ChainsawAsh

I prefer the mono mix first, the 70mm mix second (based on Hairy_Hen's 5.1 reconstruction of it).  The theatrical stereo and 1985 stereo are tied.  Finally, the 1993 stereo.

There were no other changes to the film itself in 1981.  The crawl (and the starfield behind it, thus the first shot is different, as well) was altered in 1981, but nothing else (oh, and I don't think the mono mix was ever used with the 1981 and later prints, though it was used on a couple TV broadcasts, which is how we're able to have it now).

The only other change I know of (and this is contested) is the darkening of the canyon scene with Artoo, before he gets kidnapped by the Jawas.  This scene appears to be darker in the 1993 Definitive Collection transfer than in previous releases.  This is what's used in the 2006 DVD (it's the 1993 master, plus a more recent transfer of the 1977 crawl spliced in, which is why the shot of the Star Destroyer overhead looks so much better than the rest of the film).

Other than that and the audio mixes, I'm pretty sure the first film has stayed the same since 1981.

I think the idea is that Lucasfilm/Fox just took prints they still had from 1977, and spliced in the new crawl, then sent them out in 1981 for the re-release.

*Not saying that some 1981 re-release prints weren't completely new prints, I'm sure some were, but I can't see them not using prints they already had.

Yes, it was in the 1977 mono mix, as well as Threepio's tractor beam line and "Close the blast doors!"  Plus it had (possibly) a different actress dub Beru's lines, and a hell of a lot more differences.

And I can't listen to the 1993 mix myself, as I can't stand the glass-shattering sounds.

Now the 2006 Empire DVD is a different story - it's missing a sound effect in the Hoth battle that was present in every prior version (assuming it was there in the 70mm six-track mix, because we don't have any proof either way).

Jedi I think sounded more or less the same in every version.

I will absolutely not be happy, no matter what, until the OUT is released in a halfway-decent quality.  I don't care how good the Extra Extra Special Editions look or sound.  (Or, exactly what Akwat Kbrana said.)

Hell, I'm not even asking for a Baraka-level restoration here.  I just want to be able to watch it with people who aren't huge Star Wars fans and not have them bitch about how crappy it looks.

NTSC and PAL have no meaning outside of standard def.  It's one standard, with uniform size (1920x1080 or 1280x720), and accepts different framerates, whereas PAL is 720x576(?) and 25fps, and NTSC is 720x486 (or 720x480) and 29.97fps.

Region coding is something different entirely.  With Blu-Ray, there's three (Regions A, B, and C), with DVD, there are more, and some are PAL while some are NTSC (I don't know if any DVD regions are SECAM).

I'd be happy to!

Maybe the GKAR set is missing more frames throughout than the other three.

Oh, right, he did say 2006, not 2004.

Yeah, the 1985 and 1993 remixes are still pretty faithful to the original stereo and six-track mixes, respectively (minus the added tractor beam line in the '85 and the added sound effects in the '93).

That DVDBeaver review was taken from this review, written in 2004.  That's who you should talk to regarding review inaccuracy.

Damn you, Google Image Search!  You've failed me for the last time!

Fantastic!

(I tried really hard to find a picture of the Ninth Doctor with a "Fantastic!" caption, but I failed.)

Hey, I loved Jedi Power Battles!  I actually still have it, and played with a friend a couple weeks ago.  It's harder than I remember.

Agreed on all counts, Xenu.  And it makes sense (to me, anyway) that the MonCals only joined between ESB and ROTJ, so there's no point in adding any of their ships into ESB.

At the very least, please, no added Rebel ships a the end of ESB.

I stand corrected.  Maybe I'll do a marathon of all 3 PT films this weekend, just to torture myself (and come up with more reasons why I don't like them).

Come on, guys, can't we all just ...

... be reasonable?

Inspired by captainsolo's "What is on the shelf or desk next to you" thread.

My current background (right-click "View Image" for the full 1920x1200 image):

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Oh, and NSFW backgrounds MUST be linked to, not embedded, and must be clearly labeled as NSFW.

All VHS and laserdisc releases use the 1981 crawl, if I'm not mistaken.

The 70mm six-track came first, then the 35mm stereo, and the 35mm mono was the last mix created.

I don't think "Blast it, Wedge" is in the 2004 mix.  I can't check as I don't own it, but I'm pretty sure it's "Blast it, Biggs."  (The "Wedge" line is unique to the mono mix, IIRC.)

And there are more dialogue additions to the 2004 mix that were never in any version before - "We've stopped!" and "There's no one here!" are the two examples I can think of.  Plus the dialed-down music, and flipped surrounds, and horrible dialogue levels...

Yeah, Dark_Jedi is working on a set from the digital broadcasts (SD, not HD), LeeThorogood is working on a set from the PAL laserdiscs, and Adywan's ESB AVCHD is also a restoration of the 1997 SE (but his ANH AVCHD is not).

Doesn't he change his name aboard the Tantive IV while talking to Bail and Yoda?

Don't forget, I haven't gotten that far into the movie since I saw it in theaters 5 years ago.

I have two Western Digital powered USB drives (that's the 2TB and one of the 1TB's), and one portable (USB-powered) Seagate 1TB.

