Star Wars: The Darklighter Cut

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Star Wars: The Darklighter Cut
Faneditor Name:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1977
Original Running Time:
121
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
127
Time Added:
6
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
The Darklighter Cut masterfully reintegrates all of the scenes with Luke, Biggs and their friends at the Toche Station to where they were in the original shooting script. Five new deleted and extended scenes have been restored and edited back into the classic film adding six more minutes of footage, introducing Luke far earlier than in the theatrical cut.
Intention:
People have had false memories for years about seeing a cut of the film with these Biggs scenes included, so I thought that I'd make my own edition of the film that did have these Toche Station sequences added into it.
Other Sources:
- Star Wars: The Silver Screen Edition v1.6 - Used as the main source for the film
- Star Wars: A New Hope Blu-Ray - The Biggs hanger scene was taken from the BR, regraded and regrained to match the SSE and the alt. scene
- Star Wars: The Complete Saga - Deleted Scenes (Toche Station, Old Lady on Tatooine and Alt. Biggs Reunion) taken from here
- The Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzer EBook - An usused shot of Luke in his landspeeder was taken from the gag reel included in the book and used to transition at the arrival at the Toche Station
- Star Wars: Revisited by Adywan - The audio following Biggs' death was taken from Revisited, originally used in the Radio Drama
- Star Wars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - A few tracks were used to score the deleted scenes (The Moisture Farm and Mos Eisley Spaceport)
- Return of the Jedi (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Lapti Nek was used in the Toche Station to add a jazzy atmosphere to the place
Special Thanks:
littlev87, benduwan and darkspire17 from OT.com, heathen3017, Crimson713 and jrWHAG42 for providing some invaluable feedback on my workprint cut
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
- Blast It Biggs! Where Are You? - A Jamie Benning Filmumentary
- 3 Alternate Edits of "Luke Watches the Space Battle"
- Deleted Footage Restoration Comparison
- Star Wars Publicity Film 12-4-76
- Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzer - Excerpts on the addition and deletion of the Tatooine segments
- Third and Fourth Draft Script Excerpts - Deleted Scenes
Cuts and Additions:
- Added Luke working on a mosture evaporator and seeing the Tatntive IV being boarded
- Added Luke almost running over an old lady in Anchorhead on his way to the Tosche Station
- Added Luke and his friends at the station and him showing the battle, which they dismiss
- Added Luke and Biggs talking about joining the rebellion
- Added extended version of Red Leader talking about Luke's father
- Added Luke saying "Biggs? BIGGS!" over the radio after he gets shot down.
Cover art by Bobson Dugnutt (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Trailer

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12 reviews
 
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Overall rating
 
9.4
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9.0(12)
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9.0(12)
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9.3(12)
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9.9(12)
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9.8(12)
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10.0
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10.0
It was perfect, the deleted scenes were what I needed this for, and found all the other additions to be splendid. I especially liked the bit you added where Luke reacted to Biggs dying, always felt they brushed over that when they were supposed to be best friends growing up

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Yes
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Digital
J
Top 500 Reviewer 26 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.4
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9.0
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9.0
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10.0
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10.0
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9.0
A blast from the past! The closest possible edit to what the theatrical Star Wars would have looked like if the Biggs scenes were included. Though the picture quality was unfortunately degraded and the audio was a little wonky, the Biggs scenes helped flesh Luke out more and added emotional weight to Biggs's death during the Death Star battle.

I highly recommend to any Star Wars fan and those looking for a time machine trip back to 1977.

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Yes
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Digital
B
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Overall rating
 
9.4
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10.0
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10.0
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9.0
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9.0
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9.0
I admit that I came into this edit with a bias. I believe that the definitive way to experience the original 1977 classic is through Harmy's Despecialized Editions (unless some studio exec finally decides to release the original cuts). Or, if you want that dirty film look, Puggo Grande's 16mm preservations. I'm not a fan of the special editions at all, and I think the original was perfect as is. I'll even go so far as to commit blasphemy and say that Adywan's Revisited saga was still no match for the theatrical version. So I went into this edit with some low expectations. Now that I've seen it, I have to admit that while my heart still belongs to the theatrical, this is the closest an extended version of Episode IV has gotten to changing my mind. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say I might give this one a rewatch!

