That's the splitscreen set? Nah, I don't have it. It would definitely be interesting to see it that way, though. I'm limited in the stuff I have because I'm getting most of them from myspleen, which is usually pretty slow, plus I have to link to another computer to actually burn them, and it isn't always available. Right now I have the first TR47 (but with the Leia-welding gap fixed), OCP's classic editions, and Editdroid for the first film, but not the other two yet. I also have Deleted Magic.
Sometime I'd like to be able to just sit down and watch Star Wars as a movie and not think about any kind of changes, just enjoy it for what it is, you know? Analysing it to death sort of does make that difficult. I can only imagine how odd it must be to edit and put together these things frame by frame and not get sick of it! lol Still, I never really get tired of it for long. It's too cool and important to me for that.
I know what you mean about the over-analysing. Let's hope the new release will give us the chance to just watch it. Having said that, WookieeGroomer has two soundtracks on each, which makes it useful for the kind of comparisons you gave above.
The WookieGroomer set lets you compare the 2004 mix with the 1993 mix. There is no comparison. The 2004 blows.
I watched the mono track the other day. It's still awesome, even if it does have the .44 Magnum sounds when Leia fires the blaster during the chasm crossfire.
The 1997 SE mix seemed to be a concious effort to expand the mono mix. A lot of elements of that are there. It has the 3PO tractor beam line and "Close the blast doors". It has the .44 Magnum gunshots. It has all the various beeps inside the Falcon. I'm going to have to re-watch the 1997 SE (oh heaven forbid!) and see how close it really is to the mono track. I know it leaves out the faint sounds of the cantina just before Ben and Luke and the droids walk in (which I always liked in the mono track).
Originally posted by: hairy_hen As the Star Destroyer flies about halfway overhead there is a bright flash of light that on the old stereo is not accompanied by any sort of explosive sound effect. On the '93 THX one was added; the '97 special edition supercedes it with a longer, higher-pitched and more "stereo-ized" explosion sound. I don't know if the mono had any sound there or not...
No effect there on the mono mix.
As for which is my favorite, it's tough to say. I grew up on the 1977 Dolby Stereo mix on video, so that's what I know best. To this day when I hear the tractor beam line, it sounds out of place. The mono sounds the most polished and complete. The 1985 is a very faithful but higher quality version of the 1977 Dolby mix. The 1993 is a rockin' track that could be the best, but new sound effects creep in at times and that distracts.
Neil
Well at least the reversed surround channels have been addressed.
We're only getting one mix on the new OUT discs, so which one should it be? We know it's a 2.0 track and I sincerely doubt it will be a new mix (or even a mixdown of the 6 track mix). That leaves the '77, '85 & '93 mixes as possibilities. Should it be the '77 for authenticity, even though it leaves out some good stuff that's in the mono mix? Or the '85 as the best compromise between the '77 mixes? Both of these make sense to me and it's a tough choice. I can't see a good case for the '93 mix, but I fear that's the most likely choice.
