Thank god, I knew I wasn't fuckin crazy for saying the SE sabers were recomps, lol.

The camera move on the chasm matte is a good find. And Msycamore, I have never noticed those colour inconsistencies (but maybe because the only time I watch the 2004 SE is to take frame grabs to show how shitty it is). I'm loving the continued finds. Just when you think there couldn't be more differences, bam, right in the face.

005: I'm not sure I agree with you that the sabers are always recomps of the same elements. If you look at the caps I reposted--they clearly are NOT the same shape as you say. I know that's only one frame, but its the telltale clue that something about the whole element has been changed. Nothing about them is similar. But you are probably correct when you say the flicker is the same. Here is my rationale to reconcile this: the ANH sabers were largely in-camera. Unlike ESB and ROTJ, the sabers in the first film used reflective blue-screen-like material to produce the glow in-camera. In post, they realised it wasn't enough so they added the coloured feather-glow. So, the glowing cores aren't an effect--they are right on the original raw camera negative. So when you start layering on other elements and re-rotoscoping them, you still have the same flickering cores, because that was actually photographed in real life. My 2 cents.