Yeah, so I'm a Star Wars geek.
I used to post on OriginalTrilogy.com when it looked like the original, non-ruined version of Eps 4/5/6 were never gonna make it to DVD. They eventually did get an official release so I didn't bother checking the forum after that. This weekend I was sorting through my bookmarks, looked at the forum again and saw a thread for this fan-edit project:
http://fanedit.org/517/Sounded interesting, so I downloaded the Xvid for a peek. Usually, the fan edits on OT.com and FE.org are pretty poor and do nothing for me, but dear GOD, this one is incredible! Essentially, THIS is what should have been released as the Special Edition of EP IV. This guy is mind bogglingly talented - SE-ing EP IV a whole shit ton better than ILM managed themselves!
Here are shot comparisons to show what unbelievable lengths he went to to make the SE as good as possible:
http://picasaweb.google.com/doubleofive/StarWarsRevisitedVisualComparisonPart1http://picasaweb.google.com/doubleofive/StarWarsRevisitedVisualComparisonPart2He also got rid of the hateful crap included for no good reason, like the Jabba scene, Greedo Shooting first, cartoon robots pissing around in Mos Eisley etc
I love the original 77 version for all its nostalgic/cheap/tackiness, but this 2008 revisited version is just fantastic - I might even go as far as to say this improves on it (where as the 97/04 Lucas SE's fucking ruined it!). There are quite a few apparent artistic alterations, ie scene in Bens' Hut and the Ben vs. Vader showdown, but both I think improve on the original. These alterations really do make this a "Special Edition" compared to the original, they remind me of how well the "Final Cut" of Blade Runner turned out.
Adywan is currently working on ESB and has plans for ROTJ after that too!
Seriously, just fucking watch this if you are a Star Wars geek, grew up with and love the Theatrical Cuts and despise the butchered Lucas SE DVDs. This version by Adywan is just incredible and will be be sitting proudly next to my DVDs of the Theatrical Cut for a long time to come.