Editing Star Wars (film) (section)

==== Special Edition ====
[[File:Star Wars (1997 re-release poster).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|The theatrical release poster for the 1997 Special Edition]]

After ILM began to create CGI for Steven Spielberg's 1993 film ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'', Lucas decided that digital technology had caught up to his "original vision" for ''Star Wars''.<ref name="Dreams" /> For the film's 20th anniversary in 1997, ''Star Wars'' was digitally remastered with some altered scenes and re-released to theaters, along with ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'', under the campaign title ''Star Wars'' Trilogy: Special Edition. This version of ''Star Wars'' runs 124 minutes.

The Special Edition contains visual shots and scenes that were unachievable in the original film due to financial, technological, and time constraints.<ref name="Dreams" /> The process of creating the new visual effects was explored in the documentary ''[[Special Effects: Anything Can Happen]]'', directed by ''Star Wars'' sound designer Ben Burtt.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kwinn|first=Ann|title=Special Effects: Anything Can Happen|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/reviews/2008-08-special-effects?q=John+Lithgow|work=[[Boxoffice (magazine)|Boxoffice]]|publisher=Boxoffice Media |access-date=May 20, 2014|date=July 4, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521032352/http://www.boxoffice.com/reviews/2008-08-special-effects?q=John+Lithgow |archive-date=May 21, 2014}}</ref> Although most changes are minor or cosmetic in nature, many fans and critics believe that Lucas degraded the film with the additions.<ref name="Changes">{{cite web|publisher=DVDActive.com|title=Star Wars: The Changes|url=http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/star-wars-the-changes-part-one.html |access-date=September 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223003329/http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/star-wars-the-changes-part-one.html |archive-date=December 23, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Restoring Star Wars">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-14/restoring-star-wars/6994818|title=Restoring Star Wars|work=ABC News |access-date=December 18, 2015|date=December 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124070713/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-14/restoring-star-wars/6994818|archive-date=January 24, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Doesn't Want You">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/the-star-wars-george-lucas-doesnt-want-you-to-see/379184/|title=The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See|date=August 27, 2014|first=Rose|last=Eveleth|author-link=Rose Eveleth |magazine=The Atlantic |access-date=November 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828030602/http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/the-star-wars-george-lucas-doesnt-want-you-to-see/379184/|archive-date=August 28, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> A particularly controversial change in which a bounty hunter named Greedo shoots first when confronting Han Solo has inspired T-shirts bearing the phrase "[[Han shot first]]".<ref name="HSF">{{cite web|website=StarWars.com|publisher=Lucasfilm|title=Exclusive T-shirts to Commemorate DVD Release|url=https://www.starwars.com/collecting/shop/shopnews/news20060503.html |access-date=August 14, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902034847/http://starwars.com/collecting/shop/shopnews/news20060503.html |archive-date=September 2, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://collider.com/star-wars-blu-ray-changes-2/112594/|title=More Changes to STAR WARS Include Blinking Ewoks and Different Cut of Greedo Shooting First |access-date=September 19, 2011|date=September 1, 2011|magazine=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110925081226/http://collider.com/star-wars-blu-ray-changes-2/112594|archive-date = September 25, 2011|url-status = live}}</ref>

''Star Wars'' required extensive recovery of misplaced footage and restoration of the whole film before Lucas's Special Edition modifications could be attempted. In addition to the negative film stock commonly used for feature films, Lucas had also used Color Reversal [[Internegative]] (CRI) film, a reversal stock subsequently discontinued by Kodak. Although it theoretically was of higher quality, CRI deteriorated faster than negative stocks. Because of this, the entire composited negative had to be disassembled, and the CRI portions cleaned separately from the negative portions. Once the cleaning was complete, the film was scanned into the computer for restoration. In many cases, entire scenes had to be reconstructed from their individual elements. Digital compositing technology allowed the restoration team to correct for problems such as misalignment of mattes and "blue-spill".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theasc.com/magazine/starwars/articles/sped/ssws/pg1.htm|title=Saving the Star Wars Saga – page 1|publisher=[[American Society of Cinematographers]] |access-date=February 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921225101/http://www.theasc.com/magazine/starwars/articles/sped/ssws/pg1.htm |archive-date=September 21, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1989, the 1977 theatrical version of ''Star Wars'' was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry of the United States [[Library of Congress]].<ref name="NFR-Titles" /> 35&nbsp;mm reels of the 1997 Special Edition were initially presented for preservation because of the difficulty of transferring from the original prints, but it was later revealed that the Library possessed a copyright deposit print of the original theatrical release.<ref name="Andrews-NFR" /> By 2015, this copy had been transferred to a [[2K resolution|2K]] scan, now available to be viewed by appointment.<ref name="mashable.com">{{cite web|last=Ulanoff|first=Lance|title=The search for the 'Star Wars' George Lucas doesn't want you to see|url=http://mashable.com/2015/12/17/star-wars-original-cut/#q9dBHW8NZkq0|website=Mashable|date=December 17, 2015 |access-date=October 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013075503/http://mashable.com/2015/12/17/star-wars-original-cut/#q9dBHW8NZkq0|archive-date=October 13, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Shortly after the release of ''[[Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]],'' director [[Gareth Edwards (filmmaker)|Gareth Edwards]] claimed he viewed a 4K restoration of the original theatrical version of ''Star Wars'', created by Disney. The company has never confirmed its existence, however.<ref>{{cite web |first=Vikram |last=Murthi | url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/rogue-one-gareth-edwards-4k-restoration-a-new-hope-star-wars-1201762331/ | title='Rogue One' Director Gareth Edwards Says There's a 4K Restoration of 'A New Hope' |work=IndieWire | date=December 23, 2016 | access-date=November 15, 2023 | archive-date=November 15, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115044826/https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/rogue-one-gareth-edwards-4k-restoration-a-new-hope-star-wars-1201762331/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jenkins |first=David |title=Gareth Edwards: The Last Detail |url=http://lwlies.com/interviews/gareth-edwards-rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227191916/http://lwlies.com/interviews/gareth-edwards-rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/ |archive-date=December 27, 2017 |access-date=January 19, 2018 |work=Little White Lies}}</ref>