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Info: Alien Anthology - Dolby Digital 4.1 Surround — Page 5

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About the 1999 DVD, it might actually have the most theatrically accurate color timing. The old documentary Terror in the Aisles has 35mm footage from what appears to be a print. It's very colorful like that transfer. The 2003(?) DVD was re-timed, as the Director's cut.

There is though a newly-released regraded version of the BD by kk650 which removes the real tint.

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Jonno said:

Syncing of that will take longer (the rather clunky Womble is the only tool I know that can edit 5.1 AC-3 without reencoding) but it'll become my top priority once you manage the capture.

Thanks for the willingness to help with this!

I found this old post by MrBitperfect invaluable on the subject: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Preserving-DTS-LaserDisc-tracks-specifically-Jurassic-Park/post/577655/#TopicPost577655

Jonno said:

I actually have quite a soft spot for the 1999 DVD myself - I can remember the excitement of importing it from the US and exploring the features and commentary. And of course the film looked and sounded fantastic, at least for the time. I can certainly try to fit in a sync for that, but realistically I'll only have time (and patience!) for one - would you prefer the Dolby Stereo or 70mm mix?

That's very nice of you, I would prefer the 70mm mix as we already have the other mix synced officially. And I am only thinking of my upcoming audio rip(s). Your BD sync takes priority of course.

Jonno said:

As I've mentioned, I haven't done a full video test with the Dolby Stereo PCM but a quick sample indicates it's noticeably stronger and clearer than the weak-sounding '99 AC-3. Don't be surprised if it's a little quieter than the 70mm mix - the disc was mastered at a lower level (though it would be hard to match the 1995 laserdisc, whose PCM track is the most boisterous I've yet to encounter!)

Looking forward to take a listen...

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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Would the DTS from the Japan Alien Quadrilogy being of any signifigance?  I haven't heard it yet but as I already have the "director's cut" version for theater DTS (which needs to be sorted yet) I'd be interested to know how it stacks up to what's happening here.

:) 

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Does anyone know the DTS specs for the Japan Alien Quadrilogy Ultimate Collection?

I am aware the Aliens and Alien 3 are the extended versions only and they have DTS .... a Japan only release in this configuration.

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i owned the Japanese Alien DVD's for a while

they were all half bitrate dts FYI.

The R6 DVD from China though has a DTS-ES 6.1 (matrixed) audio track that's full bitrate. The Fox DVD's from China usually have very high bitrates.

Join the dark side… and get a free cookie!

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I got a fairly low end sound system. Will I be able to hear the difference between the ld lpcm and the bluray track?

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Has anyone captured the 1995 laserdisc PCM track?  That would be nice to have considering.

:)

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I would like to mention something that I’ve noticed in a scene from the movie where the sound mix for that scene is different in the various versions of the film.  This scene occurs around 40 minutes into the film, where the Nostromo crew discovers that the alien blood acts like acid and burns through several desks downward in their cargo ship. 

I feel that the best way to explain this example is to use several links to playable audio WAV files to help illustrate my point.

Now, we all know that Alien’s music track contains not only portions of original music for the film, but also music from another film, Freud (1962), both of which were done by Jerry Goldsmith.

In this link is the music cue from Freud that was used in said scene.

http://www.4shared.com/music/3XQsrPT8ba/Freud_Music_Cue.html

Here is a portion of the original music from Alien that was intended to be used in said scene.

http://www.4shared.com/music/i7EyDgVpce/Alien_1979__Original_Music_Cue.html

At the point in that scene where the crew has just entered into another deck, trying to find where acid-like blood is coming from, we hear both the Freud music cue and the Alien music cue mixed together.

In this audio file is a recreation of how the Freud and Alien music cues are merged together in the finished film. 

http://www.4shared.com/music/86oqj_SAba/Alien_1979__Final_Film_Music_M.html

6 seconds into this file, the Alien cue begins over the Freud music cue.

Finally, this file contains both music cues with sound and dialogue as it is heard in the final 2-channel Dolby Surround sound mix from the film.  In this audio demo, the scene begins with Dallas saying, “Next deck!” over the image of the melted toe of a space boot and ends when Ripley says, “its stopping!” The sound level in the Alien music cue is lower than the level in the Freud Music cue, so, you would have to listen carefully to the former.  This sound is from Fox Video’s 3-disc 1992 LaserDisc release.

http://www.4shared.com/music/-lEtC2Dpce/Alien_1979__Final_Film_Sound_M.html

My theory is when the sound mixers where re-doing the reel of this scene they forgot to remove the magnetic stem reels containing the Alien music from the reader. I guess since both pieces of music are modernist, this mistake just went over the director and the other sound mixers that were dubbing the movie.

I’ve studied the sound mix of that scene in the 4.0 surround mix of the film on the 2003 DVD release.  In the front left and right channels, the Alien music cue is greatly minimized because you would have to strain to hear it over the Freud music and the other sound elements.

http://www.4shared.com/music/4RvsBdlFce/Alien__1979__4_Channel_Front_L.html

 
However, in the rear left and right channels, the Alien music is present, not the Freud music, over the ambient ship rumble sounds.

http://www.4shared.com/music/yTvOBGaVba/Alien__1979__4_Channel_Rear_LR.html


The actual sound in the rear channels was lower than the front channels so I had to increase the rear channel sound levels drastically for this file to demonstrate.


Perhaps, after all these years, the filmmakers realized that the Alien music cue in that scene remained and they did their best to remove it or, at least, minimize it when preparing for the DVD.  I suppose they could have re-dubbed that scene, making sure not to add the Alien music cue into that scene, but why didn’t they?

I wonder if this leakage of the Alien music in that scene occurred in the rare 70mm, 6-track mix?  It would be interesting if we can find that out, so that we can get some further insight on what procedures went on in preparing the sound mixes for the various versions of the film at the time of its theatrical release.  It would be great if someone who has possession of an audio rip of that 70mm, 6-track LaserDisc version could post an audio of that scene so that we call all check it out.

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Extremely interesting!

Another thing I noticed: On the Dolby Surround clip, when the audio is collapsed to mono the Alien cue goes from faint to almost completely inaudible. I was listening on my iPhone speaker, couldn't hear it, plugged in my headphones and then I could hear it.

The surround information is carried in the two channels inverse to each other, so the fact that it essentially disappears in a mono fold-down seems to indicate that when the track is properly decoded, the Alien music would have only been heard in the surrounds (similar to the DVD?)

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Interesting observations. alexp120, I just read those PMs you sent me, sorry for not giving you a response sooner. Been away from the forum for quite some time.

I'll see if I can find and upload my audio files again.

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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Sorry, for that mistake.

I just found this topic. I would like to get my hands on the Alien 70mm Six-Track and as well the Jurassic Park DTS laserdisc track. Is it still possible?