After years of hard work, one rabid Star Wars fan has released The Empire Strikes Back ‘Revisited,’ a brand-new cut of the film that gets as close to the original version as possible, and improves on it with new original photography and effects work.
Created by Twitter user Adywan, who previously made a re-hashed version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, this new creation, The Empire Strikes Back ‘Revisited‘ used new models created by fans specifically for this version of the film, aiming to fulfill what the creator says is, “What the Special Editions should have been.”
“The day has finally come where I can share this edit with all of you,” said Adywan on the project’s Facebook page, “It’s been a long hard slog, with many ups and downs (mainly downs), but I was never prepared to just give up. The support you have all shown is what kept me going, so I can’t thank you enough.”
For Star Wars fans who have been following this project for years, the new fan edit offers a unique viewing experience, filling visual holes in the original, and providing arguably the highest quality fan edit of the classic film. The biggest fans of the sci-fi franchise tend to want to stick as closely to the original prints of the film as possible, with one group even going so far as to raise thousands of dollars to restore an original 1977 print of Episode IV.
Getting your hands on a copy of the latest episode of Star Wars ‘Revisited’ will require some doing, as it is very illegal to share work protected by copyright without the express permission of its owner — and we can’t imagine Disney sanctioning this fan edit any time soon. While we don’t condone illegal activity at Digital Trends, and therefore can’t point you in the direction of a copy, we will say that those who are willing to do a little digging will likely be able to find one online.
Fans of the ‘Revisited’ series will be happy to learn that Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is also on the way.
“I will be taking a week or so off from working on these edits and then I shall be getting stuck into ROTJ:R,” wrote Adywan at the bottom of the Empire Strikes Back ‘Revisited’ announcement. “I know some have been telling me to take a long holiday after finishing this but, hell, I haven’t had a holiday since 1997, so I doubt I’d miss anything.”
If you’ve gotten your hands on the ‘Revisited’ versions of the first two films and are looking for a fun way to watch them, check out our article about the best order to follow in watching the Star Wars films.