Primetime Backyard Movie Series - STAR WARS (Original Theatrical Cut) (1977)

So we're gonna do this one after several requests, and to prove to you non-believers that I really do own this unicorn. And believe it or not, unless you saw this in a theater in its initial theatrical release in 1977, you probably haven't actually seen it anywhere.

In the summer of 1977 I was 15 years old and had decided to spend the summer with my sister and brother-in-law in Quincy, Illinois, where they were semi-professional tennis players and tennis pros at a large country club. There they attempted, unsuccessfully, to make me a better tennis player (my sport in junior high and high school).

Watching the news one day, we saw that a new movie was generating huge box office lines not seen since the release of JAWS (1975). So my sister, always a closet sci-fi fan, took me to the local mall to catch the movie. We had actually gotten the time wrong, so we walked into the movie around ten minutes late. Neither of us knew anything about the movie other than the hype it was getting since its opening a few days before. Anyway...we had missed the whole opening sequence and walked in to see a couple of strange looking robots walking in a desert.

That was my introduction to STAR WARS (1977), and it is something I will remember to my dying day. What is interesting is that although most people think they have seen this movie...they really haven't. The original transfer negative of this film is presumed lost at this point thanks to some unfortunate choices made by the film's creator, George Lucas.

To understand why this is such a big deal and why to this day many people think this original cut is lost forever, one needs to understand a little history.

A few years ago my daughter, also a fan, gave me a t-shirt with one simple statement printed on it.

There's no such thing as Episode IV.

Here's why.

In 1975, when Lucas first started working on his intended revival of the old time sci-fi episodic movie serials so popular in Saturday morning matinees in theaters from the 1930's to the 1950's, he only had had two notable films to his credit. The first was an interesting and mildly successful expansion of his dystopian USC film school project called THX-1138 (1971), financed in large part by his friend Francis Ford Coppola. The second was the surprise blockbuster nostalgia juggernaut AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973), which introduced the world to more young future stars than just about any film in history, including Richard Dreyfus, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, and, not coincidentally, a young Harrison Ford (who was working as a carpenter on movie sets at the time).

Considering what happened, its really difficult today to imagine just how audacious and ballsy Lucas was being here. In 1977, science fiction films had been relegated to camp "B-movies" and were seen as box office poison. Using his influence (and a lot of his own money) he had gained from AMERICAN GRAFFITI, Lucas pushed the project through the skeptical executives at 20th Century Fox. The execs had good cause to be skeptical. Lucas was pushing to essentially invent and improve on new special effects technology to make the film which had first been utilized by Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) for a film that even Lucas considered a "kiddie popcorn movie" despite its complex themes and allusions to Joseph Campbell and The Hero's Journey.

Point is even with GRAFFITI under his belt, Lucas was working with a very tight budget on what should have been a very expensive risky movie. Corners were cut, and Lucas has always said he was displeased with the original release of the film, even after it became to highest box office grossing film of all time (surprising everybody). And although Lucas has always said that he had an entire backstory for each of the characters and an outline for some future films, STAR WARS was produced and released as a stand-alone film, mostly because no one had any faith that it was going to work.

Of course 11 movies later and upteen TV spinoffs later, we know better. But those perceived inadequacies, especially in the original films, and the availability and promise of new computer generated special effects, caused Lucas to go back and "fix the problems" and re-release the films in theaters as "Special Editions". Now note that this was not the first re-release of the films, and that Lucas had been tinkering with them pretty much from the beginning. But the Special Editions went all-out, with new effects, changed audio, and even new or altered scenes.

And just for the record, guys. Han shot first.

Since then, Lucas, and now Disney, has jealously locked up the original cuts of the original STAR WARS trilogy like they were embarassing skeletons in the closet. Even going back to the days of VHS, the home video versions of the films have not been the original cut seen in 1977, despite numerous and rabid calls from fans to release them. Honestly, I think Lucas had his feelings hurt when many fans didn't consider his "Special Editions" to be very special, and what has followed is an epic battle of wills between the fans and first Lucas himself and now Disney, who bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for over $4 billion. Meanwhile, for the last 30 years or so, the original theatrical cuts of the original trilogy have not been exhibited and sold.

Except twice, once in 1993 for an impossibly rare Laserdisc set (remember those?) and a very limited edition DVD box set in 2006 which contained all three Special Editions. However, unheralded and buried as a "special feature" on these discs, was the original theatrical cuts from 1977, 1980, and 1983. These were actually mostly transfers from that 1993 Laserdisc set. The color is a little faded. There's some scratches. But with some very minor alterations (it had been slightly sped up and compressed to fit on the Laserdisc), these are what people first saw in the theater in 1977. In fact, this same transfer is being used by the British Film Institute this summer in a much heralded and celebrated exhibition, with only two showings authorized by Disney in their unceasing benevolence.

But you don't have to go to England Primetimers. I have the 2006 box set, which was only sold for about six months in the United States. I'm convinced it was Lucas who didn't realize what 20th Century Fox had done and stopped its production, as Lucas released another box set less than a year later without the original releases. Many people with this 2006 box set don't even know they have it. It isn't really advertised on the box, so unless you are one of those special feature hounds you wouldn't even know it was on there.

So come relive with me the original magic of a galaxy far, far away and experience a rare treat. Without glowing explosions. Without a computer generated Jabba. With no "Episode IV - A New Hope" reference.

And most importantly, a galaxy where Han Solo shot first.

Presenting our fifth season of our Primetime Backyard Movie Series, where we'll all get together during good weather armed with our bug spray and lawn chairs to watch a variety of movies.

I have the movies. I have the projector. I have a sort of giant (for a backyard at least) 10 foot screen. I even have a long, narrow but semi-deep backyard with a giant oak tree that will silently watch over us as we relive our youth at the drive-in and make fun of those making out on the back row.

There will be free hot dogs, movie candies, movie nachos, and popcorn. Feel free to bring other stuff if you want, including your own lawn chair. I have some spares and some blankets, but not enough for a full house. BYOB. I'll have some soft drinks and water as well.

We'll socialize for about an hour before the movie, which will start promptly at dusk (about 9:00 pm), along with an Alamo Drafthouse -style preshow.

RAIN POLICY - I'll post here if we have to reschedule for weather or other unforeseen events. Just check here before you head this way.

CARPOOLS - My parking around here really is limited thanks to overbuilding on nearby lots, so carpooling is encouraged.