For a Brief Moment, the Original Version of Star Wars Was Actually Streaming Online

No subtitle. No CG characters in Mos Eisley. Han shoots first. Those things and more were all back this past weekend as the original, unedited, unaltered version of George Lucas’ 1977 Star Wars was available on the Roku app Cinema Box. Or so we’ve read. That app is no longer available on Roku and with it went Star Wars too.

For those who may not know, during the 20th anniversary of Star Wars, George Lucas released the Special Editions, new versions of the films with a bunch of changes that he deemed preferable to the original. And so, the Special Editions became the only versions Lucasfilm would release officially. When you watch the movies on TV, Disney+, or maybe even in a theater, they’re the Special Editions. The one exception was a 2006 DVD release that included the originals as special features.

That, according to Screenrant, was the version that was uploaded to Roku’s Cinema Box this past weekend. However, Men’s Journal noticed that by March 4, not only was the original Star Wars gone, so was the Cinema Box app as a whole. Oops. io9 reached out to Lucasfilm for possible comment or clarification but didn’t hear back as of publication.

Nevertheless, even if you missed this entire ordeal, it makes you appreciate a few things. One, how fast the powers that be can react to something like this. And two, that while Lucasfilm and Disney may want to shove the Special Editions down our throats, there is still a large, large audience hungry for the versions they saw growing up. The ones they watched with their family on channel 9 on a Sunday afternoon. The ones they wore the VHS tapes out on. And heck, most people are even okay with the original minor alterations Lucas made, like calling the first film “Episode IV.” It’s just the bigger stuff—Greedo, Jedi Rocks, the Endor Celebration—that still to this day feel a little off.

And yet, as we’ve argued on this very website, if not for those Special Editions being released in theaters, Star Wars may have had a very different fate. At a time when the franchise was thought to be done, it was their success in 1997 that gave Lucas the nudge he needed to make the prequels, which brought Star Wars back to prominence. That later led to Disney’s purchase and everything we have today. So, as much as the Special Editions can be dismissed, they did serve a purpose. We just wish they weren’t the only version we had of a galaxy far, far, away.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.