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Insuring the OT's Survival for the Future - READ

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Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster, and a big fan of the original version of the trilogy. I am 26, have a huge vintage Kenner collection, and love ESB. I was very very sore at Lucas for shelving the theatrical cuts of Star Wars. I hated the prequels, but was content to ignore it all until I heard about his refusal to preserve the classic Oscar-winning versions of the trilogy. Well, I have something I think many of you might be interested in. Rikter, TR47, and others... LISTEN UP.

I have owned a laserdisc player since the 1995. The Star Wars DC LD set was my first set, and I bought it because I heard the "One Last Time" crap. For a sixteen-year old to plunk $250.00 bucks without even owning an LD player was a big deal. I watched them over the years, basking in their widescreen, PCM glory. Then the Phantom Menace appeared and everyone went prequel-crazy - either loving it or hating it. At the time, there was a classic trilogy vacuum as all focus was on Episode I. Well, I hated it, and virtually disavowed Star Wars. BUT... one day in late '99 I am sitting at my computer at Syracuse U., looking around on Ebay for that elusive vintage Kenner AT-AT toy, and what do I find - a complete set of the Star Wars "Faces" LDs, MINT in the shrinkwrap - never touched by human hands, and for the whopping buy-it-now price of $49.99 FOR ALL THREE.

For the briefest of moments, I had no idea why I was throwing money down on them. I already had the uber-set, but opened LDs don't last forever... I guess it was paramoia that forced my hand. I bought them and stowed them alongside my DC set, and they sat in the shrinkwrap...I hand carried them back to Atlanta...then hand carried them to Los Angeles....then back to Atlanta... all the time they remained MINT in the shrinkwrap, never opened, never shipped independently. At this very moment, they are still sealed, and I would kill for someone talented to make the ultimate DVD-set of them with the anamorphic process to the video (because I have a 47" WS TV) and the uncompressed PCM audio.

These discs are PERFECT. I have been saving them for over five years in case Lucas pulled this stunt. Well, I was right - he did it. But I have these LDs to offer the fan community to make the ultimate OT set. TR47, yours are BANG UP, I love them. But there are concerns that well... one bootleg version is missing dialogue and another version is missing welding footage. This version, as Rikter said, has it all, and these specific copies have never been played, never touched. They would be the cleanest transfers possible.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
nohandluke
"I turned it off! I don't wanna talk to her!"
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There is no "missing" dialogue. If you are referring to the C3PO line, it wasn't in either LD set to my knowledge. It does exist on the '89 WS LDs as they were made with a different audio source, but they are not THX mastered. I haven't seen them personally, but I can't imagine them being as good as the 93/95 sets.
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TR47,

Forgive me for the implication that your DVDs were missing dialogue. I read on this forum in another thread that the Faces LDs had the 3PO line and since I have not ever opened them, I had to take it at face value.

Regardless, maybe you could tell me if these LDs are of any value to the ongoing Star Wars OT DVD project... As I understand it, a Faces LD transfer has yet to be done...

Thanks,
nohandluke
"I turned it off! I don't wanna talk to her!"
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I don't know firsthand, but from what I've heard, the 95 LD's are the exact same transfer as the 93 LD's. And I have the anamorphic set and I didn't know about any missing footage until I read it here - it certainly doesn't seem like it's missing at all.
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The way I understand it from reading on this forum, the earlier DC LD copies are missing the few seconds of Leia welding in ESB - which is apparently missing from the anamorphic set...so I'm told.

nohandluke
"I turned it off! I don't wanna talk to her!"
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Yes, the footage is missing from the anamorphic version but is present in mine. It's about 7 seconds of film.
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ALthough I never got into the game of LD, I have done extensive study of the media as of late.

In regards to SW DC, a failry big shipment of the DC set was released with 7 seconds missing. The manufacturers recognised it, and offered for all dodgy copies to be sent back, and they would in turn receive a corrected copy.

Well of course there are those collectors who see this as a limited bunch and figure "bugger this, I'm keeping it, it'll worth something in 50 years".

Problem is the anamorphic set was made from that, and we lost the footage.

To be honest an Anamorphic set will never look as good as a set done in the same fashion as TR47s as the LDs were not anamorphic originally, and as they have to captured, and cannot be digitally "ripped" converting them to anamorphic clearly does lose a lot of clarity and sharpness ort he overall image.

But what can ya do?

RATLSNAKE
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It would be better to leave it as non-anamorphic. There are players already on the market that will automatically make non-anamorphic DVDs anamorphic on the fly while playing. You could open your set and find it damaged. The best idea is to de-interlace it, and save it as 24fps at the original resolution on your PC and then never delete that source.
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What I want to know about the infamous missing C-3PO line is whether it truly existed in the first version that played in theaters? Or was it only added later for various home video versions and the special editions? Because if it was added later, I wouldn't consider it missing anymore than "Close the blast doors!" or Luke's ESB scream.
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I believe it was in the original mono mix. But I may mistaken.