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Info Wanted: Do I Have The Best OT Preservation DVDs out there?

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Trying to backtrack through all of the threads to determine what’s the most accurate and best quality (visually) OT (not SE!) DVDs is dizzying. I figured I’d save myself some hours of searching and ask those in-the-know if the DVD set I have is the best so far.

I have an edition of the OT called the “Classic Edition”. They were created mainly with the official DVD footage, but deleting the SE parts by using the best LD footage at the time. I do not believe any edits of special effects were done like in some ongoing projects. I got them from MySpleen, but unfortunately can’t seem to find them again to figure out who made these.

Anyway, with the HD Cinemax release coming, the X0Project, and others literally adding in and re-doing special effects, I’m sure better and better releases are coming. But are these the best currently?

Thank you for your help.

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No, because it's not true to the original. There are shots on that disc that were modified for the 2004 SE, and they weren't replaced with the original video. And the colors are screwed up. And the encoding is pretty lousy (I don't know about Empire and Jedi, though).

So I'd say no- pick up the official DVD for $18 next month, which contains the actual original movie.
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Originally posted by: Davis
No, because it's not true to the original. There are shots on that disc that were modified for the 2004 SE, and they weren't replaced with the original video.

According to the people that released it on MySpleen, all of the Special Edition shots in all 3 movies were deleted. Replaced with the original video from the LD rips.

Originally posted by: Davis
And the colors are screwed up. And the encoding is pretty lousy (I don't know about Empire and Jedi, though).


Colors on the LD I can't comment on. I can imagine there might be better transfers of it out there someplace. Part of the reason for this thread was to find out.

Originally posted by: Davis
So I'd say no- pick up the official DVD for $18 next month, which contains the actual original movie.


Now this comment I can't wrap my head around. First of all the OT isn't going to be $18 next month. That's just for 1 of them. So you're looking at over $50 for the entire OT, since Lucas is forcing you to buy the SE versions as well. On top of that, the video quality has been confirmed by LucasFilms themselves as being no better than anything you can find from what has been released here. No thanks.


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It's really personal preference. Some people don't want to combine the dvd unaltered footage with laserdisc, others don't mind. Personally, I wouldn't want something sourced from the dvd's at all because the colors and brightness levels are so screwed up, I don't think the original colors can be completely recovered.

Take back the trilogy. Execute Order '77

http://www.youtube.com/user/Knightmessenger

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The only true representations of the OOT is LD preservations. The classic editions still have shots that were enhanced for the SE releases in 2004.


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Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee
Originally posted by: Davis
No, because it's not true to the original. There are shots on that disc that were modified for the 2004 SE, and they weren't replaced with the original video.

According to the people that released it on MySpleen, all of the Special Edition shots in all 3 movies were deleted. Replaced with the original video from the LD rips.

They're wrong. All of the SE shots were not deleted. I'm sure others can provide you with examples. The most glaring is an SE shot in the Battle of Yavin.


Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee


Originally posted by: Davis
So I'd say no- pick up the official DVD for $18 next month, which contains the actual original movie.


Now this comment I can't wrap my head around. First of all the OT isn't going to be $18 next month. That's just for 1 of them. So you're looking at over $50 for the entire OT, since Lucas is forcing you to buy the SE versions as well. On top of that, the video quality has been confirmed by LucasFilms themselves as being no better than anything you can find from what has been released here. No thanks.



Sorry I was wrong about the price- I thought you were just talking about Star Wars. But your comment about the video quality is patently untrue. The September DVD's will blow the other preservations out of the water, except for the XO project. Possibly.
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Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
It's really personal preference. Some people don't want to combine the dvd unaltered footage with laserdisc, others don't mind. Personally, I wouldn't want something sourced from the dvd's at all because the colors and brightness levels are so screwed up, I don't think the original colors can be completely recovered.


I understand now. I really couldn't care less about exact color correctness and brightness levels. In terms of visual quality I'm more concerned about resolution and detail. I wouldn't really notice color-matching being off.

So I guess what I'm asking is:

-Is there just one DVD/LD version out there? Or ones that are better done than others regarding the quality of the LD rip, or any adjustments to the special effects.
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Originally posted by: Davis

They're wrong. All of the SE shots were not deleted. I'm sure others can provide you with examples. The most glaring is an SE shot in the Battle of Yavin.

My mistake. I wasn't specific enough in explaining my views on this. Some SE effects, colors, brightness, don't bother me. Like, I don't mind adding more fighters into the Battle of Yavin scene, but the ride into Mos Eisley and Greedo shooting first, and the end of ROTJ I can't stand. I had assumed the versions I have are more in-line with what I just said. My bad.


