I say it's "not as it was, but as you remember it" because this version is not based on any one version of the film that has ever existed before. However, I find that a lot of people remember the movie as being in stereo, with the original crawl and with the lines from the mono mix, etc ... so I've blended a few versions together to make the perfect version of Star Wars. I thought that there were too many versions of the film out there, so just know that this really is the only version of ANH you need.

=)

I burnt the second test version of the disc today. It looks gorgeous. The laserdisc elements don't stand out much anymore, and in some cases you'd be hard-pressed to tell they're there. It just looks and feels like Star Wars. The print retains the very colorful look of the 2004 DVD, perhaps too colorful, but I don't mind that at all. It's brighter than the 04 DVD, but still a bit darker than what you might be used to from the laserdiscs. If so, turn up your TV set. The print looks excellent, and the brightness is I think as it should be. There is the isolated score, and the fanmade THX Intro.

The most exciting thing is the commentary, which is all new, edited together from interviews, and is definitely the best ANH commentary yet assembled.

Here is the list of participants:

George Lucas
Anthony Daniels - C3PO
David Prowse - Darth Vader
Peter Mayhew - Chewbacca
Kenny Baker - R2D2
Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher - Princess Leia
Harrison Ford - Han Solo
Garrick Hagon - Biggs Darklighter
Ken Ralston - ILM
Dennis Muren - ILM
Ralph McQuarrie - Production Paintings
Charles Lippincott - Former VP, Lucasfilm
James Earl Jones - Voice of Darth Vader
John Williams - Composer
Irvin Kerschner - Director, The Empire Strikes Back
Frank Oz - Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
Jeremy Bulloch - Boba Fett, The Empire Strikes Back
Matthew Carter - Bib Fortuna, Return of the Jedi

Subtitles pop up to identify the speaker.

Menus are based on the 2004 DVD, but I've made some fixes to make them match this version ... removing references to "Jabba the Hutt" and all that.

I still noticed a couple problems with some of the shots, so I have to reencode the film and burn a new version, but it is otherwise done, and amazing.

I also burned the final version of Special Edition Hype, so that is available!