Question on the 1977 70mm Soundtrack Recording

Hi, I'm a long time viewer first time poster and a big fan. I own 16mm prints of Star Wars/ The Empire Strikes Back/ and Return of the Jedi. and a 35mm Revenge of the Sith. One item I'm always on the look out for would be 70mm prints of the original films. So I became quiet excited when I found that morgands1 had a recording of this print however when I copy and paste the links I'm taken to a page that tells me they are no longer valid. If anyone can tell me where I can currently find these files I'd be most greatful. Thank You

Thanks Bobby Jay, just as I suspected the 70mm Baby Boom version was basicaly  identical to the 35mm Dolby stereo although vastly superior having the advantage of Discrete audio, and two subwoofers. The way Lucus operates I thouhgt I would never hear this track, and its unlikly it will ever be released. Lucus is partially to blame for this but its also due to the fact that the studios never release these older films with there original 70mm audio. The only film I can think of off the top of my head that did this was a LaserDisc version of Alien which has its 70mm audio and proudly states it on the back cover, this used 5.1 AC3 to play and was also the best sounding version of the film in my opione with the most power behind it, and better then the DVD verions currently available. Although this version of Star Wars was in terms of difference almost identical to the 35mm version I did notice one thing and if in fact this turns out true it would indicate the only unicness between the two tracks. I did not no matter how high I turned up the volume on my receiver hear the echo present in the shaft when Luke and Liea swing across the chasm "I think we took a wrong turn". Naturaly this recordings limited quality might be affecting this, but there should be some indication of the echo being there, should'nt there. Now if only someone out there could find a recording of the 70mm Empire track. 

Hi. I've been revising my web site, wideanglecloseup.com, which has taken longer than expected, so none of the links to my Star Wars background article or audio files has worked for a while. I pulled the 70mm files but can perhaps make them available again when the site is finished. I'm not sure I feel good that others have taken it upon themselves to post them on other sites, though, so when I finish my web work I'll ask that they please be taken down.  

Cheers,

OK, I've wrestled the evil god Javascript (and his fiendish monkey helper CSS) and relaunched the web site, "Wide Angle/Closeup: Conversation With Filmmakers," and reposted the article on Star Wars audio.

http://www.wideanglecloseup.com/starwarsaudio.html

Thanks for your continued interest.

Cheers,

David 

morgands1 said:

OK, I've wrestled the evil god Javascript (and his fiendish monkey helper CSS) and relaunched the web site, "Wide Angle/Closeup: Conversation With Filmmakers," and reposted the article on Star Wars audio.

http://www.wideanglecloseup.com/starwarsaudio.html

Thanks for your continued interest.

Cheers,

David 

I see that you went to the SW Paramus, NJ 70mm in 1977. I was wondering if you went on opening day or at least within the first month.

(and thanks for posting these I will have to take a listen)

It wasn't opening day, but I went many times to the Paramus theatre during its run there. I can't recall the date when I did the recording, but it was some time into its run.

Just curious as to why a deep voice is reciting the lines in the opening crawl.  Was that added by you?

My guess is it's someone reading the crawl aloud to their child in the theater (my parents did this for my brother in 1997 when we saw the SE in theaters - they did it for the alien subtitles, as well).

I haven't listened to this recording, so that's only a guess.

ChainsawAsh said:

My guess is it's someone reading the crawl aloud to their child in the theater (my parents did this for my brother in 1997 when we saw the SE in theaters - they did it for the alien subtitles, as well).

I haven't listened to this recording, so that's only a guess.

 

The voice sounds almost robotic.  Either that was in the opening crawl in the 1977 version, the guy added it himself, or it was possibly someone reading it out loud to their kid like you said.  Hopefully he can clarify when he gets a chance.

He read the crawl aloud into the mic to record what it said.

Exactly. We didn't have an Internet to look stuff up on back then ...

Thanks

I listened to the soundtrack, and I think it's awesome hearing the film back when it came out in 1977.  I noticed no differences in dialogue, voices, etc, which indicates to me that the 06 DVD of Star Wars maybe exactly how the film was shown back in 1977.  Perhaps there was maybe some sound changes or two, but that's extremely minor.

I did notice that there was no line that stated "Close the blast doors".  Was that later added in for another sound mix?

That line is present in the 1977 mono mix, and the two Special Edition mixes (1997 and 2004).

