Obsessive ‘Star Wars’ Fans Are Creating a ‘Despecialized Edition’ to Undo George Lucas’s Alterations

In case you couldn't tell from the 200 posts we did on Episode VIIcasting rumors, this whole Star Wars thing is kind of a big deal. In fact, you might say people obsess over it.

That being said, when it comes to Star Wars, there are obsessions, and then there are OBSESSIONS. It's one thing to read every casting rumor, but quite another to completely remaster the original trilogy.

Oh yes. Remaster the original trilogy.

As you probably know, about 30 different editions of Star Wars have been released over the last 15 years, and every time George Lucas has gone back and made tweaks and changes. In each case, Lucas has justified these alterations by saying he only does the stuff he originally wanted to do, but could not because of technological limitations. But hardcore fans don't want to hear any excuses. They like the original trilogy the way they first saw it, and in their eyes Lucas is just messing with perfection.

Still, they wouldn't even mind so much if they could still go back and watch the original, unaltered trilogy. And earlier this week there were rumors that such an edition was going to be released on BluRay. But Disney put an end to that pretty quickly. So Star Wars nerds are left with just two options: dig the old VCR out of their parents' basements and watch the trilogy in brilliant 25p, or just create a NEW old (but completely remastered) Star Wars of their own.

Well, one group of obsessed fans decided on option B. They've been painstakingly piecing together a version of Episode IV that's as close to the original as possible. And they call it the "Despecialized Edition."

Take a look:

Now that's a labor of love. Passionate, obsessive, nerdy love.

[via MTV]