Everyone Is Wrong About The BFI Star Wars Screening

If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ve no doubt heard by now that this year’s BFI Film on Film Festival will feature a screening of the original 1977 version of Star Wars. Every pop culture website covering the story (including this one) has been emphasizing that the print is the “unaltered” version of the film, and they’ve all been wrong. That’s not to imply that anyone in the press deliberately spread false information; to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, you could even say that they were right, “from a certain point of view.” After all, the emphasis on the word “unaltered” is obviously meant to refer to the controversial CGI changes Lucas made to Star Wars: A New Hope with the 1997 Special Edition theatrical re-release.

What only the most pedantic fans know, however, is that George Lucas started making changes to Star Wars the very same year it was released, including several minor adjustments made to the film before its international release. That means that, technically, the print of Star Wars that the BFI plans to screen is not the original, unaltered version of the film.

Does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely not. Will attendees of the Film on Film Festival even notice? Not unless they were in L.A. for the film’s first few showings, no. The only reason we’re bringing it up is because, for good or ill, we live in a world where nerds constantly try to one-up each other with esoteric lore to the point where a game show called Um, Actually exists. It would be weird if someone didn’t point out this (admittedly silly) technicality.

Star Wars Hasn’t Been Unaltered Since May of 1977

The true, unaltered, original theatrical cut of Star Wars existed for about a month — maybe less? It’s hard to find exact dates for the various edits, but here’s what we know. The movie’s audio underwent its first changes in June 1977, when it was mixed from Dolby Stereo to a mono mix for theaters without Dolby Stereo or surround sound. Normally, remixing the audio wouldn’t be altering, except that this mono version featured some sound effect replacements and, at a few points, completely different dialogue.

Here are just a few examples pulled from Wookiepedia:

• All of Aunt Beru’s lines are either alternate takes or possibly a different voice altogether.
• As Luke, Obi-Wan, and the droids first approach the Mos Eisley Cantina, a musical cue not in the original stereo mix is heard.
• Luke’s line during the Death Star run, “Blast it, Biggs, where are you?” was changed to “Blast it, Wedge, where are you?” This was most likely because Lucas cut almost all of Biggs’ scenes from the final cut of the movie.
• Several beeps and explosions were changed, and extra growls were added for Chewbacca’s scenes.

Visually there were just four minor — but noticeable — changes made between the film’s L.A. premiere in May of 1977 and its December UK premiere.

• When the Millennium Falcon takes off from Mos Eisley with the Empire in hot pursuit, a different effects shot was used for the part where the Star Destroyer shoots at it. The international version had different explosions, flashes, and looked more polished overall.
• When the Falcon arrives on Yavin 4, there is an outdoor composited shot featuring a matte painting of the Rebels’ temple base. In the UK release, the shot has been recomposed and is not synced the same as the previous version.
• When the X-Wings and Y-Wings take off from Yavin 4, an extra cloud is added in the international release, and the shot is synced differently than its predecessor.
• The end credits for the international release were completely redesigned with new spacing, both vertically and horizontally.

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Oddly enough, this isn’t the only tinkering Lucasfilm did with the original Star Wars prior to the Special Editions. For the film’s 1981 re-release, the words “Episode IV: A NEW HOPE” were famously added to the opening crawl, but that’s not the only change the ’81 version sports. The entire opening crawl itself was redone, including capitalizing the word “rebel” in “rebel spies”.

Even the starfield behind the crawl was changed to the starfield from The Empire Strikes Back. The re-release also snagged the “Star Wars” logo that appears on screen right before the crawl from its younger sibling. Once again, the visuals were changed slightly as well, including a complete recompositing of the initial scene of the Star Destroyer chasing the Tantive IV.

These aren’t the only tweaks made to A New Hope in the years leading up to the Special Editions. Unsurprisingly, minor edits were made for several of the film’s home video releases, as well. It seems that George Lucas has always had a problem calling his movies “done,” even years after their initial release.

Just so we’re clear, the ultimate intent behind the BFI screening of a pre-Special Edition print of Star Wars — dating before the A New Hope name-add even — is to give fans who grew up with CGI Jabba and Greedo shooting first a chance to see the movie that changed cinema forever in its original form, warts and all. Their efforts should be celebrated, and honestly, this may be the only legal way to see a (mostly) unaltered high-definition version of Star Wars.

We just wanted to set the record straight in a nitpicky, “Actually, the Doctor‘s name is Frankenstein” kind of way that fans with too much time on their hands tend to do.

The British Film Institute will be screening the (mostly) original 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars at the London Film on Film Festival on June 12th.