I finally got a chance to watch the rough cut of part 1 of the Introducing the Despecialized Edition documentary. Harmy, your voiceover work on this really surprised me, it was very clean, clear and natural sounding (in that the English didn't seem forced). You were all right on the sources narration, but this is just leaps better.
I have to agree that, imagining the perspective of someone not overly familiar with this project, the beginning seems too focused on John Williams. It really comes off as the music changes are what set you off the most. Tobar's suggestions both sound like they'd give the impact you're trying to get across. Also, you probably wouldn't necessarily have to change the following narration about the things that got changed in addition to John Williams' award winning music, as with all those other awards represented in the beginning, the Williams mention here isn't the overload it was before, the line transforms into more of a listing of changes than gushing exuberance for John Williams.
I see now what you're wanting for the sound section, and since this is about what made you want to do the despecialization, you're not necessarily having to just compare original to Blu-ray. With that said, there was something I believe was fixed for the Blu-ray, but totally present on the DVD audio, that being the fanfare as the x-wings are attacking the Death Star getting drowned out entirely by effects (even gives you a good chance to show off the new CG space battle).
Yes, here it is: (from http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/star-wars-the-changes-part-one.html )
The Force Fanfare
Here we come to one of the more contentious issues surrounding the DVD release of A New Hope. During the Rebel attack on the Death Star, just as the X-Wings swoop down to attack the trench, a triumphant statement of the Force theme can be heard. You can listen to this by clicking here. The DVD release of the film buries this music so far down in the mix that it is virtually inaudible, as demonstrated by this clip. This exemplifies the problems with the audio on this DVD release of A New Hope. However, Lucasfilm issued the following statement to reassure everyone that there was nothing wrong:
"We are always impressed with how closely fans listen to the many different sound mixes we have made for the Star Wars movies over the years. It is flattering to know that, indeed, the audience is listening. Consequently, each mix comes out differently and any changes that you hear on the all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX tracks on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set are deliberate creative decisions. We can confirm that there are no technical glitches as has been reported."
Well, thank goodness for that then. There’s obviously nothing wrong with the release, and the reported inconsistent dialogue levels, reversed stereo score and missing music are all ‘deliberate creative decisions’. Phew! However, it was nice of Lucasfilm to make the creative decision to give French speaking people the chance to view the DVD with the Force theme intact, as evidenced by this clip. So, it’s a deliberate creative decision? Yeah right—mind tricks only work on the weak-minded!
To further reinforce how the above was bull the Blu-ray release of the film has restored the Force Fanfare to its former glory. Not all of the audio errors have been fixed mind you, but that's a story for another time...
