Listened to these last night. You did a great job of smoothing out the edits. The 1989 laserdisc mix is really compressed, to the point that it isn’t listenable IMO. I think the original Dolby optical track is much better. There doesn’t seem to be a good uncompressed source for the original 1981 mix.
Yeah, I thought it just sounded too quiet and lacking in the dynamic sound of the optical track. Does the original LD release have the same track as the '89 Japanese LD?
I forgot how much I liked the 1992 laserdisc mix. It’s a remix, but still pretty close to the original Dolby mix. It’s probably the best overall mix, with good dynamics.
Are there any notable differences between the '81 and '92 mixes that would make it too unoriginal for a purist?
All home video releases from 1983-1991 have the same mix. I’m not completely sure if it is exactly the same as the theatrical. It is pretty flat and compressed, as you would expect since most people back then would be hearing it on a small TV speaker.
All LD and VHS releases from 1992-2002 have the same remixed soundtrack. There are very slight differences in sound effects, the most notable being the sound of the staff being dropped into the map room and a wind sound before the lights explode on the altar. There might be more but I haven’t directly compared it to the theatrical. Plus very slight differences in levels. Overall still a very good mix with good dynamic range.
From 2003-2011 all releases use the DVD mix, which is a 5.1 version of the 70mm 6 track mix. The surrounds are a bit too loud IMO, but it is all original AFAIK.
All releases since 2012 use the blu-ray remix.
I have been trying to get a hold of the alternate mix, which was used on some 16mm prints and possibly a TBS broadcast. This is (probably) an early mix and is less polished. It has some different dialogue takes, very different music editing and differences in sound effects and levels. This mix is the base for most foreign language mixes. So if you listen to the French mix on the DVD or blu-ray for example, you are hearing the music and effects for this mix. Compare the opening of the ark scene, for example, to hear very different (and more rough) music editing, vocal effects and sound effects.