Originally posted by: Davis
Sorry I was wrong about the price- I thought you were just talking about Star Wars. But your comment about the video quality is patently untrue. The September DVD's will blow the other preservations out of the water, except for the XO project. Possibly.


Just curious about why you think this. I'm not saying you're wrong now, I do think I probably don't have all of the information on this, but it's my understanding that the LDs were ripped to DVD, and all LucasFilms is doing is the same thing. No actual work on correcting or improving anything. Just the same dump that fans have done. According to the articles I've read anyway.

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I am also curious why you think this Davis.


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Try the editdroid trilogy still pretty good even by todays standards. Or wait for the X0 boys to finish theirs.

Or, dare I say it buy the soon to be reissued DVD's.
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Originally posted by: eros
Try the editdroid trilogy still pretty good even by todays standards. Or wait for the X0 boys to finish theirs.

Or, dare I say it buy the soon to be reissued DVD's.


I think I'll wait for the X0 Project to be done. I'm curious to see how the very best LD rip stands up to the 2004 DVD/LD combination. At the very least the LD parts will all be better. And hopefully, eventually, someone will splice together as pure an OT version as possible using the best resolution sources available, the X0 Project and the upcoming HD Cinemax broadcast.

But the reissued DVDs? Hell no. LucasFilm already admitted after the announcement that the non-SE OT versions on the new DVDs are just bonus material taken straight from the Laserdiscs without any work done on them. I'd imagine X0's version would wipe the floor with the official ones since they're actually taking time to fix things.

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Welcome to the boards Duke.

OCP's Classic Edition was a project done with a great intent in mind, but the end result was less than desirable in my opinion. The incorporated LD footage is not utilized very well, as it is laden with chroma noise and not color corrected to match the DVD footage. The other major problem is that video wasn't re-encoded very well. If you compare it to the official DVD, the difference is night and day. True, the classic editions were only single layer, but compressing the DVD footage shouldn't have that much of a quality loss. I'm sure if OCP ever finishes his "new" classic edition project, his results will be much better than the first.

As for what is the best out there, my personal favorites are the preservations from Citizen and Moth3r (and Doctor M's NTSC conversions of Moth3r's PAL-only releases). These two projects are the newest LD preservations and they are very well done. Moth3r's has more detail, but Citizen's is a little better in the color and noise departments.

As far as the new DVDs, they will be slightly better quality than the two I mentioned above, only because the source Lucasfilm is working from is the LD digital master tapes, not the LDs themselves. What you will see is more detail and a lot less noise in the video, but at the same time they will not be anything close to the detail and resolution of the SE DVDs.

Check out the Official Screenshots Thread pinned at the top of the forum for a comparison of most of the popular transfers.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

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Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee
But the reissued DVDs? Hell no. LucasFilm already admitted after the announcement that the non-SE OT versions on the new DVDs are just bonus material taken straight from the Laserdiscs without any work done on them.

The 9/12 DVD are not being taken from the laserdiscs, they're being taken from the laserdisc MASTERS. There's a huge difference there.




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Originally posted by: Mielr
Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee
But the reissued DVDs? Hell no. LucasFilm already admitted after the announcement that the non-SE OT versions on the new DVDs are just bonus material taken straight from the Laserdiscs without any work done on them.

The 9/12 DVD are not being taken from the laserdiscs, they're being taken from the laserdisc MASTERS. There's a huge difference there.


Gotcha. From Zion's post above it also seems like the new LD Master transfers coming next month will be better than the DVD/LD mash-up I've got. Best so far I'm guessing until X0 is done?

I now look forward to *cough* renting these from Netflix.

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Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee
Now this comment I can't wrap my head around. First of all the OT isn't going to be $18 next month. That's just for 1 of them. So you're looking at over $50 for the entire OT, since Lucas is forcing you to buy the SE versions as well. On top of that, the video quality has been confirmed by LucasFilms themselves as being no better than anything you can find from what has been released here. No thanks. Well, I prefer the real thing to piracy. It will be better quality then any LD preservation.But the reissued DVDs? Hell no. LucasFilm already admitted after the announcement that the non-SE OT versions on the new DVDs are just bonus material taken straight from the Laserdiscs without any work done on them. I'd imagine X0's version would wipe the floor with the official ones since they're actually taking time to fix things.
They're not taken from laserdisc, and they're a legal release. If you prefer, buy the laserdiscs - but they'll cost more and I assure you the DVD will be better quality then the LD. .. oh and you have to live with the annoyances of the LD format too... no thanks, I'll buy the DVD.
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!
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Originally posted by: boris
Well, I prefer the real thing to piracy. It will be better quality then any LD preservation.


