cdbarnes85

chyron8472 said:

I think the best Episode I is Q2's (aka. Thunderclap's). The reason for this is that though L8wrtr's edit is good, in various places where the dialogue is missing, there seems to remain a time where the dialogue could have been spoken which leaves one thinking something was removed from that space. In short, the periods where there was dialogue cut need to be tightened up. Q2 does this wonderfully. Seciors' edit was very well done as far as story, but there are places where he takes a word or two of dialogue from one place in the film and puts it in the middle of another scene, and the inflections sound like they don't quite match.

 

The best Episode II is L8wrtr's. Q2's comes in at a very close second, but L8wrtr's edges out in being slightly better at handling the love story. It's hard to say specifically what is different for me, as I haven't compared them scene for scene. It's more of a feeling I get between the characters. Seciors' is ambitious, but again the dialogue edits in places are a bit noticeable and jarring.

 

The best Episode III is Q2's because although Kerr, L8wrtr and Stankpac want to have Palpatine reveal his "Sith form", the implementation they use just doesn't work very well at all given the available footage (cut to Palpy who looks normal, then to Anakin/Windu, then back to Palpy who is inexplicably wrinkly.) Also, L8wrtr wants to keep Yoda from using a lightsaber, so he creates a wtf moment where Yoda is in danger and then is inexplicably not anymore.

 

Further, Q2 (Thunderclap) does all he can to remove R2 and 3PO from the prequels, and while I was skeptical at first, it really really does help the story a lot.

How would you compare L8wrtr and Q2 to Adigitalman's PT edits (which I've never seen)? I've just seen L8wrtr's and Q2's and have decided that, so far, L8wrtr's approach is my favorite. His conventional editing approach doesn't convert the PT into something alien to what I watched growing up. Instead, he actually makes it better. I even prefer his work to Phantom Editor's, who used to be my go-to for when I wanted to watch the PT. I used to mourn that Phantom Editor never edited Ep. III, but no more. Also, I've lost the desire to watch Adigitalman's PT edits. I'm just curious as to your thoughts on them.

Sounds like we have similar tastes. I was introduced to Star Wars through the 97 SE so I miss that version. Except for ANH. I couldn't take Han's rubber neck laser doge anymore. So, for a while, my ideal OT experience was GOUT V3 for ANH and Lee's PALs of ESB and RotJ. But now, it's all GOUT for me. :( But, I can't complain. If it wasn't for GOUT V3, I'd be watching the letterbox DVDs instead of V3's anamorphic. And I can't stand the 2004 DVDs and Blu-rays what with all the radical changes Lucas did in ESB and RotJ.

Which current fan preservation of the 1997 Special Edition is considered the best? And where might it be available?

I have Lee Thorogood's PAL preservation but my Blu-ray player will not read it. I'm left with three .img files I can't use. My old DVD player could read them and they were my favorite way to watch Star Wars (except for the GOUT V3 preservation DVD of A New Hope).

By the way, is it possible to convert Lee's PAL preservation into something a current Blu-ray player could read?

I appreciate your help.

Bingowings and timidggerm, hello and thank you. :)

Fang Zei, thank you!

I truly appreciate your sharing those memories. I always enjoy hearing of others Star Wars experiences. Unfortunately, I do not know personally as many people who love Star Wars as those of us on this site and others like it. I'm truly glad to be here.

I too remember fondly those early days of the official web site, the pictures and articles. That plus the weapon replicas and X-wing and Tie-fighter models on the Sharper Image catalog and the pictures of jigsaw puzzles of the old posters were all a sort of Bible for me. What I knew of Star Wars, for a while was from blurbs. I ended up creating my own fantasy of what the movies were in my head. What surprises me to this day, is that the movies were so good, they didn't disappoint my expectations.

I cannot disagree with what you said about restoring vs. tampering. Although there is no law that says directors can't "improve" on their work, those same people have, in my opinion, a moral obligation to give their customers what they want. Also, there is a historical obligation. It is good to preserve the past to see where we came from.

I was not aware of the last Wizard of Oz release being tampered with. That's disappointing. I have the earlier DVD release, I better hang on to it. It's Warner Brother's 2005 two-disc release. Is that a purer version?

