Artoo in the canyon:
First, let me say that I had SW burned into my head in its theatrical run, so that has always been my reference. It is also quite understandable that those whose were first initiated with any one of the video issues would tend to feel more at home with that.
That said, it has always been my impression that about the only thing they DID get right in the more recent transfers was the proper exposure. All of the earlier transfers were probably done by the in house transfer departments at FOX Video (Domestic, Japanese, whatever). I am reasonably confident that they did not have the benefit of the filmmaker’s or DP’s input or a timed print to reference. Without any specific guidance, I imagine it was a matter of getting it to look acceptable overall and moving on to the next job.
Although all the exteriors from Artoo in the canyon up to the longshot of the sandcrawler coming over the dune were shot “day for night” (shot in daylight but several stops underexposed with filters to simulate various shades of night), I believe the intent was always to convey a gradual transition from twilight of the first day into the morning of the second. Furthermore, it’s doubtful that any production stills of these scenes would reflect the exposure offsets or filtering applied to the actual camera footage.
I can offer a couple of examples to support this – shot off a theater screen in ’77.
I don’t mean to suggest that the still images of these frames represent any sort of definitive reference. I present it only to illustrate that when compared to shots of daylight scenes taken with the same camera settings, the two of Artoo in the canyon appear quite dark in comparison.
For the record, this is not at all uncommon in video transfers of scenes that were shot “day for night”. Another good example is the Mount Rushmore sequence in North by Northwest, which in the story’s timeline takes place at night. This was botched on transfer after transfer to appear as if shot on a sunny afternoon until the most recent one where they finally got it right.
Opening crawl:
Again, considering my reference of choice, my vote would be for the original. If you listen to the music against the original crawl, you may notice that as each of the 3 paragraphs unfolds on the screen, it is in sync with the downbeat of three distinct musical statements, as well as the previously mentioned sting that syncs with the reveal of Tatooine. I always thought this happened by design (a notion I have more recently come to doubt) and was always bothered by how the inclusion of “A New Hope” destroyed the rhythm of this sequence.
Lastly, one more frame from ’77, just to further corroborate the authenticity of the GOUT crawl:
If you look at the position of the few stars that were bright enough to register on the photo, they clearly match that of the same frame from the GOUT.