masterpieces in theaters in all new, special edition versions. Many fans were ecstatic over the news. For many years, the only possible way to watch the films was through the fairly low quality VHS and Laserdisc versions. The move gave fans a chance to see the original Star Wars trilogy in theaters again, and for some, for the first time.

To make it even more exciting, the movies would be in all-new, improved, special edition versions. Naturally, Star Wars fans flocked to theaters to see these amazing films on the big screen once again. After the movie was over, many found that they enjoyed the new special edition versions, but they were happy that they would also still get the option of viewing the original versions. Right?

That’s just the problem. To this day, the original unaltered Star Wars trilogy has never been officialy remastered for DVD or Blu-Ray. DVD’s were released in 2004, but contained only the Special Editions. In 2006, the special edition DVD’s were re-released, but this time, containing the original unaltered versions of all the films. However, this DVD was just a disappointment. This release was non-anamorphic, and was nothing more than a direct master of the 1993 Laserdisc release.

Then, in 2011, it was announced that all of the films would be released on Blu-Ray. Perhaps this was it. However, fans were disappointed once again to find out that this Blu-Ray, like the DVD, contained only the special editions.

By this point many fans had given up hope. However, there was one who didn’t. A Czech fan by the name of Petr Harmy decided to take matters into his own hands.

After the release of the Blu-Ray, Harmy realized that it was near impossible that the original versions of the original trilogy would ever be released officially. Harmy just happens to be an editor, and he decided to do what editors do best.

Using the Blu-Ray as the primary source, Harmy decided to do a complete reconstruction of the original Star Wars trilogy. The result: The Star Wars Trilogy: Despecialized Edition.

For many years, I didn’t know about the Despecialized Edition, so the only way for me to view the original trilogy was through the officially released special edition Blu-Ray’s from 2011.

When I first heard about the Despecialized Edition of Star Wars, my first reaction was, “Why didn’t I hear about this sooner?” However, since I’m not too tech savy, I was afraid that something might go wrong in the download process. Because of this, I didn’t download them. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I finally decided to do it, after my dad (who is a big Star Wars fan) told me about how much he wished that they would release the original Star Wars trilogy on Blu-Ray. Apparently, he had never heard about the Despecialized Edition.

I then decided to download the Despecialized Edition and burn them onto Blu-Ray discs for him for Christmas. I had originally planned to wait to watch them with him on Christmas, but I just couldn’t resist.

A few weeks ago I was babysitting my cousins, and I decided to introduce them to Star Wars. No matter how much I wanted to wait for Christmas to watch them with my dad, I decided that I wanted to introduce them to Star Wars through the original versions. And I must say, what a fantastic experience!

Just to let you know how much of a difference it makes, I had originally hated the first movie A New Hope, but after watching it in its original, Oscar winning form, It is now tied with my other favorite, The Empire Strikes Back.

I cannot speak for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as I have not viewed those films yet (they are currently sitting all wrapped up under my Christmas tree), but I’m sure that they are just as amazing.

May the force be with you.