Fans restore original Star Wars cut, galactic celebration ensues

Fans that have long clamoured for a re-release of the original, unadulterated theatrical cut of Star Wars film have been given a new hope in the form of a restored original print.

A group of fans dubbed “Team Negative One” recently announced they have restored a copy of the 35mm film print for what would later be rebranded as Star Wars: A New Hope.

The group reportedly spent years scanning, cleaning and digitally restoring the print to create the cleanest version possible.

The announcement comes following years of protest by fans over a series of incremental tweaks to the original print, from a simple title change of Star Wars, to Star Wars: A New Hope to the infamous “Han shot first” scene.

The adjustments, which came at the request of creator George Lucas, also involved the addition of new special effects shots, computer generated imagery, new scenes and altered music.

They ultimately led to the rebranding of the modified DVD versions as “canon” versions of the original trilogy.

Critics have slammed some of the changes as unnecessary and even detrimental to the cinematic experience.

Lucas’ refusal to release high definition copies of the original unaltered prints has been a bugbear for countless dedicated fans, even inspiring another group to attempt to restore the original film using a variety of sources.

Team Negative One’s restored print is not yet widely accessible online due to legal issues, and 9NEWS advises readers to exercise caution when downloading any material that may be protected under copyright law.