logo Sign In

OT Audio Changes

Author
Time

Would someone be able to point me towards a video which details the audio changes made to the Original Trilogy throughout the years?
I’m moderately knowledgeable on the OT visual changes (if anyone knows of a definitive visual changes photo gallery please let me know!) but to properly understand the audio changes, hearing them would help greatly! I can find lists of the audio changes but I’m more interested in actually hearing them!
Thanks 😃

Complete Star Wars Poster Collection

Author
Time

Here is a list that shows the visual changes, but also audio changes with sound files.

Ceci n’est pas une signature.

Author
Time

One mistake there right away. Star Wars and Empire used the original widescreen version of the 20th Century Fox logo with the tilted ‘0’. It wasn’t until Jedi, when, due Star Wars’ success, they brought back the logo and fanfare full time, that they used the redrawn logo depicted.

TV’s Frink said:

I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Visual changes :

Star Wars : https://picasaweb.google.com/102542760950977079734/StarWarsSpecialEditionChangesHD
Empire : https://picasaweb.google.com/102542760950977079734/EmpireSpecialEditionChangesHD
Jedi : https://picasaweb.google.com/102542760950977079734/JediSpecialEditionChangesHD

Not sure about audio though. There are so many threads about it but there’s no search functionality right now, try to google something like “audio changes site😮riginaltrilogy.com” or something similar
EDIT : The smiley face is actually " : o" without the spaces

Author
Time

pittrek said:

Visual changes :

Star Wars : https://picasaweb.google.com/102542760950977079734/StarWarsSpecialEditionChangesHD
Empire : https://picasaweb.google.com/102542760950977079734/EmpireSpecialEditionChangesHD
Jedi : https://picasaweb.google.com/102542760950977079734/JediSpecialEditionChangesHD

Not sure about audio though. There are so many threads about it but there’s no search functionality right now, try to google something like “audio changes site😮riginaltrilogy.com” or something similar
EDIT : The smiley face is actually " : o" without the spaces

I think none’s spreadsheet has audio changes annotated. Don’t have the link handy, though.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

ESB has the most audio differences

16mm
35mm
70mm
Special edition
Radio drama
The story of vinyl LP
Soundtrack

It’s the film of the OT with the most audio either featuring in a separate mix of the film or in other material made intended to be in the film but omitted.

This pertains to both music and sound effects and alternate dialogue.

There are many differences between the mixes and a lot of unused music, dialogue and sound effects.

Author
Time

What differences are in the mono mix for ESB?

Author
Time

The 16mm, 35mm and 70mm are all originally mono.

I am a bit tired right now to list them all.

The differences between the 35mm and the 70mm can be found on Wikipedia star wars changes.

The 16mm is most different and is not listed.

Author
Time

The 35mm and 70mm ESB mixes are actually very similar for the most part. Only a few small differences between them, with the exception of the very last scene of the film, which is significantly different due to the change in editing.

The 16mm mono has a number of changes that later ended up in the special edition, as well as the foreign language versions.

Author
Time

SpilkaBilka said:

Is there a mockup of the 70mm ending of ESB? I’ve always heard there was a shot of the fleet missing, but I was never sure which shot.

There’s an in-theater recording of the 70mm mix. You could probably listen to the ending and guess.

Author
Time

I may be ignorant, but what is the advantage of making 70mm prints of a film shot on 35mm? Were there just theaters that had only 70mm equipment?

TV’s Frink said:

I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.

Author
Time

35mm films were frequently “blown up” to 70mm to take advantage of the six-track magnetic stereo soundtracks that were used for 70mm release prints. (The extra-wide gate also meant more light was being thrown onto the screen compared to a 35mm print.) The popularity of “Star Wars” and “Superman” led to many more theaters installing 70mm projectors and sound systems. But as digital sound (which could be encoded onto 35mm prints, or played in sync via CDs) came into play, the cost of 70mm prints (much more than 35mm, especially given the magnetic audio stripes) was no longer palatable.

Here is a link to a list of 70mm blow-ups.
http://in70mm.com/library/blow_up/index.htm

For example, in 1982 there were 29 films shot in 35mm that were released (or re-released) in 70mm stereo.

Author
Time

ESB and ROTJ are pretty similar in that they were mixed while focusing on getting the main stereo right so that in the case of system failure the regular stereo would work fine. Thus the difference between 35 and 70 is largely that the latter was the more technically robust and discrete form whereas the 35mm had to be run through the matrixing process. They do have some differences that we know of, but this was mainly stuff like after premiere changes to ESB.

The mono mixes were made from scratch, and in the case of SW done later and thus have numerous tweaks, fixes and dialogue differentiations added to them. These mostly wound up in the 97 SE mix for both SW and ESB. I presume because GL and Burtt preferred them. Since I grew up with both the SE and OT, I tend to miss some of the SE effects and was so glad to hear that they were indeed original.
(Stuff like: the different Beru voice, Leia’s 44 magnum blaster, “Close the blast doors!”, “Blast it Wedge” etc.)

Try 'em all. See what you like. Personally I adore the monos, and only miss the stereo’s clarity. The monos are much more like classic Hollywood and action serials and the music is mixed differently too. Sometimes I wonder what one of our 70mm recreations would be like if we utilized the mono differences. Probably a lot like the 97 mixes, which apart from the new additions were quite faithful to the original 4 track masters and had great fidelity to them.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader

Author
Time

I can understand audio changes that clarified an ambiguous situation, but why the changes of one word that does nothing to improve or clarify a scene? e.g. “Until I get the shelter built” to “until I get the shelter up.”

Author
Time

Perhaps it was originally written as “until I get the shelter up”, and George really liked how that sounded - then during filming Harrison slightly ad-libbed the line to “until I get the shelter built” and it never felt right to George?
I’m grasping at straws but it’s possible 😛

Complete Star Wars Poster Collection

Author
Time

I think the answer is “because George Lucas” and no further explanation is necessary. Seriously, that guy has made an entire life out of changing the most inconsequential things possible while not caring one whit about the important stuff (script, acting, atmosphere, etc.).