Davnes007 said:
Well...I have all** the (North American) VHS releases from 1984, onward.
** Except for a couple of widescreen releases.
Me too. I thought that the 1992 versions were pretty solid, even compared to the laserdiscs. Of course, the Faces VHSes were beat solidly by the GOUT and the others are full screen.
Davnes007, if you're collecting the VHSes, did you know that the 1982 VHS pops up cheap every now and then? Picked mine up for about $20.
I know, but I'm not too worried about it.
The 'thrill of the find' at thrift stores is what I like. :)
Star Wars Episode XXX: Erica Strikes Back
If you want Nice, go to France
The Aluminum Falcon said:
Sorry but isn't the JSC and the SWE from the same master, at least for ESB and ROTJ...
Nope. Check out these screen captures, the JSC has a little less cropping on three sides (the right side looks about the same): http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Pre-93-Special-LD-transfers/post/483716/#TopicPost483716
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Isn't it possible that it's the same master just cropped a bit incorrectly when trying to get rid of captions? After all, for ANH, when importing the JSC master over and trying to remove the captions, they botched the release and gave us the incredible shrinking ratio. I agree that there may be slight variations (increased/decreased vertical or horizontal resolution) due to the pressing factory, as discussed in my ESB SWE Mitsubishi Mystery thread, but, all in all, it's the same master.
I strongly believe that the SWE LD's used the same source as the earlier JSC LD's except the Technidisc ANH pressing which seems to be sourced from the same IP as the DC/Faces/GOUT-transfer of the first film. It may however be variations between the various pressings of the sequels in the SWE set just like with the first film, but the Pioneer pressing I own of Empire seems to be from the same elements the JSC was sourced from.
Different cropping doesn't have to mean it's a different source.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
Thinking about it msycamore, do you think the Mitsubishi pressing of ESB could really be like the Technidisc ANH and actually the same IP as the GOUT just non-DVNR'ed? It would explain why the scan lines are more like the GOUTs instead of the JSC and your (earlier) Pioneer pressing, which was probably JSC master-sourced.
It's impossible to say without an extensive comparison between the transfers, I've only seen the Pioneer pressing. I'm definitely not an authority on these matters, what Asaki said could also be the case. I'm just basing my assumptions on dirt spots and splices etc.
The scanline pattern differ between releases because of the lack of resolution/detail, if that is down to different IP/film elements used or a shortcoming in the video mastering process I don't know, for Star Wars it seems to exist at least two different IP's, don't know if that is the case with Empire.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
Mielr said:
Are we talking about the same tapes that were in the 'hologram' boxed set?
That came out in '92, I think.
Those are the last SW VHS tapes I have left. I sold all my others.Ziggy Stardust said:
I was David Bowie in a past life. Can I be nostalgic?
I saw David Bowie at Madison Square Garden in 1987. Can I be nostalgic?
BTW- how can you be Bowie in a past life if he's still alive? ;-)
DuracellEnergizer said:
Mielr said:
Are we talking about the same tapes that were in the 'hologram' boxed set?
That came out in '92, I think.
Those are the last SW VHS tapes I have left. I sold all my others.
Ziggy Stardust said:
I was David Bowie in a past life. Can I be nostalgic?
I saw David Bowie at Madison Square Garden in 1987. Can I be nostalgic?
BTW- how can you be Bowie in a past life if he's still alive? ;-)
Bowie died in an alternate universe and his ghost learned how to traverse the multiverse.
Shhhhhhhhh! You weren't supposed to share that information with anyone!
Expect a visit from the government later. They want to "talk" to you.
I am fascinated and frustrated at the same time as to who was given the task of creating the pan & scan versions of these VHS releases.
My best memory of Jedi is from the 1986 release, and while I never saw the whole widescreen image for many years following, was following the onscreen action of someone controlling what fullscreen image was best to see. For almost 10 years I knew where the image was panned to, and never thought much of what was missing. When the 1995 THX editions came out, I was full frustrated because the pan and scan image was directed at different images. I could never appreciate these superior quality versions, and silly me bought the fullscreen 97 SE's too.
Wasnt until 2000 when I got the widescreen SE re-release did I start appreciating the whole image, what I missed out on all this time, but I would still love the opportunity to go back and watch all the movies the way I remembered. 84 Empire, 86 Jedi, and I believe the 92 Star Wars. I could go back to those versions now and know exactly what the image was focused on.
Ah, memories.