StarThoughts

Synnöve, are you working on an HD reconstruction of the SLV?

It'll probably be done in less than twelve parsecs, though.

The THX LD was of the theatrical cut, it came out with a wave of Dolby AC-3 releases. The extended version was only in the CAV box set, as I recall.

I hope you settle on doing the TV cut of Aliens, even if it is as a supplement to the theatrical. All the advantages of the longer version without most of the pitfalls.

I'm also interested in v.2. Any updates?

No, the single analog track would just be mono.

I myself will be waiting until 2.0 is completed, but I am very interested to see it when it is finished.

TServo2049 said:

OK, if it's mono AND analog, maybe it's indeed a wash vs. the DVD. (I don't know why I didn't figure out already that it had to be mono if it was analog left...)

I really should check my 1997 DVD and see if the isolated score there is true stereo...

Those FM analog tracks were capable of very good quality, and if both are mono, the analog might sound better than a compressed Dolby Digital track. Stereo would trump mono, though.

My understanding is that the difference between the ABC cut and the DC is primarily alternate footage. This would make it difficult to reconstruct smoothly.

captainsolo said:

I'm now pretty much convinced that the CC is the relative closest to the 1982 theatrical look, but that the 1992 DC reflects more of what the shot material looks like.

That makes a lot of sense.

SilverWook said:

I have my doubts the ABC broadcast was time compressed. It ran in a three hour timeslot. (ThisTV is running it in a two hour thirty minute slot.) There were less commercials per hour in those days as well.

It may have more to do with my horrid analog cable system at the time, combined with being recorded in the four hour LP mode.

As I said, I have no data regarding the TWOK airing. They may not and, given the time slot you mention, probably did not in this case. But they definitely were using time compression at the time.

TServo2049 said:

(And actually, the ABC airing may have also been time-compressed - explaining the blending and the inability to get a clean IVTC. I believe ABC was already time-compressing movies in the late 80s?)

I can't say with any specificity about TWOK in particular, but yes, they most certainly were.

Paramount would sometimes make video masters from textless prints, and place the credits, sometimes squeezed, sometimes zoomed, over them.

PDB, your inbox is full!

I'm not sure an isolated score track is plausible. There are a myriad of sources for Vangelis' score, but unfortunately they're all problematic.

The original soundtrack album released in '94 contains only selections of the score interspersed with new material (“Blush Response,” “Damask Rose,” “Rachel's Song,” etc.), has segments of dialogue over it, a lot of additional reverb added, and several of the tracks have been remixed or altered, such as the original synth saxophone in the “Love Theme” replaced with an acoustic performance.

There was a three-disc set that came out a few years ago, disc one was the original soundtrack album, disc two was additional music from the film, also with the additional reverb, remixing and new performances.

Bootlegs exist, and are much more satisfying in terms of representing the music as it appears in the film than Vangelis' own concept albums, but all of the ones that I've heard have had serious sound quality issues.

Laserdiscs, with their PCM audio, tended to sound better than DVDs, which usually had lossy soundtracks.

I don't see an alternative thread for Blade Runner yet, but I would suggest using the International cut if you're planning on regrading it, as it pretty much encompasses the American theatrical cut, and Scott always intended for that footage to be there. Historically speaking, for many years, that is the cut that most people would also have been introduced to on home video.

I don't know how you'd do the sound for the “happy ending,” though I guess you could track in the love theme from Vangelis Themes album (IIRC, this is the original track with the synthesized saxophone — I could be wrong) as I don't recall there being any foley in that scene.

The Millenium Falcon action playset.

I knew I wasn't going to get it for Hanukah because my mother couldn't afford it. What I didn't know was that she knew how much I wanted it, and saved like the dickens for it, so that I was be genuinely surprised when I peeled off the wrapping paper and there it was.

That was, and remains, the best present I ever received.

Hairy_hen's isolated score track will definitely sound better than the DVD tracks (there were two; one represented the score as written for the film — although as h_h points out, this wasn't always accurate — the other the rescored cues that appeared in the film, with the film's production audio filling in the blank spaces).

The Intrada set has much, much better sonics than the DVD, which was also presented as lossy Dolby Digital tracks (192 kb/s for the primary score track, 128 kb/s for the rescores and production audio track). So in addition to pinched and tinny sound, it was also compressed to hell. And I expect h_h will fix the mistakes made in the assembly of the score on the 1999 disc.

Don't get me wrong, the 1999 disc was a godsend when it first came out for several reasons, chief among them were the isolated score tracks (hearing “The Droid” in its proper context for the first time was really eye-opening in terms of the level of detail that Goldsmith would inject into his scoring; notice how he musically illustrates the beads of whatever sweating down Ash's face), but the Intrada set really set a bar in terms of presentation and annotation of that score.

Would it be possible to encode the two PCM tracks, the LD Dolby Stereo track and hairy_hen's isolated score (awesome — makes this release even more exciting!!!!) with lossless compression to save more room for video? Would it matter?

ray_afraid said:

StarThoughts said:

SilverWook said:

It's not wise to recast a Wookiee. ;)

 But sir, nobody worries about recasting a droid.

 ...he says in the thread about worrying about recasting a droid.
; )

Yes. That was my point.

SilverWook said:

It's not wise to recast a Wookiee. ;)

 But sir, nobody worries about recasting a droid.

Hopefully you won't have to. It will be nice to have the original 35 millimeter Dolby Stereo mix, which I think the original laserdisc is. I'm not sure about the PSE (is the AC-3 track the 70 millimeter mix?), but I think it might be as well.

I'm meant mostly because of how active he is on the internet. Plus I'm sure he doesn't hate Star Wars just because he was in Star Trek.

Two points about George Takei:

• He is a chief proponent of the “Star Alliance,” wherein fans revel in the distinct pleasures of both franchises rather than trying to pit them against one another.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvTCr5Z-0lA
  
  
• George Takei played Lok Durd, a Neimoidian in The Clone Wars. So technically, he has been in Star Wars.

corellian77 said:

Thanks for the new sig StarThoughts :)

I'm flattered!

Silverwook summed up my impressions of the presentation. Colors were solid, the grain structure is present, there were some parts where the image displayed anamorphic softness. It looked like a good print of the film, only more stable.