[aRaven]

What a FINE edit!! I enjoyed the Battle of Yavin much more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSATV2vnhAQ

[brandx0]

Wow, That was fantastic.  Though I gotta say, while I loved how epic the battle looks, as soon as the Y-Wings make for the trench it just seems like the battle stops.  Would have been better if perhaps there was some conclusion to the dogfights before or during the Y-Wing trench run.  Otherwise it begs the question "What happened to all those fighters?"

[Galemp]

What?

This just looks like someone uploaded ANH to YouTube. What is it I'm supposed to be looking for?

[aRaven]

What?

This just looks like someone uploaded ANH to YouTube. What is it I'm supposed to be looking for?

the force is obviously not with this one...

[swashmebuckle]

I read a list this guy made of visual and audio changes, and there were more than a hundred.  Scenes have been added, recut, and deleted, and (most importantly) everything isn't blue.  Of special note for this mod is that the real rebel engine glow is bright red, not bubblegum pink.  Generally I really liked what this guy did and it's extremely impressive considering it's just one fan, but the sound effects are mixed way too high and the music is way too low, at least on the youtube uploads.  That might be a product of the sound being remixed for 5.1 or something though. 

Though I gotta say, while I loved how epic the battle looks, as soon as the Y-Wings make for the trench it just seems like the battle stops.

Yeah, the dogfight sequence is really cool, but in the original cut the Y-wing run is timed with the break between musical cues and the energy naturally comes down and then ramps back up for Luke's run.  When they add in all the extra stuff and play the Imperial march, it makes for a much more abrupt loss of momentum when you get into the trench.  As for what happened to the other fighters, don't forget the surviving Y-wing is the pilot from the original X-wing.  Alpha 1 cleaned house.

[Flipside]

What?

This just looks like someone uploaded ANH to YouTube. What is it I'm supposed to be looking for?

Look at the final battle, there's a massive amount of added ships to the attack run, instead of 3 Tie Fighters coming in, there's about 30, and there are extra squadrons of X-Wings/Y-Wings as well.

Even at the start, look at the Combat between the Corvette and the SD, there's a lot more firepower going back and forth than in the original

[aRaven]

and he also fixed the lightsaber color (from green to blue) and the jumpy lightsaber activation to a smooth transition with a recut and imo better cut battle between darthy and obi...don't like the added music though...

han shoots first!

greedo has facial animations!...

and so on...

[CountBuggula]

There's a log somewhere (I think I saw it on originaltrilogy.com but can't find it right now) of over 150 changes and fixes in this edit.  Pretty darn impressive, and almost all of the changes I wholeheartedly agree with.

That and the Battle of Yavin is dang impressive.

[Galemp]

o_O I think I'd rather read the log than watch it all in chunks on low-quality YouTube. It's just not the right medium for seeing these kinds of edits.

[brandx0]

I downloaded it in high quality off a torrent site.  It's pretty impressive

[EtherShock]

Well, this guy will certainly get a job in the biz!

I read a list this guy made of visual and audio changes, and there were more than a hundred.  Scenes have been added, recut, and deleted, and (most importantly) everything isn't blue.  Of special note for this mod is that the real rebel engine glow is bright red, not bubblegum pink.  Generally I really liked what this guy did and it's extremely impressive considering it's just one fan, but the sound effects are mixed way too high and the music is way too low, at least on the youtube uploads.  That might be a product of the sound being remixed for 5.1 or something though.

I liked the pinkish engine glow of the X-wings and Y-wings. I didn't think there was anything wrong with that, but that's just personal preference. The change in color looks fine but I prefer the pink.

Also the Rebel laser bolts that were more on the orange side than the some of the ones that appear red from the movies. Never understood why some of them didn't match up with the others. Maybe they could be a little more subtle, but that's truly nitpicking. It's fine the way it is.

I only watched the beginning and the Battle of Yavin, but I can say I was very impressed. I liked the cuts to the different troopers on the corvette before the door was breached, cranks up the tension just a bit. I also liked the added troops in the background. I liked the added laser bolts coming from the Falcon during her getaway and the moving starfield that implies the ship is in motion. The hyperspace field was a very nice touch after they get away. However, I didn't like pacing of the Battle of Yavin and the additional music that was added. I think there were plenty of shots that were changed from the original that could've made fit it in with the score and get the point across.  That initial shot of the TIEs could've been tightened up. It's too long. The music is very important, and I think that's what throws everything off, but I liked how much bigger battle it seems with all those fighters buzzing around. Love how the superlaser looks like it's going to fire before it blows and the new countdown and briefing holos, makes me wonder why this stuff wasn't in the Special Edition.

I actually liked most of the Special Edition's enhancements. It's the change to plot I can't stand. I wish they would release the Original Trilogy unmodified but restored like the Special Edition.

[aRaven]

I downloaded it in high quality off a torrent site.  It's pretty impressive

where and what version? i am d/l it per rapidshare...the DVD9 version but it takes very long...im halfway through it...then i stumbled across the purist version which i would prefer regarding the reversed changes that it made.

[Snail]

Not as good as towel.blinkenlights.nl

[Galemp]

Ah, there we go.

A fine edit indeed. Color correction, rotoscoping, and recompositing are all equal or better to ILM's own efforts.

There were lots of small, subtle enhancements that really pick up the overall quality. Visible backgrounds in the Battle of Yavin and the Death Star establishing shots were tremendously immersive. Blinking eyes and more facial flexibility in the cantina were also really nice. It's a nice middle ground between ANH's rubber masks, ROTJ's muppets, and the SE's overblown CGI. The redone explosions for Alderaan and the Death Star are pure win. And the remodeled Death Star in the Rebel briefing has irritated me for my entire life--the one legitimate use of using CGI to update an effect, and Lucasfilm ignored it! That, alone, would be enough of an update for me.

My only nitpicks are the choice and use of music (Imperial March comes out of nowhere in Yavin, Battle of the Heroes needed to be remixed if it was to be used with Vader and Obi-Wan) and that we don't get that last shot of Peter Cushing (Tarkin) just before he gets blown to bits. The Obi-Wan-Vader duel and the Yavin dogfight also need some better editing but he was just making do with what footage he had, I suppose.

Overall the movie's been updated to fill out the backgrounds and give it another coat of polish, and it's a much more loving and conservative edit than Lucas' own. This is perfect proof that Star Wars as a cultural artifact belongs to the fans, not to the creators.

[Lt.Cannonfodder]

Meh. Technically impressive but way too much of "more is better" attitude.

[aRaven]

My only nitpicks are the choice and use of music (Imperial March comes out of nowhere in Yavin, Battle of the Heroes needed to be remixed if it was to be used with Vader and Obi-Wan) and that we don't get that last shot of Peter Cushing (Tarkin) just before he gets blown to bits. The Obi-Wan-Vader duel and the Yavin dogfight also need some better editing but he was just making do with what footage he had, I suppose.

adywan made a purist edition where he took most of these changes out.

[CountBuggula]

I finally got a chance to sit down and watch a high-resolution copy of this tonight with 5.1 sound and I'm amazed.  It was by far the most enjoyable viewing of Star Wars since I was a kid.  There were all sorts of fun things that delighted me without any of the horrible things that disgusted me.

My wife couldn't figure out what I was so excited about when I exclaimed "Yes!  Han shot first!"

[Flipside]

The fight between Obi and Darth was the only minor irritation for me, as was mentioned earlier, it seemed to use too many loops of the same actions to the point where it was over-obvious. Other than that, I was incredibly impressed.