captainsolo said:
What is atrocious is the complete reworking of the soundtrack from new elements and the abandoning of the original, despite the DVD multichannel mix being a bit restrained (made very obvious in the new 35mm which used this track unlike the IMAX version).
I may get some flack for saying this but I actually prefer the LD for picture despite the aliasing as it seems a bit more natural than the DVD and it is similar to the VHS I grew up with.
Audio…LD wins. No contest. Hands down. End of discussion. The score’s integration alone nails it along with directional panning and fine detail not present in the DVD 5.1 derived from the 70mm master.
I was under the impression that the Blu-ray sound mix was just the same as the DVD (70mm), with the rears redone for 7.1. Is it really significantly different from the dvd? (I’ve only seen the IMAX version, so I don’t know.) I really like how the DVD sounded.
Sorry if this response is late and if its been answered but yes theyre not the same mix. The DVD mix was similar to my old VHS edition. I prefer this mix personally. I dont know the complete list but I know the BD added some additional ‘richocet’ noises during the gun battles which I really dont like. These ‘new’ noises were also on the 1999 VHS (not the same VHS I mentioned before)
The Blu is definitely a remix. Ben Burtt went back to the original dialogue/music/sound effects tracks and added a few new things. There are a few slightly different sound effects and level changes. A new subwoofer channel was created, which messed up some of the effects IMO because they were pulled out of the main mix and only the lower tones are heard from the subwoofer. The biggest change is they created stereo surrounds, which is great, but also added a heavy echo in some parts, which is rather obnoxious, it sounds like the orchestra is in a cave. There is more fidelity in the music, but less dynamic range in some parts.
Supposedly the DVD is the 70mm mix converted to 5.1, but the surrounds are too loud and the dynamic range is a little squashed. If you turn the surrounds down a bit it sounds very good. The wowow uses this mix. The widescreen LD is a remix, but pretty faithful and has good dynamic range. The original dolby stereo mix from theatrical prints has excellent dynamic range, especially for an optical track. Not a lot of surround action, but still probably the best overall mix and certainly the most nostalgic because it’s what was heard in theaters. It would be great to have that mix directly from the original tapes.