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Info Wanted: What is generally considered the best fan preservation version of the OT?

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 (Edited)

I’ve been fan of OCP’s Classic Edition versions of the OT ever since a friend recommended me to it, but after looking at this forum for a while, I realize that a good number of fan-made OT releases have been made. What, in your opinion, is the very best version?

Har Har har!
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Originally posted by: Darth Richard
The best is yet to come


Indeed, and I can hardly wait as well....

I love everybody. Lets all smoke some reefer and chill. Hug and kisses for everybody.

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As it stands now Moth3r's, hands-down.

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

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But isn't Moth3R's release PAL only? I live in a NTSC country, so that won't be good...
Har Har har!
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Originally posted by: sethosayher
But isn't Moth3R's release PAL only? I live in a NTSC country, so that won't be good...

Then go for Dr. M's Reinventing the Wheel edition. NTSC versions of the Moth3r transfers.

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Hi everybody. You’re all awesome. Keep up the good work.

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I like OCP's version a lot, but some of the edits are a little opbvious. Still probably my favorite hybrid, though. But I wou;d have to say my favprite LD transfer would be Moth3r's amd subsequently Dr M's version.
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."
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Only problem really with OCP's is that there are glaring, distracting transparency issues with his compositing. However, they're probably my favorite to watch, because, colour problems and all, the DVD footage is still the best looking source around. After that, Moth3r's and ISO's discs run good second and third place for me.
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My picks:

Special Edition: Darth Editous/A Digital Man: Editous really seamlessly "fixes" the Original Trilogy to the point where I've shown it to oldschool heads and they don't even really realize they're watching an altered Special Edition, and at points forget they're watching a Special Edition at all. Digital Man gets CLOSE to that with his ESB and ROTJ SE's, but it's not QUITE as polished. Nevertheless, easily the best SE versions of the trilogy available on the fan front.

Original Versions: Editdroid. Sure, the picture quality on Mother's is better (and I need to grab those Reinventing the wheel editions, still) but the Editdroids are damn good, mild dot crawl notwithstanding, and include a seamless branching original crawl and isolated score on all three. Sure, ISOMIX has isolated score as well, but Editdroid has better PQ pretty easily, and I think the isolated score is actually more artfully edited together, save for a cut or two in ESB. If I had to go raw PQ, I'd get Moth3r's, but for overall value, Editdroid's is the way to go. I have a soft spot for Dr. Gonzo's, because he's my boy and he was one of the first to even TRY this, but Editdroid takes it.

Extras: Rowman's Supplemental Discs: They seem to be made specifically to be paired up with the Editdroids, but even on their own, or coupled with Mother transfers or your transfer of choice, the extras are great. Packs almost all the interviews you could think of, plus toy commercials, all the trailers, all the big documentaries, and a cool set of odds and ends typically round out his packages--Radio Dramas, deleted scenes, alternate takes, missing score, bloopers, stuff like that. Most sets have basic extra discs, but nothing as in-depth as what Rowman fits on his bonus discs

I've actually made a 12 disc set by putting the above together, and adding Deleted Magic by OCP, Building Empire by Jambe Davdar, and the THX Wow DVD. Here's the specs:

Star Wars
Disc 1: Editdroid. Features isolated score, seamless branched opening scroll (with and without episode IV) 4x3 standard, Dolby 2.0

Disc 2: Deleted Magic. Fan edited Documentary that details a LOT of the changes made to Star Wars, collected from damn near every available source and edited together. It's almost like an interactive commentary track. Plus it has it's own extras, I believe the entire RADIO DRAMA is also stored on this thing, along with some interviews, and Music Videos.

Disc 3: Darth Editous Edition: He took the 2004 Special Edition and fixed some of the more glaring continuity errors that are still around and available. Some of them you might notice. A lot you won't, he did it THAT expertly. Also took out the new jabba as well. Fixed the swapped surrounds in the rear channels, too. 16x9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Disc 4: Rowman's Ultimate Supplementals: (menus are cleverly designed to match up with Editdroid's set even though they didn't work on them together) The making of Star Wars classic doc, narrated by William Conrad. Two different interviews with George Lucas, including the one from the last time the Originals were released, Trailers and TV ads, Key cast auditions, Toy ads, Deleted Scenes, and a Parodies section including Troops and Pink Five

The Empire Strikes Back
Disc 1: Editdroid. Isolated Score, restored sequence missing from some laserdiscs. 4x3, Dolby 2.0 sound

Disc 2: Building Empire. A fan made documentary, much like "Deleted Magic" except a lot more commentary like. Features jumps back and forth to highlight audio errors, changed shots, alternate takes and on-set bloopers. Extras include shots with deleted music restored, and an alternate scroll showing what was planned in an early draft.

