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New to the Special Editions Debate - 2008 SE Question

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As a wedding gift, I received a copy of the "Complete Saga" on Blu-Ray.  After watching the episodes IV, V, and VI on Blu-Ray it reminded me of my distaste for all of the special effects added in 2004.  After a bit of googling, I came across this amazing site with so much information, so much that I got lost in it and immersed myself for a few hours.

As my Star Wars geekiness starts to awaken in me again, I want to watch my Original trilogy on VHS from 1995, location unknown.  I started to research and dive into the various released versions of the Original Trilogy and fan edits that have been created to achieve that "original theatrical" look.

My question is how is the original/theatrical releases different that the 6-disc box set that was released in 2008? It appears that for each movie, 1 disk is the re-made with special effects from 2004 , and then 1 disc with the "original release."  

Can any one point me to a website/reference describing each of the releases in detail?  Is it worth me purchasing the 6-disc set from 2008 to achieve that "original release" look - or are the fan-edits out there a better solution?

Thanks, and I look forward to posting more in this forum, as my geekiness starts to come back!

Thanks!!

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The best answer to this question is given here.

(Note: The 2006 and 2008 Bonus DVDs are the same.)

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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 (Edited)

Suggestion: For now, watch GOUT (on a CRT TV, if you can).

In the future, download this release and, if that's not available, download this one (BluV2) instead. The former is obviously orders of magnitude better than the latter (due to nature of their respective sources), but it will take much longer to complete.

If you're not a purist (and there's no reason to be when you consider the constant pre-97 tinkering), then check out Harmy's work.

Edit: Also, check out Adywan's work if you want to see Special Editions done right.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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AntcuFaalb said:

If you're not a purist (and there's no reason to be when you consider the constant pre-97 tinkering), then check out Harmy's work.

What was done pre-97 is very far from constant tinkering though, a revised opening crawl/shot for the '81 re-release, that's it. The few print variations seen and mostly heard in cinemas back in '77 is hardly anything unique to Star Wars, different and alternative audio mixes prepared for different formats and theaters was very common back then. An additional audio re-mix was of course done for the '93 home video release but that has pretty much become the standard nowadays whenever a new video release is made.

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

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msycamore said:

AntcuFaalb said:

If you're not a purist (and there's no reason to be when you consider the constant pre-97 tinkering), then check out Harmy's work.

What was done pre-97 is very far from constant tinkering though, a revised opening crawl/shot for the '81 re-release, that's it. The few print variations seen and mostly heard in cinemas back in '77 is hardly anything unique to Star Wars, different and alternative audio mixes prepared for different formats and theaters was very common back then. An additional audio re-mix was of course done for the '93 home video release but that has pretty much become the standard nowadays whenever a new video release is made.

Fixed!

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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msycamore said:

AntcuFaalb said:

If you're not a purist (and there's no reason to be when you consider the constant pre-97 tinkering), then check out Harmy's work.

What was done pre-97 is very far from constant tinkering though, a revised opening crawl/shot for the '81 re-release, that's it. The few print variations seen and mostly heard in cinemas back in '77 is hardly anything unique to Star Wars, different and alternative audio mixes prepared for different formats and theaters was very common back then. An additional audio re-mix was of course done for the '93 home video release but that has pretty much become the standard nowadays whenever a new video release is made.

What about the "R2D2 in the canyon" scene ? Or the "binary sunset" scene ?  Or the "fighters leaving Yavin 4" scene ? Or of course the closing credits ? And you of course forgot the 1985 audio remix, all the colour variations (every release had different colour scheme),all the different cropping ...

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pittrek said:

What about the "R2D2 in the canyon" scene ? Or the "binary sunset" scene ?

It's true that those weren't presented as seen on theatrical prints on early home video versions. But how many home video versions of other films in the 80's and 90's were? We have come a long way since those days when compromises were made due to the medium and the equipment of the day the average person viewed them on. Scenes shot day-for-night were notorious for being presented inaccurately, examples of this are the shark attack in the beginning of Jaws or the Rushmore monument scenes in North By Northwest to just name a few.

pittrek said:

Or the "fighters leaving Yavin 4" scene ? Or of course the closing credits ?

These two subtle tweaks were most likely done for the new batch of prints that was ordered in June '77, that's also when the third audio mix (Academy Mono) first appeared on many prints. Tweaks done early in the films run is not that uncommon. A similar thing happened with ESB, in the first month of its release only the 70mm version with its slightly different editing was the only version that could be seen.

pittrek said:

And you of course forgot the 1985 audio remix, all the colour variations (every release had different colour scheme),all the different cropping ...

Again this is standard home video variations you describe, it's simply up to the telecine operator to decide how to best present the sources given to him, sometimes with the producer. I don't get what you're trying to argue but different cropping and timing of any film that gets a video release are never exactly the same twice, unless they reuse the exact same video master.

If you describe these things as constant tinkering... well, then you can describe every single little variations in cinema presentations as constant tinkering as well. Personally I wouldn't say every release of SW had a different color scheme, every release that came from the same source material had overall the same color scheme with the exception of the Technidisc telecine, they only differ in some cases due to different mastering, nothing too extensive IMO.

NTSC '82 - 92 - same source material, slight variations are seen between releases due to being either from a different telecine or mastering but overall still the same color scheme.

NTSC '92 - 94 - different source material, different color scheme.

NTSC '93 - 95 - same source material as above, a different color scheme.

I'm not saying that there hasn't been a lot of variations over the years but you have to put it in perspective, especially in comparison to how every other film has been or is treated on video. These things shouldn't be confused with the Lucas tinkering '97 and onward.

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

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Except for the "ep. IV", none of the pre-97 variations were unusual at all.