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Info Wanted: The Original Trilogy on HBO TV in the 80s

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I have some tapes somewhere of eps IV-VI that I taped off of HBO when I was a kid. Does anybody know what the source was on those? Which sound mix was it? Any other info? I’m going to copy them to my stand alone DVD burner, cause they’re sentimental to me. I must have watched those tapes a million times.

FE<3OT

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The off-air Beta recordings I've got of ANH from cable back then sport a mono downmix of the Dolby Stereo mix. You'd think it would have been easier for them to use the actual mono track! HBO allegedly used a 16mm print. Some scenes are pan and scanned differently from the video releases and shots like Luke's macrobinocular POV of the lurking Tusken Raiders are squeezed to fit the tv screen.

Where were you in '77?

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Originally posted by: SilverWook
HBO allegedly used a 16mm print. Some scenes are pan and scanned differently from the video releases and shots like Luke's macrobinocular POV of the lurking Tusken Raiders are squeezed to fit the tv screen.

This version actually does appear on home video. The 1982 and 1983 laserdiscs and the 1982 CED all feature this version. I can't comment on the 16mm assertion because I really don't know, but I do think that these transfers are inferior to their VHS and subsequent laserdisc counterparts.


The Starkiller's Guide to the Mono Sound Mix

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In the early days of home video, the studios used whatever was in reach it seems. Be it a scratchy old print or a tv version sanitized for your protection.
Here is the site making the 16mm claim.

Where were you in '77?

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Cool. I remember seeing this page a long time ago. when i discovered the internet, and renewed my obsession with SW.

FE<3OT

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I wish I could find my old HBO ANH tape. I found one the other day that might be my HBO ESB and ROTJ, but I'll have to hook up my VCR to see.

FE<3OT