Ask the nerdiest person in your circle about the drama surrounding the theatrical versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, and it’s possible you’ll get an earful of about three decades’ worth of history. In the absolutely deafening lead-up to the prequel trilogy (if you lived through that, you remember), George Lucas released much-publicized and enormously successful re-cuts of the films that made him, christened the Star Wars “Special Editions.” Released in succession in 1997, this trio of blockbusters, enhanced with deleted scenes and then-state-of-the-art CGI visual effects, the Special Editions grossed what would be equal to nearly $900 million in 2026. Not bad for movies that had been in theaters and on home video for decades.
Back in 1997, the Special Editions were viewed neutrally to favorably, treated as a fun alternate way to watch the most iconic films ever made. Over time, their reputation has become far more polarized, perhaps even plummeted. There are many reasons for this, from CGI effects that have ironically aged far worse than the Oscar-winning practical effects of the ’70s and ’80s, to the simple fact that Lucas long refused to make the original cuts available alongside his preferred edits. Lucas even refused a negative of the original cuts to the Library of Congress, and since a Special Edition print was refused, this means the National Film Registry bears no archival print of what could arguably be the most famous American film.
Major news broke last month, a long-rumored wide release of the original cut of the 1977 masterpiece Star Wars. As conversations and hype around this release and what it could mean for the future of the historic—and, let’s face it, troubled, these days–IP, the following ranks every original trilogy movie, strictly by the theatrical cuts, which haven’t been officially available to fans since a 2006 DVD release.
3
‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
Return of the Jedi is, almost objectively, the weakest of the original trilogy, but that’s also a bit like saying something is the worst thing you ate at Nobu. Made with a bigger budget than its predecessors, and surely a considerable amount of confidence on the part of Lucas given the astounding success of its predecessors, Return of the Jedi is one of the most impressive and thrilling blockbuster movies ever made, even if it admittedly can’t quite match the power of the previous, too. The thing is, it comes awfully close, especially with the drama between Luke (Mark Hamill) and Vader (James Earl Jones, David Prowse). Their final confrontation in the throne room of Emperor Palpatine (Ian MacDiarmid) is the peak of the saga for many, all culminating the redemption of Vader by his son’s mercy, a final act that restores peace to the galaxy. You could easily make a case for Luke Skywalker having the greatest character arc in cinema, and it all culminates here, spectacularly.
This is the movie that was most harmed by Lucas tinkering from 1997 onward. The most infamous additions include a god-awful musical number, yeah, a musical number, that stops the film in its tracks in the first act, a Sarlacc beak that looks like crap and clashes with everything around it, and a slicker ending that many prefer, but arguably isn’t as pleasurable as the original cut’s “Yub Nub.” The worst change Lucas has made to any of his movies came with the Blu-ray release of Jedi in the 2010s, adding a comical “Noooo!” to the aforementioned redemption of Darth Vader, undermining nothing less than the most important moment of the entire franchise. Honestly, it’s hard not to get worked up just recounting these changes. Thank God we’re getting a re-release of the original film. The original cut of Return of the Jedi, however you can find it, is imperfect but entirely magnificent.
2
‘Star Wars’ (1977)
Rejected by virtually every studio before 20th Century Fox reluctantly moved on the goodwill generated by American Graffiti, Lucas’ take on the movie serials of his childhood seemed to pretty much any executive or other observer to be box-office poison in the making, so much so that Lucas pulled off one of the most infamous power moves in entertainment history by retaining the merchandising rights. Released smack-dab in the middle of the pessimistic, nihilistic New Hollywood era, Star Wars was dazzling, fun, hopeful, deep in a way that’s easy for pretty much anyone to access. Taking cues from the aforementioned serials as much as Westerns and samurai pictures, most specifically Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, from which the framing device of the droids’ plight and the celebratory final scene are directly homaged, Star Wars is a perfectly measured 121 minutes that, even more than inaugural summer blockbuster Jaws two years before, has been the blueprint for tentpole filmmaking for about a half-century now. All the more remarkable for the fact that tentpole films weren’t really something we thought about back then. Star Wars is a scrappy $11 million B-movie at heart that came from nothing, apart from the genuine genius mind of George Lucas and astonishing contributions across all technical departments and some great acting performances.
The pacing of one of the best-paced movies ever made was completely thrown off in the Special Edition and future edits. Greedo shooting first—easily the most infamous change ever made to the series but as outright terrible as Vader screaming in Return of the Jedi—is terrible, but these days it’s just one of countless baffling changes made to the originals that have blurred together. Truly the worst part of this is that, for many, especially younger viewers, there’s surely a widespread assumption that this vastly inferior product is the real Star Wars, which is an enormous disservice to them as well as the many collaborators who bettered Lucas’ bold original vision at the time. The original cut remains one of the greatest marvels of film editing ever, period. It should be studied as long as moving pictures are a thing. However cinema continues to evolve, this is year zero for so many aspects of audiovisual storytelling.
1
‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)
The production of Star Wars nearly killed Lucas (he was hospitalized critically during its production), and the sequel saw a distribution of responsibilities; most notably multiple writing credits and the installment of Lucas mentor Irvin Kershner as director. This even more collaborative approach, as well as far more resources (the picture was famously, independently produced from Lucas’ own fortune for the sake of creative control), resulted in the pinnacle of the franchise, a dark and complex work of art that’s also a hilarious and exhilarating blockbuster for all ages. Luke steps into a larger world here, with the help of Yoda (Frank Oz gives the best performance in the franchise). The romance between Han (Harrison Ford) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) organically takes cues from Gone With the Wind. It’s extraordinarily effective in its lack of schmaltz, and for its placement in the story, a good thing to come from the darkest of times. The characters of 1977’s Star Wars were lovable archetypes; they’re flesh and blood here, and the stakes are impossibly high.
This may be a bit of a hot take, but the Special Edition treatments of The Empire Strikes Back were pretty inoffensive, in some ways even an improvement. It mostly just meant improved special effects, from removing compositing lines around speeders and walkers in the Battle of Hoth to a greatly expanded Bespin. Then there’s also the addition of McDiarmid as the Emperor for the sake of continuity. You can watch the Disney+ version of this masterpiece and still get a pretty unadulterated, complete experience of one of the best movies ever made. The original cut has rougher edges and, for many, including myself, that is the ideal way to truly experience Star Wars, specifically The Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars is at its best and most accurate, it’s closest to what audiences fell in love with decades ago, when it’s gnarly and weird. But virtually every way you approach this movie, you’re in for one of the most transporting, unforgettable cinematic experiences imaginable.