For those who are too bored to read the description, this is basically the theatrical cut, but with the entire Biggs subplot added back in. And no, I'm not talking about that extra scene in the special edition where Luke reunites with his buddy (although that scene is in here). There are several extra scenes that have been added to the beginning of the film, all involving Luke's friendship with Biggs. The first 15-20 minutes of this edit will give you most of what's new here, but with that said, these extra additions are really good! We learn more about Luke's application to the academy, why his friends are gone, and what role the Empire plays in all of this. All of which expands on Luke's character and gives us a greater understanding of his situation. And yes, the extra insights into Luke's friendship with Biggs give the ending more impact as well.

If I have to be a perfectionistic jerk and point out anything nitpicky about the new additions, I will say that a lot of the new footage is dated. That is to say, it's very much in the 1970s. The theatrical cut of A New Hope has a timeless feel to it that is hard for any film to duplicate. The only way you could really tell it was made in 1977 was mostly the hairstyles. But these extra scenes are pure '70s all the way, baby! Biggs even talks in '70s lingo! So if you want that timeless feel preserved (or you don't like '70's pop culture that much), this one ain't for you. Of course, none of this is the fault of the faneditor. That's just how the subplot was written and shot.

Otherwise, this is a great extension to an already great film. If you always felt like the film needed more insight into Luke Skywalker's character, definitely give this one a watch!

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AVCHD
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(Updated: January 14, 2022)
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
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9.0
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10.0
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10.0
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10.0
Maybe Bobson's masterwork (so far), this is a great package here, my go-to version of Star Wars in a heartbeat. The Biggs scenes add excellent emotional weight to Luke's character and the overall nature of the Empire vs Rebellion struggle thanks to Biggs' exposition. And you get to find out, crucially, that Luke's nickname is "Wormy" which is both a Dune reference *and* a hilarious bit of business that I wish had re-surfaced whenever Luke shows up on Tatooine again. ("Hey everybody, I'm back and I'm a badass Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force." "lol k wormy")

The little additions like the framing of Luke's viewfinder and dropping Lopti Nek into the power station scene are what really sell the sequences, and they're excellently finished by Bobson here. Does the sequence hurt the pacing of the opening act? Maybe a little, but we've all seen this movie enough times now that it doesn't matter, I'll trade a little momentum for a better understanding of the hero's place in the world. The bonus features are delightfully exhaustive, including a documentary, alternate cuts of a sequence, B-roll footage, script excerpts, and more.

This is my favourite version of Star Wars and one of my favourite fan edits thanks to a simple but hugely consequential fix -- it's Biggs time, baby.

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Yes
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Blu-Ray
R
Top 10 Reviewer 156 reviews
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(Updated: November 25, 2021)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I was hit with a huge wave of nostalgia upon seeing that old Twentieth Century Fox logo and seeing that non special edition footage, really felt like I was reliving some great memories of my childhood though as to the inclusion of the deleted scenes they really help to make Luke’s and Biggs friendship more meaningful and when it comes time for Bigg’s character to be killed of it now hits much harder than it did originally as I can now sympathise with Luke on the joy of being reunited with a close friend again only to experience the pain of having lost that friend again and knowing that this time they won't come back.

Luke also has a little more depth and growth thanks to these scenes accompanying the rest of the movie though I do wish you could have found a way to remove all the visual lines and black crackles that plagued the footage of the deleted scenes though I am aware that there’s only so much editing software can do well at least until better editing software comes out.

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Digital
P
Top 100 Reviewer 42 reviews
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