Jonno

Great to see this moving along so quickly, XA07!

Just a couple of thoughts on earlier suggestions. On the point of alternate score tracks, I'd seriously recommend that you lay your hands (if you haven't already) on Intrada's 2-disc CD release - unlike the alt-tracks on the old DVD, it literally contains every recorded note and includes meticulous notes on what goes where. A really good resource for this project.

I'm really interested in the idea of the Starbeast 'reconstruction'. Are you a Planet of the Apes man? Recent releases of that have included a 'demo' publicity film that was released to theatre owners during pre-production; it's a montage of concept art with text, voice over and music designed to pre-sell the movie. It's really evocative and creates a different mood from the final film - a similar treatment would work well with Alien's early design work, perhaps a 5-10 minute interlude in the documentary, alternate angle or as even a separate feature.

Hi DJ, I'm a bit behind - did you use the menus on this latest version? If not I can put the links to the materials up on here in case folks want to do it themselves...

You're the first to mention it, which parts are you referring to? Has anyone else had any problems?

The only source I had for the DirectTV commercial was a webrip (via tb1971). If you know of better...

Hi Mr Bill! There was a bit of discussion about this on this thread.

Broadly speaking, there seem to be four versions - original theatrical (cut), original theatrical (uncut), full Australian R18 version (Aus VHS only) and the TV version that you have, which has less violence but more talk.

The current Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs are based on the uncut theatrical version, so that's the hardest cut you'll find unless you can get hold of the Australian tape.

There was a lot of talk on that thread of assembling a composite edit (and including various rarities), but it kind of died off. If anyone's keen to get the ball rolling again I have some original presskit material that would make for nice artwork...

Not something I'll have time to do personally, but I can send a copy of my BBC version to anyone who fancies a go. PM me!

Hi Mr C!

It seems (at least, based on the OP's comments) there there are three versions of the doc - the original broadcast version, the extended DVD version (on the R1 25th anniversary disc) and the shortened one that ended up on the R2.

Sounds like there are some bits in the original that weren't in the later versions (I've never compared them to check).

I'd be the last person to cricitise anyone for pedantry ;-)

Do let us know what you find out about the typeface. When we hammer together a definitive set of cards, I'm thinking of running them through Magic Bullet (or similar) to produce the appropriate level of grain and wobble.

Another pedantic question: are the cards meant to be on screen for a specific length of time?

I just found my DVD of my original BBC2 recording (actually a DVD transfer from VHS, so nothing fancy). Runtime is 59 minutes, quality looks about as good as you'd expect.

If you're very quick and PM me your address today, I can get a copy in the post to you.

(p.s. it's on a disc together with Mark Kermode's Halloween documentary from the same period).

Beautiful, thanks!

Here's a first quick effort (the AR needs sorting out, but other than that it's hopefully quite close)...

CompMovieGuy said:

Just wanted to point this out beforehand

Just because its Criterion, doesnt mean its quality....Criterion has put out plenty of DVDs that have been subpar when compared to other versions available. Another note is that not every Criterion release is Anamorphic (Robocop)

Criterion have made their mistakes (particularly in the early days) but their recent releases have been above reproach - definitive editions all, with anamorphic transfers wherever appropriate and perfectly judged extra features.

The question isn't so much 'should they' do it, as 'could they'. And for the moment the answer is no - sensitive archivists like the Criterion guys simply don't mix with the multi-million cash cow likes of the Star Wars franchise. It would take a heroic measure of generosity on the part of LFL to relinquish control in that way - not exactly something they're famous for (hell, they wouldn't even accept Robert Harris' offer of free consultation on a restoration, so what hope is there?)

Another big thank you! It looks like no version of Star Wars I've ever seen before - an ancient (yet timeless) relic. Wonderfully evocative.

Presumably the issue of a 'play all' option came up at some point during the planning (the resultant disc doesn't have one) - was the intention to preserve the whole home movie 'reel change' experience? If so, fair enough!

Anyway, who's going to step up and make a cover for this lovely disc?

I have an online buying policy of my own - never buy from someone who uses the word 'alot'  ;-)

Anyway, I'm in full agreement with Auximenies. If it's just a copy it probably isn't worth 25 USD (at least, not without proven content and quality). And if it IS the original (and as rare as the guy is implying) wouldn't he be selling it for a lot more than that?

This kind of profiteering just pisses me off - sure, if you have a unique item, you can sell it for as much as you like. But producing endless (intrinsically worthless) copies and flogging them at a steep price to collectors is just money-grubbing opportunism.

Shame, cos this is still potentially good stuff... we just need to know more about it than this guy is saying.

Ah, I see - I forgot about the anamorphic source, this project needed a lot more jiggery-pokery than I was giving you credit for!

Well, given what you're feeding the encoder (4:3 with anamorphic content) then yes, the encoder should be set to a 16:9 output - this won't change the pixel-by-pixel content (other than the effects of compression), but it will correctly flag the stream so the DVD player interprets it properly.

The DVD player is key here - if it's set up properly for the TV or projector it's being used with (and I realise that thousands probably aren't!) a 16:9-flagged source will display as 16:9 on a wide screen, or letterboxed on a 4:3 screen - everyone wins.