I also used to have a Maxtor 500GB, but it just stopped working one day.

Now, the reason I have the portable one is my Seagate FreeAgent Theater+, which is a thing that plugs into your TV, that you put a hard drive into, and you can watch almost anything (including 1080p MKVs, in 1080p, with Dolby or DTS 5.1 and all that).  It has two USB ports, plus a slot on top that fits a Seagate portable hard drive.  Hence, my owning a Seagate portable hard drive.

To be honest, I love the portable one so much that I almost never unplug the other two.  The WD 1TB holds all my movies, and the Seagate portable 1TB holds all my TV shows (I put those on the portable since I watch them more often), but it's so much easier to use the portable that I just copy whatever movie I want to watch from the WD to the Seagate whenever I want to watch it.

So, my recommendations:

- Western Digital is always good
- Seagate's not bad
- Don't get Maxtor
- Portable HDs are great if you know you're going to be going back and forth with it a lot, HOWEVER I have noticed that if I try to HandBrake something directly to the portable, it has about a 98% chance of failing.  I have to HandBrake it to the desktop, then copy it to the portable.
- USB is decent unless you know you need something faster, in which case I'd recommend FireWire.

I don't hate TPM.  It sort of has a cohesive story (albeit a very thin one), Qui-Gon is a fantastic character played perfectly by Liam Neeson, Darth Maul was a good villain, and the climactic lightsaber duel was pretty freakin' sweet.  It feels the most complete of all three.

But Jar Jar, Anakin as a nine-year-old, Yoda looking like crap and serving no purpose in the story, large sections of the movie being unnecessary (Otoh Gunga, anyone?), and a huge portion of a Star Wars film being devoted to a race sour it quite a bit.  Add to that the fact that the only function it serves in the overall Star Wars narrative is that Obi-Wan and Anakin meet, and Obi-Wan kinda-sorta-but-not-really decides to train him.  It didn't feel important enough.

AOTC I definitely hate.  It's a murder mystery that goes nowhere.  There are hints at a more compelling larger story that never pay off.  Boba Fett's character is completely ruined.  Anakin is a annoying, whiny bastard.  Yoda uses a lightsaber (and hops around like a frog), and "Count Dooku" (aka biggest missed opportunity in the prequels) uses Force lightning ... twice.  The Clone Wars start but it doesn't really make much sense.  It looked less like a movie and more like a video game.

AOTC serves two purposes: Anakin and Padme fall in love (boring, and takes up most of the movie), and the Clone Wars begin (at the end of the movie).

It's the worst of the three.

ROTS, I don't hate.  I generally dislike it, but can't hate it because there are great moments, such as the whole Order 66 sequence, and the birth of Darth Vader sequence (not talking about Anakin's turn, here).

But it's biggest problem is that most of the "bullet points" the PT needed to hit are crammed into this one film.

Let's see.  Anakin turns evil?  Check.  Anakin gets injured and put in the Vader suit?  Check.  The Empire takes over?  Check.  All the Jedi get killed?  Check.  Yoda goes into hiding?  Check.  Luke and Leia are born?  Check.  Obi-Wan goes to Tatooine with Luke?  Check.  Obi-Wan changes his name to Ben?  Check.  Leia goes to Alderaan?  Check.  The Clone Wars end?  Check.  The Rebellion is born?  I could say "check," as those scenes were filmed, but I can't because they were cut.  The freakin' Death Star begins construction?  Check.

Did I miss anything?  Probably.  There's just too much stuff happening in this film.  On top of the stuff the PT needed to cover (most of which could have been spread out across all three films), there's stuff it didn't need to cover, as well.  It makes the movie feel fragmented, not like it has its own story.  It relies on the overall saga even more than Empire does.

And on top of that, all but, what, 2 scenes in the film are almost entirely CG with the exception of what live actors are present?

It's funny, because while I don't hate ROTS, it's the one that disheartened me the most.  Because in it, I saw all the potential the whole goddamn trilogy had, yet it was all squandered in favor of two films where almost nothing important happened.  That's why I haven't been able to finish it since I saw it in theaters (the only one I saw once in theaters, too).

So there you have it.  Those are my primary problems with the prequels, mixed in with some things I like about them.  I have a lot more problems, but I'll spare you the multi-page list.

A printer, a pack of Beatles playing cards, a $25 Caesar's Palace chip I found at Vegas in the airport on the way home (hence why it hasn't been cashed in), my glasses which I never wear, a graphing calculator, the part of my bike lock I never use, Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut (just started reading it), some syllabi for this semester, a guitar capo, several empty glasses, a stack of random burned discs, a spindle with one blank DVD-R in it, my three hard drives (one 2TB for editing work, two 1TB for storing movies and TV shows), a 16GB thumb drive, several CTA farecards, my fan which is pointing to my bed, a tape dispenser, a picture of my father's side of the family, a magnetic funeral flag (put on cars during funeral processions; my father's an undertaker), my checkbook, a bunch of old bills, an empty Zippo, an ashtray, and a pack of Camel Menthols (not my usual brand, but they were out of Marlboro Menthols).

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By the way, I'm not sure why, but I like this thread.

DJ, PM me your address.  I managed to scrape together some cash, so I'll be sending you a pack of DLs by the end of the week.