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THX Remaster=Tinkering?

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I own two VHS copies of the OOT: the pre-THX set and the Faces set, both fullscreen. In the pre-THX set, everything fits on the screen quite nicely. On the Faces set, however, everything is a lot bigger. For instance, during the opening crawl, on the Faces set I have to wait till the text is almost at the top of the screen before I can read the entire line, while on the pre-THX set I don't have this problem.

Another example: In the opening scene of ROTJ, the Star Destroyer and Death Star fit comfortably in the same frame in the pre-THX set. In the Faces set, it starts on the Death Star and pans over to the Star Destroyer.

Anyone know why this is?

http://i.imgur.com/7N84TM8.jpg

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Hmm, that's weird. I never knew that, as I've never seen a pre-Faces copy. It kind of disturbs me. The only reason I can think of is an issue with cropping the image since they're both fullscreen. I think, for once, that could be considered a "creative choice," but probably a pretty sloppy one.

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Can you provide some screen shots?

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Some old fullscreen video masters "squeeze" the crawl so the full width is retained but the crawl is more tall and skinny. (Very similar to the way a anamorphic DVD looks in 16:9 mode on a regular tv set.) Others simply cropped the image and the result is you can't read a complete line of text until it's almost scrolled off. The pan and scan version the SciFi channel used to show simply letterboxed the image right up until the Stardestroyer comes up overhead.
Other studios have gone to ridiculous lengths in the past, redoing widescreen movie credits with video titles, (often not using the original font) just to avoid the actors looking tall and skinny!
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Where were you in '77?

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I've always thought this. The first time I saw Star Wars was on a VHS recorded from TV and I had no problems whatsoever reading the crawl. Everything from then onwards has been problematic.
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Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
Can you provide some screen shots?


I would if I knew how to get the shots from my VCR to my PC.

http://i.imgur.com/7N84TM8.jpg

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THX Remaster=Tinkering?

It's long been my belief that they messed with the film in minor ways for the '93 and the '95 releases. I'm not talking about cropping differences. Ben Burtt threw in a few new sound effects that didn't show up in any other version of the movie. In addition, I believe some video may actually have been changed. I posted screenshots a long time ago, but the thread has disappeared. The big one I noticed is that in pretty much every print of the movie, the close-up explosion of the Tantive IV reactor at the beginning of SW is a white explosion with grey smoke. This includes the special edition. Take a look at the "Faces" version, and you'll notice that the explosion is bright orange. Maybe it was always that way? It's something I've always noticed, though.

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I posted a comparison of one shot here. This was mainly to highlight the difference between time compressed NTSC LD/PAL VHS to the full length NTSC LD/NTSC VHS to the 1980's ITV PAL broadcast.

For reasons unknown, even comparing the 1982 NTSC VHS and LD in Fullscreen (which you would expect to be the same), the films are different. Different sizing, different pans and different scans. There are many times when different charachters are on the screen at the same point in the film.

Undoubtedly, there were even more differences for the THX releases but differences were there way back in '82.

Anyone who got hold of the 1982 releases by The Starkiller from a.b.starwars can easily check these differences out.

There is of course the 1977 bootleg to compare with as well along with the US premier (if anyone ever gets around to capturing their VHS) and the 1982 PAL LD when that is captured and released.

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Originally posted by: Nanner Split
Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
Can you provide some screen shots?


I would if I knew how to get the shots from my VCR to my PC.


A VCR into a standalone DVD recorder works well for me.

(The 1982 VHS and Faces VHS in Fullscreen are both already "out there" on DVD)

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Check here for some screenshots and info..........

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