Having finally downloaded and watched this in its entirety, here is my review.

Star Wars: Revisited 10/10 With the new Blu-rays of the Star Wars movies coming out, I thought I'd finally download this and check it out. I'd heard of this fan edit of the original Star Wars movie before, had checked out snippets on Youtube, especially the impressive take on the Battle of Yavin sequence, and thought it was high time I downloaded it and checked it out in its entirety, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this thing.

It is very much a fan pleasing edit of the movie, making use of the HD footage of the Special Editions to create a cut more in keeping with the original theatrical release, exorcising the additions that are generally thought of as negative, such as Greedo shooting first, and yes Jabba, that's you I'm looking at, no matter how much I'd love that scene to work, it simply doesn't, but also keeping the additions that did add something positive to the movie, such as the extended entrance to Mos Eisley, and the Falcon lifting off from that same location, most interesting of all though, are the enhanced effects shots, and in some case brand new effects sequences which have been added to the film which genuinely enhance the viewing experience. Of particular note, are the Blockade Runner visibly shuddering under the impact of that fatal turbolaser blast from the Star Destroyer, the Death Star in orbit over a planet (Despayre I believe it is known as in the EU) which makes sense as the battle station isn't yet operational, there are also a number of Star Destroyers floating around to help sell it as a believable Imperial staging ground. The Lightsabers have also been fully rotoscoped to better match the look of the light blades in the other movies which makes a vast improvement, and is something which I don't understand why has not been done in the official new cuts of the film. Other key sequences have been successfully enhanced, such as the classic Falcon escape which now features dynamic shots of the Falcon flying with TIEs swarming around it lasers flying every which way, and of course the tour de force, the Battle of Yavin, this is truly epic, with more fighters flying in the background of each shot to really make the battle feel more populated and expansive, it really comes into its own when the TIE Fighters swarm in accompanied by the Imperial March, and the camera pans with the TIEs as they fly by and enter the fray with the Rebel starfighters above the surface of the Death Star, really epic stuff.

There are also a lot of really subtle tweaks such as using a vastly scaled down shot of the Jawa Sandcrawler mounting a dune which appears later in the film to depict the transport that C-3PO spies in the distance, the X-Wing Fighter's landing gear retracting as it lifts off in the Massassi Temple hanger, new tactical displays (still based on the originals, but improved) on the Death Star overbridge screen, holographic displays on the Rebel command centre tactical table, and at last the Death Star plans used in the briefing now more accurately reflect the look of the Death Star. Chewbacca even finally gets his medal thanks to a bit of editorial slight of hand, fantastic.

Now all this is not to say that it is perfect, there are obviously limitations to what the guy can do. His solution to the Han vs. Greedo sequence for instance isn't ideal, but does the best with what is available in high def to rectify the narrative flow of that scene. The Death Star in orbit over the planet could do with being slightly more believable, I don't know what it is about that shot, but it doesn't quite work for me. There are also some editing choices made that I don't necessarily agree  with. For example, he has Luke saying "Wedge where are you?" instead of "Biggs where are you?" when he is being chased by a TIE Fighter, the edit works so that Wedge is already on his way, so the line makes sense, but it had more resonance in the original cut, where Luke saves Biggs, and then Biggs isn't there for him when it is his pie on the line and time to return the favour. Also for the Vader vs. Obi-Wan Lightsaber duel, some prequel music is added. I can see what he's doing here, but it doesn't quite work. Finally, if you're aiming to create the perfect/ideal edit of Star Wars, there is another gaff that has been in there forever which is an easy fix, and I can't work out why he (or Lucasfilm for that matter) still hasn't fixed it. Yes, Luke still yells "Carrie!" when greeted by the Princess after landing.

All in all this is a very good, and fan pleasing edit of the first Star Wars movie, and while I'm more of an advocate for the release of an original theatrical cut of Star Wars just cleaned up and enhanced for HD, this is well worth a watch, and will do me fine until they finally (if they ever do) release restored theatrical cuts on dvd/blu-ray, it is the perfect antidote for those feeling a little riled by the further changes being made to the original trilogy for the Blu-Ray release.

Looking forward to the Empire Revisited.