FrederikOlsen

I've gotten over the stuff that disappointed me. I still like having the Blu-rays, but it doesn't really matter to me that much, as long as there are other versions and preservations out there.

The Blu-rays did trigger my acquisition of a Pioneer CLD-S315, though. So far, I've watched the 97SE version of "Star Wars" and a somewhat worn Faces-version of "The Empire Strikes Back" on it. I'm gonna need to get some mint copies of the Faces-discs. I'm blown away by the quality of the discs so far, though. The 97SE one, in particular, looked really good. And that's just on an entry-level player!

Cushing was great at playing villains. Again, I have to highlight his Frankenstein films. Even the mediocre ones are redeemed by his performances.

There are quite a few clips on YouTube from these films, but do check out one of my favourite Cushing moments ever here.

Okay, screw GOUT. I don't want to spend that much time and money on such sub-par DVD transfers. Got a Pioneer CLD-S315 in excellent condition recently, and just tried it out with a mint Laserdisc of the 97 SE version of Star Wars. Even though that version of the film is far from perfect, I was honestly blown away by the quality of the LD. And that was from an entry-level player hooked up to a 42" LCD TV!

I'll definitely be buying LDs of the OOT. Even if the THX LD transfers aren't perfect, this is gonna be way cooler than upscaling a shitty non-anamorphic faux-grainy DVD.

Now there's a thought I'm glad George Lucas hasn't had.

I can live with Darth Vader building C3PO and owning R2D2, but that would be completely terrifying!

That says it all.

Peter Cushing is my favourite actor. He was great as Governor Tarkin, obviously, but I didn't really notice how great an actor he was till I saw his interpretations of Frankenstein and Van Helsing.

He was truly dedicated - he could play any role, no matter how crappily it was written, and make it seem believable. And he just enjoyed acting in whatever people wanted to see him in. By all accounts, he was also a really nice man off-stage. A classic story goes that the one time he got angry with his best friend Christopher Lee was because the latter complained about the food in some film studio canteen!

Tarkin was definitely a fantastic villain. It took a couple of viewings for me to notice that here is a guy who'll kill off the population of an entire planet with no hesitations, seeminly taking delight in this, and dare to raise his voice against Darth Vader. I always thought it was a bit of a shame that he just blew up with the Death Star. Especially since it seems to me that Admiral Piett was intended as a substitute. Having Peter Cushing in the two other OT films would have been great.

That said, Cushing's delivery of his penultimate line is brilliant. "Evacuate?! In our moment of triumph?" That's just so delightfully arrogant!

It is should be possible by splicing in the 2004 mix where Vader would be shouting "NOOOOOO", but yes... it would take a fair bit of meddling.

Stick around a bit - chances are someone here will do it at some point anyway. This one is not exactly a universally loved change!

Great clip, Harmy!

Did you actually re-create some frame damage to the right in the second shot, or is it a glitch?

Holy shit, Thorr! Those clips look fantastic. I'm blown away by what you've been able to accomplish. This is definitely a project I'll be following!

As for the 2004 remix, you guys are obviously totally right. The easiest explanation for me is that the infamous Loudness War made it into a film here. Everything is pushed to the max, with no proper respect for the dynamics or even the action of the film.

What's worse is that some of the original audio elements are clearly worse for wear, and thus we get muffled and harsh sounds pushed all the way up. At least the BD did correct some of the horrible ADR'ing (Tarkin and Leia's dialogue stuck out like a sore thumb on the DVD), but compared to the samles hairy_hen posted... well, there is no comparison!

Kinda funny how the 3D re-release will be accompanied by such flat and "two-dimensional" audio...

The Megaupload link doesn't work for me right now. Am I alone in that? Would love to see the DS explosion with all the nice stuff you guys are saying about it.

In my mind, there's little doubt we are going to get reissues of the trilogy as it played in theatres originally. Lucas has turned out to be a fan of doubledipping, and with the release of the deleted scenes, we're close to reaching a point where there's nothing to gain by re-releasing the Special Editions.