I've recently found myself reselling and returning Blu-ray releases of older movies due to digital noise reduction. It can be tastefully done, but when people's skin starts looking like wax, I'm out.

I agree with what you said about Blade Runner. And it fits that Warner Brothers was involved. They've been pretty good about this stuff. Their Outlaw Josey Wales Blu-ray is fantastic and grainy and the skin looks great!

The crown jewel of my movie collection are my Criterion Blu-rays. Those folks know how to restore. They even include restored original mono tracks.

Some movies, I refuse to get on Blu-ray. I go to Bluraydotcom for my research and have decided to stick with my 2005 Star Trek movie collection on DVD until Paramount eases off on the DNR. The Star Trek Original TV Series on Blu-ray was a thankfully different story.

I've recently gotten L8twr's prequel edits and am watching them. They may replace Phantom Editor's. They're that good plus L8twr doesn't use the opening scrawl to get cute. ;) I'm trying out Q2's next. Sadly, my Blu-ray player (unlike my old DVD player) won't play Thorogood's 97s. It's because they're PAL. That leaves me to rely on the entire GOUT restoration. I can't complain. It's just that my introduction to Star Wars was with the 97s and it was all I knew for a good while. :)

Greetings folks!

My name is Charles and I've been skulk...uh, I mean, perusing around this site for maybe a couple years now. I've been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid, before I'd even seen the movies (I fell in love with the vintage poster facsimiles I saw in puzzle and game catalogs to which my parents were subscribed). After fantasizing about the movies for a good while, I actually saw them, in all their 1997 Special Edition, full-screen, VHS glory, on a 20-inch, one-speaker, Sony Trinitron.

I was thirteen and Blockbuster was still the rage. It was the late 90s and Star Wars was back. The Phantom Menace trailer came out around that time. I was in heaven.

Several years, three prequels, and three special editions later, I developed into a “moderate purist.” As oxymoronic as that may sound, it makes a sort of sense. Let me explain. I like the restoration work and subtle touchups (e.g., matte line clean-up) of the SPs. Also, frankly, I like the 97 editions’ updates, with two exceptions; Jabba’s cameo in Star Wars (okay, fine, A New Hope) and, sin of sins, Greedo shooting first.

However, I completely agree that the original theatrical versions should receive the same pure restoration that Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the Wind, and The Wizard of Oz (to name just a few) received. Warner Brothers, in particular, have been fabulous with their restorations.

So, my favorite fan restorations and preservations are (predictably) the GOUT DVD restoration for A New Hope (forgot authors’ name, forgive me) and Lee Thorogood’s preservation of the 97 editions of ESB and RotJ.

Those have actually become my favorite versions of the OT.

So, moderate in what I enjoy, and purist in what I demand for others. Disney, restore the theatricals!

Now, for the prequels. Call me a blasphemer, but I like them. Granted, the Phantom Editor is my hero. But I still enjoy watching the entire six movies chronologically (I-VI). And yes, I’m still in the Stone Age as my only fanedits of the prequels are the Phantom Editor’s, which means I don’t have an edited version of Revenge of the Sith.

(Disclaimer: I own, legally, all the retail versions on DVD. To boot, I have the OT 95 and 97 on VHS. All are widescreen.)

If you’ve read this far, I commend you. I just wanted to introduce myself, say ‘hi,’ and officially join the Restoration/Preservation/Editing community as an observing, consuming layman. By the way, you folks who actually do the projects are, in my opinion, artists. Thank you so much for your hard work!

Plug: GOUT folks and Lee Thorogood are true Jedi.

Now, on to Star Wars books and video games. Haha, just kidding. But, yeah, love those too.

Cheers!

I just wanted to thank ADigitalMan for his work on the RotJ edit 1.0. I was fortunate enough to get a PIF copy earlier this year and greatly appreciated and enjoyed it. It struck a tasteful balance between Lucas's SE changes and the original presentation. The return of Sebastian Shaw was a downright saintly act. ;)

ADigitalMan, many thanks. Keep up the good work.

Hi Lee,

Just wanted to send some kudos and congrats your way for your excellent work on these preservations. I just gave your preservation of ESB a test run and was more than impressed. I'm excited to see that I finally have a digital version I can sink my teeth into.

Keep up the good work, sir!