Janskeet said:
I just finished watching the purist version. Well, I didn't really watch it, more like skimmed through the parts I wanted to see if they remained the same. I'll have to say, I prefer the full/DVD-9 version. I didn't realize how lame the lightsaber battle is with no backround music now. Especially now that it is edited longer with less breaks. The picture of the purist version seems a little lower quality than the DVD-9/full version. Am I just imagining things or is the purist version less color corrected and lower resolution than the DVD-9 version?
Well, the Purist version is a DVD-5, not a DVD-9, so yeah, it's not going to look as good. DVD-9s have 8.5 gigs to use, while DVD-5s only have 4.7 gigs, which means anything on a single-layer DVD (aka DVD-5) will be more heavily compressed to fit than if it were on a DVD-9. That's the whole point of releasing a DVD-9, even though most people don't want to bother with or can't do dual-layer burning - it's better quality.
Ady didn't spend that much time on the Purist version, if I remember correctly - it was mostly done to appease fans who were unhappy with some changes to the full version (specifically music changes and such). Apparently there was one other big reason that he's being all secretive about. At any rate, because it wasn't "his" verison, so to speak, he didn't release a DVD-9 of it. And since the original ANH:R files no longer exist, that's the best the "Purist" version will ever look (which is fine by me since I don't really care about it that much).