msycamore

That is great erri_wan! :)

This could actually be a great two-disc set...

Disc 1: the original cut

Disc 2: erri_wan's still mysterious cut

Original theatrical trailer

Original Short Film

Vintage making of "Bald"

...what do you guys think?

erri_wan said:

However I also wonder if it's due to the excessive creativity of Italian dubbers, Warner Bros over-zealousness or (also possibly) a mistake by the Italian dubbers in saying centuries instead of years (that would set it in late 23rd Century).

The films tagline when marketed in '71 was, "THE FUTURE IS COMING", "THX 1138 - A love story filmed on location in the 21st century" and "THE FUTURE IS HERE IN, THX 1138 - A love story filmed on location in the 21st century" it was on the original posters and trailer etc, that doesn't necessarily have to mean the setting was in the 21st Century but I find it interesting. The script doesn't mention anything about it as far as I can remember, haven't read the novel though.

You don't have to anymore ;) I was able to check it myself. The super-8 have the same compositing as in the GOUT. Just unique trailer footage or a small chance the super-8 used a 35mm filmsource in this sequence.

In re-creating that shot the blinking lights in the wall behind the hologram went missing, just a very small thing on a beautifully done shot.

Also... I mentioned it before in zombie's thread, in the "space slug" scene they have fixed the movement of the asteroid that happend when the puppet reached out for the Falcon at the end. Something that not easily show up in a capture. ;)

I'll be damned! So what scenes are cut then? I only thought this recording had a different opening. If this is the original theatrical cut, this is beyond amazing.

Empire comparisons...picture 3: I'm not entirely sure but I don't think the preface was altered in '97, that was only done on the first film. (I don't own the '97SE, so I cannot confirm it)

picture 34: It also looks like a different starfield was used.

picture 39: They made the Stardestroyer in the window move a little bit since last pic (38).

picture 156: "They also fixed a problem with the Falcon's engine glow." Wrong, that is just a wonderful DVNR-artifact on the GOUT.

picture 162 & 163: A sun have also been added behind the clouds.

picture 171: Han Solo also leaves the Falcon open in the SE.

Are you not going to include the changes done to the end credits?

No, there is no such thing this time, only one version. Well, you have the one from Delrey (US), and the one from Aurum (UK). Both are hardback the only thing that's differ between them is the height and weight as I understand it.

Have you seen this one, zombie.

I just thought it was fitting to the title of your site. ;)

Looking forward to this, the amount of work you're doing to restore this cut sounds mighty impressive!! :)

Let me know if you're interested in hi-res poster scans of the films...

zombie84 said:

Also, I'm still not over that scanline thing. Like, what does that mean? Was there two different versions of the shot, one with scanlines and one without? If so its weird that the earlier video had it, as it seems that they were adding things to the picture as the releases went, rather than subtracting. I don't see why they would deliberately alter that one detail though.

There is still a possibility the scanlines are gone due to bad DVNR/vertical blur in that shot but I think they would have at least been seen in my PAL pan & scan VHS if that was the case... so yes, it's really weird and the lack of green color in it also makes me think something affected the fx work here, I'm not really sure how this sort of video-fx with scanlines were made, maybe they mention that part in the new making of book. The only thing I could think of is that it's an earlier incarnation of the shot lifted from the 70mm version but I highly doubt that, you got several similiar color-glithes troughout the THX remastering, but were the scanlines went is a mystery.

Edit: also my capture on the last page of that shot is from dark_jedi's pan & scan preservation, that LD is a pre-THX transfer from 1989 or '92 I guess.

Sorry for beeing a little off topic but I took the opportunity to check if the weird color-glitch on the lights behind C-3PO in the oilbath were present on my '95 PAL VHS and it wasn't, so that glitch is NTSC-exclusive. The colors in the close up of the suns in the binary sunset scene also looked much better, more red than blue.

You're the man! fantastic. :)

Well, I did check my '95 THX PAL Empire on VHS and the shot looks exactly the same as in the GOUT, no scanlines & no green displays. So you were right, zombie, it isn't due to bad detail/resolution but perhaps some weird optical glitch, the scanlines in the holograms show up on the VHS though. These glitches in the THX masters are a real mystery, I cannot understand how they happened.

Great job with the comparisons doubleofive, keep it up. And Lucasfilm doesn't have any quality control. The only finished versions are the original films, the SE is only a playground & work in progress for Lucas and his team to make money on dumb little kids. If they would release a finished & final glitch-free product, they wouldn't have anything left to sell. ;)

Sounds great, SilverWook. :) yeah, the PCM audio is truly the star of this LD, if not PCM an high bitrate ac-3 encode would be great.

Yeah, you help out and author this bad boy, d_j, when all your other great projects are done. ;) Btw, what did you think of the '04 version you've seen?

Darth Mallwalker, you seem to have a vast digital library, you don't happen to have "The Dark/Sega Special Collection" LD of Empire to post? Thanks.

Zombie, you may be right but that shot isn't entirely stationary so DVNR can be possible, I only have '95 fullscreen Empire in PAL VHS but I guess I can check it out. But can you explain the weird color glitches in the '93 telecine?

Look at these examples where the correct green lights change in color behind Threepio in the GOUT.

JSC LD

GOUT

JSC LD

GOUT

...and a few more that really highlights the bad detail in the GOUT:

JSC LD

GOUT

JSC LD

GOUT

Yeah, that site is a real bitch to navigate. Many good things there though.

The new Rinzler book is absolutely amazing, I've just read through half of it yet, but it's definitely worth the prize. Those who already own the old book will definitely need to pick this up as it also cover much pre and post-production, some comments here and there are taken from DVD commentaries and other interview sources to fill it out some, but otherwise it's Alan Arnold's tapes here, uncensored. Haven't noticed any usual revision-bullshit yet.

Have you noticed that a small part (left in frame) of the AT-AT's cockpit in the SE is transparant in comparison pics: 57 & 65 but not in the original shot... weird.

If this project is for real I'm really excited.

LeeThorogood said:
On a side note I have been thinking about having a go at doing my own preservation of the 1995 French THX LaserDisc set with English audio and I was wondering if this is something people would be interested in?

 I would be very interested and happy if you do. :)

SilverWook, have you been able to check the japanese LD more closely? I'm really curious to know how it compare against the US disc. Great news about the Italian broadcast, keep us updated. :)

You have it inside Empire's lost documentary section.

robbottin said:

I'm looking for it, but a free digital copy is not a bad thing.

You can download the original Alan Arnold book in PDF format at the starwarsarchives.com