I'm wondering how it was possible to do a 16:9 encode without the stream being correctly flagged. I don't really know TMPGEnc, but 16:9 vs. 4:3 is usually simple output option when you specify video quality settings - in addition to any resizing that may be necessary, this sets the flag accordingly.

How was the original transfer formatted - I assume it was actually recorded to video/file via a 16:9 camcorder? If you were using an automatic setting or preset, I suppose the footage might have been misinterpreted as 4:3 - the optically squeezed picture information would still be there, but the resultant file would be tagged as 4:3.

Nothing at all - discs 1-3 were Alien-themed, this is all about the Aliens.

Who actually does the write-ups on there?

Like Ash says, it's a UK project so I'd be amazed if it wasn't shot on PAL (or 25 frame HD).

Of course, the NTSC torrent was the first I found so I downloaded that one. Duh!

TMBTM said:

A "grindhouse" edit of ANH is an idea that could become a work in progress for me. 

Puggo is okay for me to use his 16 mm preservation edit (thanks to him).

I think I may steal some ideas from this thread! And the R2 subtitles are a must have.

Still not 100% sure I'll do this edit though, but if I have enough ideas by myself I may start in a month or two.

So for this edit, bad ideas are good ones!

 Just wondering where the 'scene missing'(s) should go for maximum value. Either any time a really impressive effects shot/sequence appears, or just the whole Yavin 4 battle:

"Then man your ships. And may the Force be with you"
[SCENE MISSING]
*BOOOM!*

You gonna start a thread?

Thanks for all the reviews, guys (both here and privately) - great to know it's being enjoyed.

And thanks to Cassius and Jaiman for getting it out there! Infuriating that DVD-sized projects are still cumbersome things to move around (I still find it easiest just to send physical copies), so newsgrouping is a godsend for those in the know. Torrents too, I guess (though it seems to have disappeared from Demonoid just now?)

Well, if anyone does want to get involved in the next one (and get their name in the credits ;-) ) please contact tb1971, who's pulling together the materials for Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection discs. You can expect a much brisker turnaround this time (*ahem*)...

oh_riginal said: 

Since the PT came out, the Obi Wan duel has bothered me even more, not because of the choreography, but because we are to believe that Obi Wan as a character is in his late 50's when he is killed on the Death Star, yet Qui Gon Jinn is supposed to be around 60 years old in TPM, making them close to being the same age when they died, yet Qui Gon's dueling looks much more convincing. To make it even worse (for me anyway), Count Dooku is supposed to be in his 80's during AOTC and ROTS! I won't bother with Yoda, since he's an alien and his species is mysterious.

 They're ALL aliens, as far as we're concerned. Granted, human-looking characters in the Star Wars universe are subject to most of the same physical limitations as the rest of us (making all the arguments about unnatural movement perfectly valid), but who's to say the same rules of longevity apply?

Anyway, their 'years' most definitely wouldn't be the same as our 'years'   ;-)

Floella did some?! Fantastic!

A treasure indeed - her Playschool years were my Playschool years ;-)

Simon Bates  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-w6_J1Pi_Y

(I have no idea why that clip is such appalling quality!)

Easter egg clues for #4:

picture, panel, pattern.

For #3:

tab, TV.

Can't remember the earlier ones! Meedermow did those anyway...

Assuming it's his TV (and couch), I'm afraid you don't really have a lot of room for complaint.

Since it sounds like negotiation isn't an option, the most practical advice you're likely to receive is to save up for your own set. I imagine second-hand (or 'used') CRTs or back-projection sets can be had pretty cheaply these days...

When do you think you're likely to move out?

I'm putting in some time on reauthoring the original GOUT discs with the new picture/sound - an infuriating business compared with authoring from scratch, but certainly faster ;-)

a couple of notes - it seems that the cell count is different on these new streams compared with the old - with Empire (the first I'm doing) I got 53 cells in the new video compared with 54 on the GOUT disc. VobBlanker didn't seem to mind, but I was concerned with matching the chapter links so I stripped and rebuilt the stream with the original cell list. It all works just fine now.

I notice that the English subs were already included in the stream (which I was planning on including anyway, if only so the menu button would work!) Out of interest, were these repositioned for 16:9, or just a straight copy of the original?

The most irritating part of this whole thing is the limitations of possible replacements/removals/additions. I wanted to replace the FBI screens with an animated CBS-FOX logo, but that just didn't work - I blanked them instead so the disc just jumps to the main menu. CBS-FOX now comes just before the movie (in place of the Fox Home Entertainment logo).

Even worse, I'm completely redesigning the special features menu, and wanted to link to two trailers - unfortunately the existing links are to one video clip (game trailer) and one simple still menu (game info), so I can't do that (unless someone knows how to successfully replace a still menu with a video clip...)
I'll probably end up just killing the other button, so special features = one trailer. Better than before, at least!

Anyway, I'll upload my modded menus when they're done in case anyone else wants to take the same approach.
Now I'm just looking forward to actually watching these things...

This is an age old, relentlessly discussed issue - why the new thread?