You don't know that. Not even Yoda can see that.

“I love Darth Editous and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” ~ADigitalMan

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Originally posted by: boris
Well, I prefer the real thing to piracy. It will be better quality then any LD preservation.

Well now that I know they are drawing from the Laserdisc Masters rather than just dumping the old Laserdisc content onto DVD, it might just be better. We'll see though. Personally I prefer the best quality regardless of piracy. I've been taken advantage of long enough.


Originally posted by: boris
They're not taken from laserdisc, and they're a legal release. If you prefer, buy the laserdiscs - but they'll cost more and I assure you the DVD will be better quality then the LD. .. oh and you have to live with the annoyances of the LD format too... no thanks, I'll buy the DVD.


You need to brush up on news articles. I believe LucasFilms responded to questions on the quality of the upcoming releases and they stated it will be taken from the best source available for the non-SE OT. Which are the Laserdiscs. I think Sansweet confirmed that as well. Now like I said, a lot of people here say it's the Laserdisc Masters, so it will definitely be better than ripping the Laserdiscs to DVD, but we'll see.

I don't think anyone was referring to actually owning the Laserdiscs.

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Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee
You need to brush up on news articles. I believe LucasFilms responded to questions on the quality of the upcoming releases and they stated it will be taken from the best source available for the non-SE OT. Which are the Laserdiscs. I think Sansweet confirmed that as well. Now like I said, a lot of people here say it's the Laserdisc Masters, so it will definitely be better than ripping the Laserdiscs to DVD, but we'll see. And as I've already pointed out in other threads - many DVD's have been made from the same masters as Laserdsic. And some can be shown to be of greater quality then subsequent releases mastered from a newly made digital source.Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee
I don't think anyone was referring to actually owning the Laserdiscs.
Why not?
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!
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Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee

You need to brush up on news articles. I believe LucasFilms responded to questions on the quality of the upcoming releases and they stated it will be taken from the best source available for the non-SE OT. Which are the Laserdiscs. I think Sansweet confirmed that as well. Now like I said, a lot of people here say it's the Laserdisc Masters, so it will definitely be better than ripping the Laserdiscs to DVD, but we'll see.

It has been confirmed by Lucasfilm that the 1993 laserdisc masters will be used.

"The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material. Although these are non-anamorphic versions, they do preserve the original widescreen composition of the movies."(Lynne Hale - publicity@lucasfilm.com)

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Originally posted by: Mielr
Originally posted by: Duke of Crydee

You need to brush up on news articles. I believe LucasFilms responded to questions on the quality of the upcoming releases and they stated it will be taken from the best source available for the non-SE OT. Which are the Laserdiscs. I think Sansweet confirmed that as well. Now like I said, a lot of people here say it's the Laserdisc Masters, so it will definitely be better than ripping the Laserdiscs to DVD, but we'll see.

It has been confirmed by Lucasfilm that the 1993 laserdisc masters will be used.

"The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material. Although these are non-anamorphic versions, they do preserve the original widescreen composition of the movies."(Lynne Hale - publicity@lucasfilm.com)


Boom goes the dyanamite!

Thank you Mielr for taking the time to grab that quote!
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Hmm, Editdroid is good, not my favorite, but as far as letterboxed transer it is most similar to the official release:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/Harlock415/Misc/STAR_WARS-1-42-28A.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/Harlock415/Misc/STAR_WARS-1-42-28B.jpg

Editdroid's is a little more washed out in color I've noticed. For Star Wars anyway, but not fot Empire or Jedi.

I really like what Citizen has done with ANH, but I only have the Xvid version which I have converted to DVD9 and looks great. Haven't gotten Empire yet and it appears Jedi may never see the light of day, unfortunately.

I like OCP's Classic version a lot, but some of the LD footage sometimes stands out a little too much compared to the 04 DVD. ANH isn't completeley SE free, maybe 95-99%. But there is a difference in color balance between the OCP and the 04 DVD's and I prefer OCP's color coorections/balance as opposed tothe Crayola job done originally.

But for LD transfer, I would say that the ones done by Moth3r's for PAL and Dr M for NTSC are the best out there.
There's good in the Original Trilogy, and it's worth fighting for.
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
http://www.myspace.com/harlock415
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Originally posted by: Harlock415
Hmm, Editdroid is good, not my favorite, but as far as letterboxed transer it is most similar to the official release:


Wait a minute -- are you saying you already have the official OOT DVDs (which aren't publicly released yet)?