SilverWook

I know I've seen different pan and scan decisions over the decades, so my brain is fuzzy on which is which at the moment. The old PAL transfers may have their own unique crops.

The one crop that varies over time is the last shot in the Falcon cockpit before the ship is pulled into the Death Star. It's a two shot of Luke and Chewie, and it's ends up either being a closeup of one or the other in full frame.

Guess I'm going to have to dust off the beta and get some screencaps. Keep your fingers crossed!

I've not seen the squeezed macrobinocular shot in any of the early home video transfers, only in the "HBO version".

Thanks for finding that. :)

There are plenty of non kosher ways to digitize analog video though. ;)

It's not time compressed if the counter on my Betamax is accurate.

IIRC, some Nostromo corridors turned up in the BBC tv version of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy redressed as the Vogon ship.

I'm familiar with the history of the suits Bossk and some Cantina patrons wore in OT. Thanks for the links though!

I know a guy who found a similar suit somewhere, and used it to make a Bossk costume that has people at cons thinking it's the screen used real deal!

Not everything from 2001 was destroyed, thankfully. Although Kubrick probably wasn't too happy one of the Dawn of Man ape heads turned up in "Trog"!

I have an HBO airing on an old Betamax tape, but the recording was started after the famous flying logo in space opening that would complete the experience. I also have a second Beta tape that was recorded from a different cable outlet at the same time, but apparently from the same master.

According to one source I can't find right now, the HBO version is sourced from 16mm and has different pan and scan from the CBS/Fox video master. The one telltale sign is Luke's binocular screen display when he's spying on the sandpeople is squeezed.

I would love to see this preserved as well. My Betamax deck is almost around the bend as far as clean video playback goes right now though.

Bingowings said:

The sets were largely a collage of bits left over from the other films and photographed with very little sense of cinema (compare Jerjerrod's control room to Tarkin's in ANH, there are 1970's Doctor Who sets that look practically the same, no wonder most of the footage ended up on the cutting room floor).

 

I'm surprised nothing thrown into the dumpster after Star Wars wrapped ever ended up in a Dr. Who episode.

I freaked out a little when I spotted a 2001 spacesuit backpack being used as set decoration in one of the Jon Pertwee era episodes. Kubrick would have done a spit take had he seen that! ;)

doubleofive said:

I still can't get over Fox putting the 2004 SE in their 75th anniversary set in the 70's set.

Did you buy the set? Just curious, as I've been trying to find out which version was in it for months now. All the Amazon "reviews" were of no help.

Even the fellow with website showing off his huge SW video collection over at the Home Theater Forum was balking at buying that behemoth!

Glad to hear you got the tape. The magazine arrived today.

Why does that trick sound like something SEN does in the movie that gets him in trouble? ;)

Is the "JohnSM" on this thread affiliated with the site in any way shape or form? Just want to get my facts straight.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/315174/save-star-wars

The final episode of Enterprise, "These are the Voyages" was a bit of a dry run for remastering TNG footage in 16:9...

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng.htm

Oldfan said:

SilverWook said:

You forgot one. ;)

 

"Star Wars will never be on home video." George Lucas, circa 1978/1979

Did he really say that? Wow. Just...wow.

 

In the context of the era, it's not that outrageous. Home video was in it's infancy, and many studios saw videocassettes as a threat not a revenue stream.

georgec said:

TK-949 said:

I heard the rumor, that when the complete Box is sold out, it's gone. No re-release. Just the trilogy-boxsets will be re-released. Can anyone approve this?

Lucas has made that threat before.

1995 - "final home video release"

1997 - "SE only out in theaters"

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

You forgot one. ;)

"Star Wars will never be on home video." George Lucas, circa 1978/1979

So I might actually be getting something with a little history attached to it? Very interesting!

I may have to keep an eye on the seller. They also listed something else Lucas related.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Star-Wars-Empire-Strikes-back-5-25-80-Benefit-tickets-and-program-/110751325084?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c94b1b9c

By that logic, none of us should have opinions on movies since we don't own a 35mm projector.

See post #3 above. ;)

One little bit of video history I wish would turn up is some of the promotional material RCA used to promote the format. Circa 1982, you could get Star Wars for free if you bought a CED player and an RCA projection tv together. I still remember the tv ads for that. If only a copy of the commercial would pop up on Youtube.

Cuchulainn said:

SilverWook said:

A lot of those early DVD's were warmed over Laserdisc masters approved by Kubrick back in the day before widescreen tv sets were common. It would have been different had he not passed away before DVD really took off.

Yeah, he would have loved the format, I think. Particularly with the new TVs that are out these days, and BD of course...

Going wildly off-topic here (and I promise I won't make a habit of this) but has anyone got the BD of Excalibur? The DVD was woefully mis-framed and I was wondering had this been corrected?

I have it on HD-DVD, and the framing looked all right to me. Some people have issues with the grain, but that's simply the way it was made. Not sure if Warner's used the same master for the Blu Ray or not.

People often forget TMP got the greenlight because of Star Wars' success.

I feel a migraine coming on...

A world in which THX-1138, Star Wars, and Raiders were never made? Perish the thought!

I'll keep that in mind. :)

I just hope a 40 year old newspaper supplement doesn't spontaneously combust when scanned!

red5-626 said:

I had a thought. I have herd that ROTJ is not time compressed? And was thinking is it possible that the audio on the ROTJ CED Is any better than the LD? I know it sounds crazy But people always say that Vinyl sounds better than CD?

ROTJ is a two disc set, and not time compressed just like the LD version. It was among the last titles released for the format and is harder to come by.

http://www.blam1.com/StarWars/1478-90.htm

CED doesn't reproduce sound like a record player does though.

http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html#onetwo

Based on the music video titles I once owned on both formats, CED sounds about as good as early analog LD audio does. (Later stereo players had CX noise reduction like LD.) Any used CED title at this point is going to have wear and tear problems as did the discs I watched in the early 90's.

Thanks!

The real icing on the cake for extras would be to visit some of the locations used in the film as they are today.

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Marin_Civic_Center.html

One good thing I'll say about the Director's Cut DVD is I learned where the final scene was shot, and I know how to get there. ;)

I lucked out and there wasn't a bidding war. I hope the magazine isn't too big for my scanner when I get it!

So much for "I'm outta' here".

Does this have to turn into a pissing contest?