\n<\/p>\n
Han shot first.<\/p>\n
As we celebrate the most hallowed of holidays \u2014 May the Fourth, also known as \u201cStar Wars Day\u201d because, you know, \u201cmay the Force be with you\u201d \u2014 let us all agree that a long time ago, in a galaxy that now feels very far away indeed, Han shot Greedo first. No amount of special editions or George Lucas declarations<\/a> will change that, even if, uh, Lucas actually did<\/em> change that scene. If you seek the originals, these aren\u2019t the films you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n A rebellion began in 1997, when Lucasfilm first released altered \u201cspecial editions\u201d of the first trilogy, adding new or revised scenes, computer-generated effects and expanded worlds. Ever since, fans have clamored for high-definition releases of the unaltered movies. Lucas has resisted and has continued altering them, insisting he is fulfilling his vision for the films, which was technologically and financially impossible when they were first made \u2014 though he once called altering art \u201cbarbaric<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n So if you want to see the original \u201cStar Wars\u201d trilogy \u2014 as they were shown in theaters, a bit softer and grainier<\/a> (and with Han Solo definitely <\/em>shooting the bounty hunter Greedo first<\/a>, not in self-defense, as he now does) \u2014 you\u2019ll have to rely on some rebel fans like Robert Williams.<\/p>\n Williams, a Philadelphia-based computer programmer, is part of a group of five people called Team Negative One, one of a few \u201cStar Wars\u201d fan groups that, for more than a decade, have collected 35-millimeter prints of the first \u201cStar Wars\u201d movies and laboriously restored them in 4K. Known as Project 4K, the movies are titled by the years they were released: 4K77<\/a>, 4K80<\/a> and 4K83<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOur goal was to find a way to make it look as good as the official releases<\/a>,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n The restorations<\/a> are not authorized and come from film reels that were meant to be returned or destroyed after cinemas were done with them. While their legality is in question, fans and preservationists argue<\/a> the public has a right to view art, including film, in its original form. Lucas, however, has reportedly said to fans<\/a>: \u201cGrow up. These are my movies, not yours.\u201d<\/p>\n In February, Team Negative One announced the completion of the trilogy project, with a 4K version of \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Many of Lucas\u2019s edits of the original movies were cosmetic changes. An extended shot here. A beep there. More computer-generated background figures, some replacing models or puppets, and color changes.<\/p>\n But some changes<\/a> shifted character arcs, such as the famous scene in the original \u201cStar Wars\u201d with Greedo and Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, at the Mos Eisley Cantina<\/a>. In that 1977 release \u2014 later retitled \u201cA New Hope\u201d \u2014 the outlaw Han shoots and kills the bounty hunter, without much provocation, setting up a redemptive arc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Since the 1997 edition, Han fires in self-defense, an edit that drew scorn from some fans, who took up \u201cHan shot first\u201d as a battle cry (featured on unofficial merchandise<\/a>) and boycotted<\/a> DVD releases. Even \u201cSouth Park\u201d<\/a> pilloried Lucas over the edits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lucas, in 1997, said the new special editions would be the definitive versions. \u201cThe other versions will disappear,\u201d he said. \u201cEven the 35-millimeter tapes of \u2018Star Wars\u2019 out there won\u2019t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams, 49, met his fellow restorers on the message boards of a site called Original Trilogy<\/a>. Williams, who grew up in Britain, first saw \u201cStar Wars\u201d in theaters in 1977 and in the 1980s fell in love with the films by watching them on television every Christmas.<\/p>\n Team Negative One wasn\u2019t the first to attempt such an ambitious project. One, known as the \u201cStar Wars Despecialized Edition<\/a>,\u201d led by Petr Harmy<\/a>, reassembled the movies from DVDs, VHS tapes and laser discs<\/a>. Harmy\u2019s and Williams\u2019s groups have collaborated.<\/p>\n Restoration<\/a> begins with finding the original film reels and digitizing them. Williams said that over the years, his group\u2019s sources for the reels had included eBay and collectors who had them in storage. The films are then run through an old-school projector. Once the film is scanned, the team goes through it frame by frame, cleaning and upgrading it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The first restoration was done in 2016 with \u201cA New Hope.\u201d Over the next year, the group came across an almost pristine reel of \u201cReturn of the Jedi,\u201d<\/a> the third film in the trilogy. It was completed in 2017 \u2014 without Darth Vader yelling \u201cNooooo!\u201d<\/a> as he kills the emperor.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back,\u201d however, took seven years, because the group had to restore a damaged print of the film<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lucas, in an interview with The Associated Press in 2004, said that the altered versions of the films were what mattered to him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I\u2019m sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it,\u201d Lucas said at the time<\/a>. \u201cBut I want it to be the way I want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n