It goes without saying the Special Editions are a hot mess of issues. Some of the additions are neat, while others are needless additions at best. It also goes without saying that many people over the years have constructed their own ideas of how the special editions could have been handled. About two years ago, I decided to make my own fan edit of A New Hope, mainly focusing on revamping the sound mix. But as time went on, I felt the need to make changes outside of the sound mix and branch off into the color timing and editing. So, after putting the project on the back burner, I’m proud to present my plans for the GAAT (George’s Alternate Altered Trilogy).
To set things straight, this project serves as a “what-if” alternative to the 2004/2011 master. George Lucas wanted to commemorate the finality of the Prequel trilogy by re-releasing the Original Trilogy on DVD, which as many know is seen as one of the worst releases the original trilogy. The color timing by far is the biggest problem alongside the additional material inserted into the film. My approach to fixing these issues is to remove the more annoying SE changes such as Greedo shooting first and CGI Jabba, while providing a more modern sound mix using SFX from the later projects Skywalker Sound contributed to. I also took the time to alter the color timing, but still maintained it’s overall look. George, after all, wanted these releases to resemble the look of the prequel films, and while I’m fine with something like that, I don’t remember the prequels looking like they were color matched to a bag of sour skittles.
To summarize, the point of this project is to say, “what-if the mastering wasn’t rushed and someone looked at what George was pushing for and said, 'I see what you’re doing, but you’re going too far in a few places.”
Here’s what I have with each film so far. This is includes what’s already set in place and what I plan to do. Currently, I only have ANH nearly done. It should be pointed out that when I began the edit of ANH, I only had the 2004 DVDs at my disposal, so the soundmix may inherit some of the “swapped audio channel” problems. Frankly, I never noticed it myself. I Haven’t touch the other two yet, but I have an idea of what I want to do with them. Since I now own the 2011 blu rays, All footage will be sourced from that.
A New Hope (WIP):
-Reduction of saturation in footage, increase in exposure of footage.
-Remixed Audio with additional SFX and adjustments in EQ layered over the 2004 mix.
-During the Tantive IV scene, Leia’s blaster sounds like a Naboo pistol from The Phantom Menace.
-The Rocks in front of R2 are gone.
-When Luke and Ben are confronted by Stormtroopers, the creature that walks in front of the camera is removed.
-Han Shoots First.
-Jabba is removed entirely.
-The Obi Wan vs Vader duel is re-edited using color matched footage from “Scene 38 Reimagined” along with my own custom soundmix. Widescreen matte and grain is added to the footage to help it blend in with the blu ray footage.
-The music during the Death Star attack is no longer drowned out. I did my best to raise the volume.
-Just after red leader tries firing at the Death Star exhaust port, he longer says “negative” twice in a row.
Empire Strikes Back (Haven’t begun yet):
-Reduction of saturation in footage, increase in exposure of footage
-Remixed Audio with additional SFX and adjustments in EQ layered over the 2011 sound mix.
Return of the Jedi (WIP):
-Remixed Audio with additional SFX and adjustments in EQ layered over the 2011 sound mix.
-Additional Boba Fett Voice lines.
-Additional production footage inserted into the lightsaber duel on the Death Star II.
-Vader doesn’t shout “NOOOOOOOOO.”
-Sebastian Shaw is restored in the Endor Celebration.
What’s interesting is that, at least when talking about ANH, I wanted to have two different versions available for viewing. Both of them follow two different “What-if” scenarios.
-Version A:
This is the version that follows George’s goal of having a modern color timing that matches the look of the prequels while adjusting parameters to alleviate the visual problems present in the 2004/2011 release.
-Version B:
-This version does the same thing many people have suggested where instead of making a brand new master, Lucasfilm simply updated the 1997 color timing. For this, I’ll be using my 1997 regrade project that I recently finished. Link here if you’re interested: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/anh-1997-inspired-regrade-with-se-soundmix-version-1-released/id/80173
So far, I only plan on having multiple versions for ANH. I’m debating whether to do the same for the other two films.
Sources:
-ANH:
-2004 DVD
-2011 Blu Ray
-My ANH 1997 Inspired Regrade
-Harmy’s Despecialized
-Scene 38 Reimagined
-ESB
-Adywan’s 1080p 1997 ESB
-2011 Blu Ray
-ROTJ
-2011 Blu Ray
-Production Footage
-Evolution of The Lightsaber Duel
-Harmy’s Despecialized
Things to fix with Version 2 of ANH:
-Alleviate some of the color matching problems.
-Replace Obi-Wan’s monster call with his original Krayt Dragon call.
-Remove the rocks in front of R2.
-ATTEMPT to fix the swapped audio channels in certain shots.
-Further tweaks to the sound mix.
Since I want to have the soundmix sound the best it can, I would really appreciate any and all constructive criticism on it.