Just to be clear—I love the original Star Wars. To those that think this video’s tearing it down, it’s not. It’s about legacy, reaction, and why it still matters. Thanks so much to everyone who’s watched and joined the convo 🙏

Nah, I remember the original version very well. I still treasure to this day.

I saw it live in 77 when I was 7 years old. It changed my life, and was good enough for me :)

I never had a problem with him tweaking and updating it. The problem was intentionally removing access to the originals. It's history of art and cinema that was taken away from us from so many years.

Watching it today on a wide-screen TV is nothing like what it felt like to see it for the first time in 1977, in 70mm cinemascope and Dolby surround sound in a packed movie theater.

People are making half of this stuff up. I saw one of the reviewers talking about how clunky R2 and C3PO were in the original cut as if they were implying they were replaced by CGI? They then went on about the Death Star set which is almost entirely unchanged

Star War was not just a movie, it was a cultural phenomenon which I'm not sure has been repeated since. Its one of those "you had to be there" to really appreciate the scale of it.

The original version is all I care to watch. There was nothing wrong with it when it was released in ‘77—no one complained about anything.

The screening was in 70mm, not 35mm, and it showed twice in 70mm here in L.A. in recent years. It's exactly the movie I remember, having seen it 36 times in cinemas before "Episode IV" was added. A spare, innovative great '70s movie that reminded a society what going to the movies was all about. Memory is fine.

1977 I was 15 and LIVED in the theater that year.

My mom took me and my best friend to see Star Wars on my first day of high school in 1977. At that point, I had  heard a little bit about the movie, I was excited to see it, but I wasn't prepared for how much I would be blown away, sitting in that theater and seeing that crawl. Up to that point, I had watch original episodes of Star Trek and Space 1999 on TV. What I was seeing on the screen was so far ahead of those shows, I could not believe it. I appreciate what George did with all of the edits and so forth, but I will always love that original release.

People should compare it with other sci fi films from the same age, from the 70's and even 80's... and will see how crude they were too, and why Star Wars stood  out from the rest

I saw it 28 times in theaters in 1977. It still hits me the same way. Great movie.

I remember the original just fine. It was a point of pride, among my elementary school friends, how many times you’d seen it in the theater. My dad took me opening weekend, and I saw it at least four more times in Saturday matinees at the local, second-run, theater.
I don’t dislike the later versions but the original is what’s in my mind.

This is bunk. I was there in 1977...in fact I was there several times as I and my friends returned to the movie multiple times. As soon as it was possible I bought the VHS tape of it. I know what was and wasn't in it and I can easily verify by simply watch it at home. The original VHS was not a changed version. The Han Solo moment is actually a very small moment. There is not that much difference and so all this nonsense that technology makes all the difference. If anything, this is more telling about the audience and the critics who are trying to peddle a controversy that isn't there. Star Wars wasn't held together with duct tape. This is an attempt to push CGI as some magical movie maker, that modern computer techniques make all the difference. All you have to do is to look at something comparable: "2001: A Space Odyssey." That movie is made with the same level of detail, and it was all practical effects. In fact, many of those who worked on 2001 also worked on Star Wars such as John Dykstra. Older movies, despite their lack of CGI are just fine and the meaning of their film isn't changed magically be the presence of a computer. Promoters of CGI may be over-reacting here with the release of the original Star Wars, tying to ensure their futures as the masters of special effects. Especially after the huge amounts of praise that Andor has received for shunning CGI and going with practical effects. I also think that it is very insulting to audiences to reduce their love of a film to just the special effects. There's a reason John Carter failed, and it wasn't the special effects.

My childhood memories are of the original 1977 version from the TV broadcast sometime in the early 80s, my grandmother recorded it for me on VHS, the quality was grainy. It was a square screen so it was the pan & scan version (not widescreen), and 1980s TV adverts played at various points throughout. I played that tape constantly when I was a little boy, I'd like to say 7000 times lol. I was hooked, it was an adventure I wanted to experience over and over again. As a little boy I didn't notice a single mistake. It was perfect movie to me.

I saw the original in '77 in the cinema.
I have the original trilogy on VHS.

Most of the tweaks/improvements are needless fluff. A few things do enhance the films to a degree, but the original movie was absolutely awesome on release. Let movies stand for the era they were made in.

I saw it in 77 and I recently saw a 77 print again. It holds up great. SW 77 is honestly better and more fun than the versions that came later. It feels more organic and natural. No distracting stupid CGI additions.

It also has something that the special editions are sorely lacking: Charm.

This makes absolutely no sense. The story is largely unchanged, so there's just as much 'slapstick' in the altered version. The additions are mostly cosmetic (Greedo and Jabba scenes aside). Most of the film remains as it was, wobbly sets and all. Lucas didn't digitally replace every shot in the film. The grading might be different, but that's not the same thing. The CGI additions are already looking outdated and have always been incongruous. The pacing of the original is a damn sight better than the altered versions as well.

How is it outdated? Who is even saying it is? This video is literally the only place I've heard of anyone saying anything negative about the BFI screening. Do people not know what film grain is? Bizarre.

In 1997 it was a treat to see CGI added into the film while in 2025 it's more of a treat to see it all removed for pure practical effects.