Disc 3: A Digital Man's Special Edition: Takes the 2004 edit of ESB and corrects some continuity errors--The lightsaber shuts off on the cave at the right time, finally--and "Bring My Shuttle" returns to the film. Those are two of the bigger ones, off the top of my head, I know there are more. Digital Man isn't as savvy as Editous about messing with compositing, so some of the garbage mattes are still visible. Some of the cuts might feel jarring, but if I remember right, this thing is pretty much 95% seamless. 16x9, Dolby Digital 5.1

Disc 4: Rowman's Ultimate Supplementals: Interviews with Ford, Daniels, Fisher, Williams, a UK half-hour program featuring Daniels and some of the FX guys, Lucas' part 2 of 3 interview from the 95 VHS tapes, and SPFX: The Making of Empire Strikes Back. Trailers and ads for the first Box Set on vhs, Deleted Scenes (which are usually just some stills and comics pages playing over alternate dialog), Two Sesame Street appearances, an Underoos ad and a Toy ad

Return of the Jedi
Disc 1: Editdroid. Isolated Score, a trailer or two, some pre-prod art, the script, and a small sound effect library. 4x3, Dolby 2.0

Disc 2: THX WOW! This is where I cheated--there wasn't really a big behind the scenes doc disc for this, so I took THX Wow, a demo reel for THX systems that popped up on Laserdisc and briefly on DVD. Features damn near EVERY Dolby Digital and THX trailer ever made, a 15 minute THX mixtape of Lucasfilm's greatest hits, the Podrace in DTS, and a mess of DTS trailers. This will probably be replaced when "Returning to Jedi" by Davdar is finished.

Disc 3: A Digital Man's Special Edition: Takes the 2004 version, and corrects some continuity problems, as well as making some of his own creative decisions. For instance--Lapti Nek has been cut into the Jabba's Palace sequence, so the CGI Sy Snootles and her backup singers are now singing THAT. The volume drops however, when this happens, sorta distracting. But the editing is pretty good. Also, Sebastian Shaw has been returned as the ghost who shows up at the end. 16x9, Dolby Digital 5.1

Disc 4: Rowman's Ultimate Supplementals: Part 3 of 3 George Lucas 95 VHS interview. From Star Wars to Jedi and Classic Creatures documentaries, Trailers and VHS ad from CBS FOX, Deleted scenes like the last discs, TV ads for a toy sweepstakes, toy lightsabers, Star Wars cookies, Shrinky Dinks, and Super Nintendo. I know, no C3P0's ad. Also, the 15 minute THX Wow mixtape again, and a little doc on the soundtrack, narrated by James Earl Jones.

The Covers are made by myself--they're harsh on a printer, but Kinko's should be cool for that purpose all follow this template, I use those 4 disc cases you can get at Best Buy or Circuit City that are the same size as a single disc case

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/899/anhcoversmallir4.jpg

I'm pretty sure those covers are in Rikter's cover torrent. I think they are, at least.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Fixed the swapped surrounds in the rear channels, too.


Did not!

DE
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Fixed the swapped surrounds in the rear channels, too.


Was that problem ever fixed on the official DVD?



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DE: You serious? I never know how to take the winky face, especially when used in conjunction with the tongue-sticky-outy-face If you didn't swap em, someone swapped em for you when I got my copy.

And no, the swapped surrounds was never fixed. Might have to wait til next year on that one.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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I am serious, unless I accidentally somehow transposed the entire channels. But AIUI, the music was right but the effects were wrong, so if I swapped the channels completely the music would be wrong... (or vice versa)

Maybe ADM fixed it, and you've got his hybrid?

DE
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Nah, it's not the ADM hybrid, I know that. Weird.

I've got a variant! I'm gonna check beckett's to see how much it's worth in mint. I gotta go put it in a plastic display case, be right back.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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This is very strange. Where did you get it from? Is it PAL or NTSC? Was there a JPEG in the root of the disc? Is the audio still 448kbps?

DE
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I don't remember where I got it. I do remember--I think it was Neil Bulk--saying all you had to do to fix it was use the surround track from one of the other mixes, and paste that in to the 5.1 mix. I'm sure that's the most un-technical description ever, but maybe wherever I got it from just went ahead and did that. I dunno. I know there are fixed mixes out there.

The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Neil "Deliberate Creative Decision" Bulk? Why didn't you say so? I bet he fixed it.
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But that's the thing--I don't think I got it from him. Maybe I did. But I can't imagine Neil distributing DE's cut mostly because it'd STILL have Special Edition shit in it, and Neil's the definition of purist.

Anyway, all that aside--the 12 disc set kicks ass
The Best Show You've Never Heard