For Star Wars fans

[didymus]

A group of obsessive Star Wars fans have restored the original Star Wars movie, stripping it of later “improvements”.
openculture.com/2014/08/fans-reconstruct-authentic-version-of-star-wars.html

The process of collecting all the subsequent versions to reconstruct the original sounds fascinating – and the fact that someone actually did it is a reminder that the word “fan” drives from “fanatic”.

Interesting question as to whether restoring the original film violates Lucas’s copyright. He’s quoted in an article in the Atlantic (speaking against colorisation of old films):

“People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society,” Lucas said in his speech. He went on:

Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tomorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with “fresher faces,” or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor’s lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new “original” negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.

So are you a barbarian if you create a cultural icon nd deface it yourself?

 

[Elizium23]

No, I think there’s a rightful double standard here. The artist should have ultimate control over his vision. However, when an artist releases something out in the wild, as it were, he should understand that he’s given up a modicum of control right there, copyright laws and so forth notwithstanding. It is extremely unfortunate that the aforementioned laws make it possible to completely squelch previous versions of a work as has been done to Star Wars, so I fully support the fans’ rights to reconstruct that which has been stolen from the public in this way.

 

[adawgj]

Sounds cool, but I already have the original theatrical release on DVD