Harmy's Despecialized Edition

It is a high-quality replica of the out-of-print theatrical versions, created by a team of Star Wars fans with the intention of preserving the films, culturally and historically.

These versions, promoted as the "Special Edition", included additional scenes, different dialogue, new sound effects, and computer-generated imagery.

[3] In 1997, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Star Wars, Lucas re-released new cuts of the trilogy to theaters, naming them the "Special Editions".

[4] Reactions to the "Special Edition" versions remain controversial, with some commentators praising the picture and sound restoration, but criticising unnecessary additions such as computer-generated characters, creatures, and vehicles as well as alterations to the essential story;[5] most notably a short scene involving the bounty hunter Greedo shooting at Han Solo from the first film drew significant ire.

[8] Despite a high demand and many online fan petitions, Lucasfilm has refused to release the theatrical versions of Star Wars in HD quality.

In 2010, Lucas stated that bringing the original cuts to Blu-ray would be a "very, very expensive" process;[9] as of 2025[update], the films are still only widely available in their altered versions.

[10] Petr Harmáček (known online by the alias "Harmy") had watched a dubbed version of the original cut of Star Wars at the age of six, and had then seen the Special Editions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on their 1997 release.

Lightsabers were color-corrected, shots of the Millennium Falcon cockpit were un-cropped, Boba Fett's original voice was restored, and CGI characters and backgrounds were removed.

[7] As of October 2021[update], the most recent versions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are v2.7, v2.0 and v3.1 respectively.

[12][17] As a result of the project, Harmáček was able to quit his teaching job and in 2015 was hired by UltraFlix to prepare and restore a library of 4K-encoded films for sale and rent.

He has since joined UPP, a Prague-based VFX house, as a 2D digital compositor and worked on such projects as Blade Runner 2049, Wonder Woman, and AMC's The Terror.

[20] He used original 35mm prints of the localized Italian-language edition, as well as a rare 1991 VHS copy, to reproduce the opening crawl, subtitles, and end credits (even preserving some typos) of the film, as they were seen in Italian theaters.

[21] Although widely praised, some have remarked that Harmy's Despecialized Editions are still technically reconstructions using digital effects and upscaling of low quality sources,[22] rather than truly unaltered preservations.

Writing for Inverse, Sean Hutchinson placed it at number one on his list of the best Star Wars fan edits, and described it as "the perfect pre-1997 way to experience the saga.

[16] In an article listing Ars Technica's favorite Star Wars items, Sam Machkovech selected Harmy's Despecialized Edition, calling it "a treat.