Some answers have come back from the Home Theater Forum questions:
I have some initial answers and will be putting together a full report which will take a few days after I finish digesting some of what I saw and heard. Please note that I won't be providing any additional info until I have a chance to write everythign up. In the meantime here is some info for you to digest:
They used the digital files from the 2004 release as a starting point for the Blu-ray release. They then made a lot of tweaks and fixes:
- Light sabers? Check.
- "Humdinger Glitch"? Check
- Color timing? Check
- Other effect cleanup? Check
The audio for all the films was tweaked. It was readily apparent that it was a labor of love for Matthew Wood who worked with Ben Burtt. Episode 4 got the most attention since originally it was a mono mix with no separation. He went back to the original masters to make the new mix. George Lucas and Ben Burtt were heavily involved in the entire process including balancing the score against the effects. There are a few places where Matthew found some snippets of background dialog that was never used on the masters and he put them in. I'll have additional details as part of our expanded coverage.
I had the opportunity to view some deleted scenes and WOW there is some good stuff there, some great deleted scenes and alternate takes. They have not been "restored" and quality varies clip by clip.
The packaging is very nice. The complete series set is a book with thick cardboard pages and great art (I have pics of each page that I will post with my complete write up. If you opt for either of the three film sets its a standard three disc Blu-ray case in a cardboard sleeve.
As to the original cuts? The company line is this is what George Lucas's vision for the films is. While its up to everyone to vote with their wallet, In my opinion if you boycott this release because of that you are going to be missing a otherwise fantastic release.