Star Wars fans attending this year’s BFI Film on Film Festival are in for a treat, as the event will feature a screening of the original, unaltered 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars. The screening takes place on the festival’s opening night, which is Thursday, June 12th. In addition to seeing the film as it was initially released, attendees will be able to check out “material from the original Star Wars continuity script.” Among these items are “rare on-set Polaroids, annotations, and deleted scenes.” The official BFI website contains more information about the Star Wars screening.
“Film on Film presents Star Wars exactly as experienced by audiences on its original release, screening from one of the precious handful of dye transfer IB Technicolor prints produced for the first British release, preserved in the BFI National Archive,” the site reads.
Since the special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy debuted in 1997, the theatrical cuts of the films have been incredibly hard to find. The special editions are the only versions available on official Blu-ray and digital releases — a point of contention for some fans due to the polarizing changes from George Lucas. The only time the original unaltered trilogy was available on home media in the post-VHS era was a limited-edition 2006 DVD release.
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News of this screening comes shortly after the theatrical cut of Star Wars was momentarily available to stream on the Cinema Box app on Roku. Another Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, will be featured at a different film festival, as George Lucas will be on hand at the TCM Classic Film Festival on April 24th to present the acclaimed sequel.
The theatrical cut of Star Wars has essentially been buried for nearly three decades, so the fact it’s going to be a centerpiece of the BFI Film on Film Festival is a monumental occasion. This development will likely reignite conversations about making the unaltered original trilogy widely available for the general public. As tempting as it might be, fans should not take this as a definite sign that Lucasfilm is planning some sort of special home media release. For years, the studio has maintained that the special editions are the official canon versions of the films, so those will likely be the ones Disney continues to push. This screening at the BFI Film on Film Festival doesn’t appear to be part of a mainstream renaissance for the theatrical Star Wars cut. It’s a showcase for BFI’s admittedly rare print of the movie.
While this may not lead to the unaltered trilogy on Blu-ray, those who have the opportunity to see Star Wars at the Film on Film Festival should take advantage. It will be very special to witness film history, transporting back to 1977 to experience Star Wars how unsuspecting audiences saw it all those decades ago. For longtime fans who miss having this version readily available, the screening will be a highlight of the festival. Younger fans who have never seen the theatrical cut may get a deeper appreciation for what Lucas and his team accomplished in the ’70s, seeing how they pulled it all off without the benefit of any CGI.
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