found a new technique to get starfields back pretty damn effectively. this was done in vegas but there is no reason why this wouldn't work in avisynth script using overlays to blend three or four versions of the same shot off the same footage.
for those interested, this is using chroma keying and intensity levels to bring up the stars that are there in one layer, then putting a normal version of the shot over the top and removing the blacks to let the background through.
tedious but good.
these shots are off the 2004 DVD and include NO diddles to retrieve the starfields. all those stars are there, it just shows how screwed up the colour correction on the official release is.
for the tantive shot all that background is in the DVD release. the tantive is from the DVD release, the laser bolt is from the Gkar SE release. (I didn't feel like rotoscoping more lasers after my lightsaber-athon) and the engine glow is a simple transparency overlay layer.