Tack said:
I think a prime Eastman mono print would have been the way I personally would love to see it. The mono mix is so much more sonically alive to me than the Dolby and 70mm versions, and the more washed-out look of an Eastman print might have complimented the visuals more than I think some realize.
There aren’t a lot of “holy grails” left when it comes to various preservations… A great scan/restoration of Empire on 35mm, of course. THX-1138, too. But increasingly, I’m finding that what you just described is probably the last version of Star Wars I’d need. Even if it was just a brand-new restoration/recording of that original mono track married to whatever iteration of 4k77 is the most “up-to-date” at that point.
I think a warm, full, well-recorded/restored version of that mono track is one of those last grails, for me.
To answer the question, as many others have: It’s probably either Definitive Edition Laserdisc or Executor Set. One of those two. It wasn’t just extras or picture quality for the time, it was just that those sets had real weight to them. Not just literally, as in “these are heavy” but it felt like you owned an actual piece of Star Wars, and that piece was worth a lot, and you could feel that worth when you picked it up.