The original cinema cut of Star Wars will be screened for the first time in many years as part of the British Film Institute’s (BFI) Film On Film Festival.
The iconic sci-fi blockbuster will open the festival on June 12, heading a line up filled with titles that are shot and screened through the medium of film (as opposed to digital). There are also 35mm screenings of the 1990 pilot of Twin Peaks, plus Stanley Kubrick’s short film Day Of The Fight, loaned from the director’s personal collection.
The press release promises an “original, unfaded dye transfer IB Technicolor British release print of Star Wars (1977), preserved in the BFI National Archive, and ready to transport us to a long time ago, and a galaxy far, far away, back to the moment in 1977 when George Lucas’s vision cast a spell on cinema audiences”. It will be one of the first screenings of the original cinema release of the movie in decades.
The original version of the Star Wars Trilogy was released from 1977-1983, and was available on VHS thereafter. While home releases changed the title of the first film from simply Star Wars to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, they mostly stayed faithful to the original edits.
Then, in 1997, to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the franchise, Special Edition cuts of the three films were released in cinemas. While they were successful, earning $472million combined, die-hard fans loathed the significant changes made to the films, adding modern CGI and re-editing the infamous standoff between Han Solo and Greedo.
Since then, the original cuts of the films have been hard to come by, much to viewers’ frustration. They were included as an option on a 2006 DVD boxset of the film, but Disney+ currently only provides the Special Edition versions of the trilogy. Various bootleg copies of the original cut have appeared online illegally, but swiftly taken down.
As such, this UK screening is a rare change to see the film as audiences did in 1977, with the Star Wars title retained and all the original scenes untouched.
BFI Film on Film Festival takes place at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX from June 12 to 15. Tickets go on sale to the institute’s Patrons from May 6, Members from May 7, and on General Sale from May 9, all via the BFI website.
Recently, fans mourned Clive Revill, who provided the original voice of Emperor Palpatine in the first Star Wars film. He passed away on March 11 aged 94.