Yes, the sales figures for the Blu-rays were astronomical even though some of the changes were way more controversial than back in 2004, but the fact that so many people bought it will also mean that there are less people who'll be buying a re-release that doesn't actually bring anything new to the table. I'm sure the 2006 DVDs mainly sold that good because they contained the original versions. Sure, 3D may be a factor, but personally, I've only been underwhelmed by 3D films so far. And I can't be alone.

Sooner or later, George Lucas just has to swallow his pride and release these films. There is a demand for it, and that would mean money right down his pocket. The longer he holds it off, the more money he'll have. Till then, the restoration projects mentioned in this thread are more than satisfactory.

Very true. I do think the Blu-ray sounds pretty good. It's certainly better than the DVD. However, those two clips puts it to shame.

I'm not sure who to blame, exactly. Matt Wood may hold some of the blame, but Ben Burtt sure likes to crank up the sound effects as well.

Ginge said:

Incredible. I was not expecting that much of a difference, but it's shocking to hear how dull and lifeless the remix is compared to the original. It's a real shame that the majority of people are subjected to that garbage mix.

The second one was the original mix, right? The first one certainly seemed a lot more familar to me, and obviously a lot more flat. The dynamic range of the second one is amazing. Even through a pair of computer speakers, the difference in dynamic range was incredible. To be honest, it actually gave me goosebumps.

NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Darth Bizarro said:

If he falls back into the sarlac pit for a 3rd time I'm gonna lol.

Wait... he did that twice?

Thank God I never really got into the EU much...

How wonderfully meta.

DuracellEnergizer said:

We need Qui-Gon, Padmé, and Shmi to show up as Force ghosts at the end of the next edition of ROTJ, seriously.

Don't leave out Jar-Jar; heesa free.

Uh, yeah... that's the exception, obviously. I don't really mind, cause I think he should've left Darth Maul alive instead of replacing him with two mediocre villains in the two other prequels.

Bingowings said:

Boba Fett is the Rory Pond ne' Williams of Star Wars.

Speaking of which, who else is annoyed that the current "Doctor Who" showrunners keep killing off cool characters to bring them back shortly after? You can say a lot about Lucas, but when he kills off someone, they stay dead.

Bit of a shame when it comes to Governor Tarkin and Boba Fett, though.

The Taun Taun actually always blinked, as far as I know. I thought it was a change back in 2004, but it's a good old practical effect.

Yes, people - alien creatures can be made to blink without CGI ;)

I think that dialogue is a bit awkward ("you deserve your glorious day with the politicians"), but I do agree that the PT generally needed more friendly banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

On that subject, one of my favourite PT scene is the deleted scene from ROTS in which General Grievous kills Shaak-Ti. Especially the part where Anakin and Obi-Wan communicate about their escape via sign language. Had that scene been kept in, it would not only have been one of the only funny moments of the PT (I'm not counting Jar-Jar or all the fart jokes), but it would also have established Anakin and Obi-Wan's friendship. 

A shame - that scene ending up on the cutting room floor really shows George's priorities these days.

Probably not, no. I'm not sure they cared in 1982 - mind you, there were even NTSC Laserdiscs of "Star Wars" that were sped-up because of disc constraints.

You could easily splice in a pitch-corrected PAL audio track, though, making it possible to do a nice preservation project using the 1982 release.

Meh, if the audio pitch is preserved (relatively easy to do), who'd even notice? Now, NTSC motion jitter, on the other hand...

Mind you, that doesn't mean I think PAL is flawless. I applaud the advent of 1080p24. Both video formats have their drawbacks, but I honestly do think NTSC is the lesser one, and it's just as crap at preserving the presentation of the film; you still don't get the film at the correct speed.

Wow, that last screencap looks insanely brilliant. I've been watching the "colour corrected" version since 2004, and this looks like someone just removed my sunglasses.

Mr. Verta, you're a wizard. I don't really care whether I myself get to watch this project - the knowledge that "Star Wars" is safe with someone who cares about preserving this film, warts and all, is satisfying in itself.