ChainsawAsh said:

That line is present in the 1977 mono mix, and the two Special Edition mixes (1997 and 2004).

I see.  The mono mix came after the 70mm soundtrack I think.  I guess the 06 DVD of Star Wars is closer to it's original form than I thought since the it doesn't contain the "close the blast door" line, Luke's alternate "blast it wedge" line, or CP30's tractor beam explanation.  None of which I heard in the recording. 

The 70mm six-track came first, then the 35mm stereo, and the 35mm mono was the last mix created.

I don't think "Blast it, Wedge" is in the 2004 mix.  I can't check as I don't own it, but I'm pretty sure it's "Blast it, Biggs."  (The "Wedge" line is unique to the mono mix, IIRC.)

And there are more dialogue additions to the 2004 mix that were never in any version before - "We've stopped!" and "There's no one here!" are the two examples I can think of.  Plus the dialed-down music, and flipped surrounds, and horrible dialogue levels...

Oh, right, he did say 2006, not 2004.

Yeah, the 1985 and 1993 remixes are still pretty faithful to the original stereo and six-track mixes, respectively (minus the added tractor beam line in the '85 and the added sound effects in the '93).

Moth3r said:

Markdav said:

I guess the 06 DVD of Star Wars is closer to it's original form than I thought... 

The sound mix on the 2006 DVD is the 1993 remix from the Definitive Collection laserdisc release. It is based on the 70mm 6-track mix, although there are several additions.

See http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/70mm-mix-to-93-mix-comparison/topic/6501/ 

Thanks for sharing that link.  From the looks of it, all the differences are pretty minor, and it seems to me that the 06 DVD of Star Wars is pretty faithful to the original print that premiered in 1977.  That said, if there was a way to watch the original print of Star Wars exactly as it was shown in it's premier, I'd be the first in line to watch it.

BTW, does anyone have the recording of the original print from the premier of The Empire Strikes Back?

ChainsawAsh said:

The 70mm six-track came first, then the 35mm stereo, and the 35mm mono was the last mix created.

I don't think "Blast it, Wedge" is in the 2004 mix.  I can't check as I don't own it, but I'm pretty sure it's "Blast it, Biggs."  (The "Wedge" line is unique to the mono mix, IIRC.)

And there are more dialogue additions to the 2004 mix that were never in any version before - "We've stopped!" and "There's no one here!" are the two examples I can think of.  Plus the dialed-down music, and flipped surrounds, and horrible dialogue levels...

"Blast it Wedge" I guess was also added to the mono mix?

Yes, it was in the 1977 mono mix, as well as Threepio's tractor beam line and "Close the blast doors!"  Plus it had (possibly) a different actress dub Beru's lines, and a hell of a lot more differences.

And I can't listen to the 1993 mix myself, as I can't stand the glass-shattering sounds.

Now the 2006 Empire DVD is a different story - it's missing a sound effect in the Hoth battle that was present in every prior version (assuming it was there in the 70mm six-track mix, because we don't have any proof either way).

Jedi I think sounded more or less the same in every version.

Which version of Star Wars do you normally watch Chainsaw?

Also, do you know of any other changes done in the 1981 version outside of the title crawl?

Also, I don't know anything about the sound in Empire, because the 06 DVD is the only version of that film I've watched more than once.   I've never even seen the 1993 laser disc version in which it's copied from, though I do have a VHS tape of it from the 1980s that I found at a goodwill, but never watched.

I prefer the mono mix first, the 70mm mix second (based on Hairy_Hen's 5.1 reconstruction of it).  The theatrical stereo and 1985 stereo are tied.  Finally, the 1993 stereo.

There were no other changes to the film itself in 1981.  The crawl (and the starfield behind it, thus the first shot is different, as well) was altered in 1981, but nothing else (oh, and I don't think the mono mix was ever used with the 1981 and later prints, though it was used on a couple TV broadcasts, which is how we're able to have it now).

The only other change I know of (and this is contested) is the darkening of the canyon scene with Artoo, before he gets kidnapped by the Jawas.  This scene appears to be darker in the 1993 Definitive Collection transfer than in previous releases.  This is what's used in the 2006 DVD (it's the 1993 master, plus a more recent transfer of the 1977 crawl spliced in, which is why the shot of the Star Destroyer overhead looks so much better than the rest of the film).

Other than that and the audio mixes, I'm pretty sure the first film has stayed the same since 1981.