This release is a little-known milestone in the history of Star Wars. When Fox decided to digitally remaster the audio track for this re-release, sound designer Ben Burtt asked to be involved. What Burtt actually ended up doing was that he created an entirely new sound mix for the film. So in reality, the audio for this video release is the fourth official Star Wars audio mix (following the three original theatrical mixes - see the first entry at the top of this page). Among the clean up and digital repairs, some interesting new changes were added. These include sweetened sound effects, new stereo'd effects (Jawa voices after Artoo's capture) and, most noticeably, the addition of C-3PO's line in the Death Star ("The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave"). This new sound mix was used for every subsequent video release until the 1993 THX "Definitive Collection" remastering.
This release is a little-known milestone in the history of Star Wars. When Fox decided to digitally remaster the audio track for this re-release, sound designer Ben Burtt asked to be involved. What Burtt actually ended up doing was that he created an entirely new sound mix for the film. So in reality, the audio for this video release is the fourth official Star Wars audio mix (following the three original theatrical mixes - see the first entry at the top of this page). Among the clean up and digital repairs, some interesting new changes were added. These include sweetened sound effects, new stereo'd effects (Jawa voices after Artoo's capture) and, most noticeably, the addition of C-3PO's line in the Death Star ("The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave"). This new sound mix was used for every subsequent video release until the 1993 THX "Definitive Collection" remastering.