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But I'm left with the nagging suspicion that, since all but the crawl is from the same source as the 1993 laserdiscs, a few things (mostly in the audio mix) are not '77 original. Of course, since there were different "authentic" audio mixes for the 1977 release, it's possible that sounds I am personally unfamiliar with from the many 70mm screenings I was fortunate enough to view were, in truth, featured on the 77 mono mix.
So, let's test our arcane Star Wars knowledge .... ready? Here we go ...
1) Coming out of hyperspace in the Falcon cockpit. Those swooshie sounds made by passing Alderaan asteroid debris. I first heard them in the second or perhaps third VHS release (the first in "HiFi" sound, heheh, remember that?). I thought they were new sound effects, but someone here in some thread recently alleged those asteroid sound effects were part of the 1977 mono mix? Anyone know the truth on this???
2) C-3POs tractor-beam location speech, and "Close the blast doors." Does anyone know difinitively which 1977 audio mix featured these lines? I remember hearing them from the get-go, and the first dozen or so times I saw Star Wars was in 70mm (the stereo mix). Yet many have claimed these bits of dialogue were only on the mono mix. Can anyone shed some light on this?
3) Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1138. When Luke, Han and Chewbacca shoot it out with the Imperials in the cell block, I heard some sound effects, new to me, on that same "HiFi" VHS release and in every subsequent release ... specifically, the really loud sound of glass breaking (more like kicking in a tube-TV screen) every time a laser blast hit a surveillance camera. Anyone know whether these were on the '77 mono track, or if they were added later?
3) Ok, on the visual realm. Same cellblock scene (and perhaps others). Has anyone yet determined if the blaster hits are the "toned-down" versions of revisionism, or whether they are the slightly more violent '77 originals?
4) Lastly, the long-debated matter of the opening crawl. So much pre-release talk about it. Well, the DVD's been out for a week! Anyone care to venture a final answer? Original or a well-intentioned copy?
Any answers or insights will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.