Originally posted by: drcrawn
Does anyone here actually have the Definitive LDs with the missing 7 seconds of ESB? Those are tremendously collectible, very rare indeed. Also I heard mention of laser rot. The definitve ld are not know for having laser rot are they?

I have the Definitive Collection LD's with the Leia Welding footage in tact. The early release was suseptible to rot, but I'm not sure about the version I have since it was a later pressing.

MeBeJedi,

I believe the missing C3PO line is included in one of those early LD's. If you look at this

link, he mentions this about the 1985 VHS release:
"WHAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN: This release is a little-known milestone in the history of Star Wars. When Fox decided to digitally remaster the audio track for this re-release, sound designer Ben Burtt asked to be involved. What Burtt actually ended up doing was that he created an entirely new sound mix for the film. So in reality, the audio for this video release is the fourth official Star Wars audio mix (following the three original theatrical mixes - see the first entry at the top of this page). Among the clean up and digital repairs, some interesting new changes were added. These include sweetened sound effects, new stereo'd effects (Jawa voices after Artoo's capture) and, most noticeably, the addition of C-3PO's line in the Death Star ("The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave"). This new sound mix was used for every subsequent video release until the 1993 THX "Definitive Collection" remastering [ Very Special Thanks to David C. Fein for this important revelation ] ".

He also says this about the 1992 LD. "Coupled with the 1985 audio mix, this could very well likely be the best presentation of the film."

So, I would bet that line was there.

I have seen a copy someone made of the movie with that line and the "Close the blastdoors!" line inserted into the Faces version of ANH. They are a little jarring. The person who made it did a good job. It's just that you can tell the lines were recorded at different times. Kind of reminds me of Vader's added line in ESB of, "Inform my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival.". It is really James Earl Jones performing that line according to Ben Burtt. However, it doesn't sound right because that line was meant to be in ANH, but they never used it.

When you get a chance, check out the '92 LD and see how the line sounds compared to 3PO's other lines during that scene. If you had the entire '92 LD, I would probably use that for the audio and maybe the video as well.

I just looked at Ebay and found this:

Laserdisc. I wonder if this is the 1989 or the 1992 version.

Patrick