Video Collector

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

The reel-change markers are identical on all sources. Their elliptical shape shows these are from anamorphic prints.

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

In these shots, you can clearly see the adjustments made to the Superbit version to correct the perspective distortion from the camcording.

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

Please note: All screenshots have been resized to fit the forum better.

(The Superbit edition is the only one to begin with the 20th C.F. logo and Lucasfilm logo. The other ones cut this out)

None of these bootlegs have the complete end credits.

Superbit:

Gold edition:

Superbit edition:

CD-Master edition:

Quick rundown of the camcorded Episode II bootlegs I have:

Gold edition

Menu:

Standard PAL resolution DVD, VOBs dated 13.05.2002

Factory pressed DVD

Camcording.  The image is dark, but resolves more information in bright areas than the other two. Also crops off more of the image than the other two.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Superbit edition

Menu (Motion menu):

Standard PAL resolution DVD, VOBs dated 24.05.2002

Factory pressed DVD

Camcording. The image is bright and detailed. Retains most of the image area. Image is blown out in highlights.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CD-Master edition

Menu:

Half resolution (352x240) NTSC DVD, VOBs dated 24.06.2002

Camcording. Appears to be the same source as the "Superbit" edition, but before the aspect ratio and perspective shift were corrected.

This came on a DVD-R and was encoded in the lowest DVD resolution allowed. Also the only NTSC version in this group.

Screenshots to follow.

none said:

Video Collector wrote: Could you check and see if the Treadwell's version has Luke felling a speeder bike with his lightsaber, and the A-Wing crash through the Star Destroyer bridge present? I believe they were both missing from my version.

TWC289_ROTJB has both.

 

TWC328 (missing 2-3 minutes at the beginning and end) clocks in at ~2:02:38 - ROTJ_TP clocks in at ~2:01:51

First impressions of the TWC328 are very good. The image is much improved over my beta copy.

The section on Endor where Luke returns after the speeder chase is choppy, with several jumps and snippets of dialogue missing. Same with the following scene where Leia first encounters Wicket. (These sections were missing entirely from my copy. )

SKot said:

 Finally, I hit the jackpot: a TELECINE copy of the movie, hosted on an FTP site somewhere.  It was in two parts, and you could tell it was actual film because at one point during the podrace you could see where the film had been broken and spliced.  It may have had Asian subtitles.  But it was amazing, and definitely trumped anything else I'd seen out there. 

Could it have been  the one used for this bootleg?

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/starwarsboots/phantoma.html

Amazing!

Yes, they do indeed look to be from the same source.

My copy has the UK certificate at the beginning, so I would assume this was cam'ed in England. Funny that the Treadwell is NTSC, then.

I agree it seems to be several generations closer to the source than mine, but with analog video (and standards conversion) it may just be a couple recordings removed.

Could you check and see if the Treadwell's version has Luke felling a speeder bike with his lightsaber, and the A-Wing crash through the Star Destroyer bridge present? I believe they were both missing from my version.

Hmmm...

Intriguing... That's the whiteout frame where they segue between the two model shots, right?

Could you post the frames immediately before and after from WoW!?

thorr said:

Here is the picture with the 1236x462 overlaid onto the original:

http://i52.tinypic.com/2mrfmz7.jpg

-Mike

Thorr, I admire the effort you put into this.

The 16mm was cropped more than I thought :-(

When I had to correct the aspect ratio of my ESB boot I used the 2004 DVD as a guide.

I superimposed a framegrab of my capture over the identical frame from the DVD in Photoshop. Then I resized the capture to fit exactly over the DVD, and noted the percentages shrunk.

I used those numbers for the resize (allowing for anamorphic squeeze as well). As you can see, my boot had more vertical information top and bottom.

May I just say that I second the request for a version that keeps the rounded corners visible. I believe it is an insignificant price to pay to preserve the maximum image area. The extreme outer edges of the frame are worth preserving too :-)

Lee, don't lose heart. You're doing sterling work, and I for one would very much like to see you complete this.

OK, last one, I promise.

This guy seems to have lots of screenshots from a camcording of Episode I (Scroll down a bit). Looks like the Z version, only there's no Z in the corner.

http://fusionanomaly.net/starwars.html

None, maybe you could try to get in touch with this guy.

Funny what shows up on Google.

Here's a camcording of a showing of the Episode I trailer, with MAJOR audience participation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqcrzE9pZOQ&feature=player_embedded

..and I found this on the Z version:

from here: http://jona82.tripod.com/

30/5/99 - Episode I Bootlegs

Bootlegs of Episode I are appearing EVERYWHERE. If they're not being openly sold by street traders in New York they're being downloaded from the internet. Impossible for most UK residents, but many American fans have cable or ASDL lines.

But what if you can't wait untill July 16th, should you buy one? Well if you're going to buy one my money would go on the Video-CD version.A company called Megavision VCD is openly selling it on their website. Lucas made the piracy situation worse for himself (IMHO), because he didn't have a worldwide release.

Here's two screenshots of the VCD, as you can see, the quality isn't that bad.

Click here for shot 1.

Or CLick here for shot 2.

I found a mention of an old ANH bootleg here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russdawson/gtf/dvd/OT/skcoll.html

from the Galactic Trade Federation site (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russdawson/gtf/ )

Looks like the Moth3r version.

none said:

TPM:AB added to the first post.  Do you remember any context how you found about about this version?  search engines are blanking even when looking through that specific time frame.  'AB' doesn't help narrow down the query.

I'm trying to remember. It was probably on the old newsgroups at the time alt.binaries.starwars or somesuch.

When doing a search for Phantom Menace bootleg I found this blog, telling of how he first encountered the Z version:

http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2009/05/the-10th-aniversary-of-the-death-of-the-modern-film-industry/

There was another Ep1 bootleg at the same time as the Z version was out. It was called the AB version. I don't have it (never did) but I kept these screenshots I found way back in June 1999.

retartedted said:

An interesting note, the ontherunvideo end credits for Droids actually contains the "Droids and Ewoks Adventure Hour" credits.

Good find. That puts us this much closer to recreating the original broadcasts.

Does anyone know which episodes were paired for these airings?

none said:

a lead on ESB and RotJ boots:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JYzaf6g-iYUJ:www.deep-focus.com/dfweblog/2006/12/grindhouse_hype_begins_in_earn.html+%22return+of+the+jedi%22+bootleg+pan+scan&hl=en&client=firefox-a&gl=us&strip=1

It took me a while to figure out that the movie theater screen had a different shape from the TV screen. I had bootleg copies of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi at one point, and they were both widescreen. (Well, the camcorder had been pointed at the screen in such a way that you saw more of the picture than you would in a pan-and-scan transfer.) So I was starting to realize something was up.

TPM foreign lead:

http://forums.sirstevesguide.com/archive/index.php/t-14122.html

Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (Bootleg w/ Foreign Subtitles)

None, have you contacted these people to see if they still have them?

Sluggo said:

Oh yeah, the 'Z' version!  I used to have this, but I tossed it once I found a more watchable version.

Yeah well, that's what everyone did, and that's why None is so hellbent on preserving stuff like that. And it's getting harder and harder every day. Future historians will thank him for it.