Title says it all...is there a box set of DVDs that was close to unaltered, or were they all "special" in some way by then?
Which Star Wars DVD set is the closest thing to an unaltered version of original?
- Thread starter Dagobah Don
- Start date
Jagjaguwar
Sr Member
Actually, I think there is a DVD set with the original theatrical versions, but it’s a bad transfer. Possibly related to the old laserdisc transfer. Not good.
No blu-ray/HD theatrical version officially released yet. Maybe now that Disney bought most of 21st century fox....
For now there’s just Harmy’s Despecialized or the Team Negative 1 film reel scans.
No blu-ray/HD theatrical version officially released yet. Maybe now that Disney bought most of 21st century fox....
For now there’s just Harmy’s Despecialized or the Team Negative 1 film reel scans.
Solo4114
Master Member
Technically, it's the 2006 release. But then, only because that comes with the laserdisc rips.
The problem with the laserdisc rips, though, is that they are exactly that and they look like garbage on a modern display. They're unaltered, but they're not anamorphic, and they're letterboxed on top of that. So, to view them on a modern display, you'll end up basically viewing footage that has black bars both on the sides AND on top, and is at low resolution.
None of the other official releases are unaltered. The 2004 set (which is the same as the 2006 set, just without the laserdisc rips) has alterations. The 2012 bluray set does, too, but corrects some (but not all) flaws of the 2004 set.
If what you want is basically the VHS copy you grew up with but set up for modern displays...nothing official exists. At all.
The problem with the laserdisc rips, though, is that they are exactly that and they look like garbage on a modern display. They're unaltered, but they're not anamorphic, and they're letterboxed on top of that. So, to view them on a modern display, you'll end up basically viewing footage that has black bars both on the sides AND on top, and is at low resolution.
None of the other official releases are unaltered. The 2004 set (which is the same as the 2006 set, just without the laserdisc rips) has alterations. The 2012 bluray set does, too, but corrects some (but not all) flaws of the 2004 set.
If what you want is basically the VHS copy you grew up with but set up for modern displays...nothing official exists. At all.
Jaitea
Master Member
Darth Lars
Master Member
The 2006 DVD release had each movie sold separately with the Special Edition on one disc and the theatrical release on a "bonus disc".
They are technically not laserdisc rips but made from the same master tapes as one of the Laserdisc editions.
Besides being letterboxed they also suffer from "temporal smoothing" , i.e. added motion blur.
They are technically not laserdisc rips but made from the same master tapes as one of the Laserdisc editions.
Besides being letterboxed they also suffer from "temporal smoothing" , i.e. added motion blur.
Solo4114
Master Member
Yes, but zooming it will usually crop the picture somehow. Either the top to bottom will be cropped, or it'll be cropped on the side, or it'll be cropped all around and REALLY zoomed in. And in any case, the resolution is going to look absolutely awful on a 1080p panel.
Solo4114
Master Member
Same. It's pretty awful. If you want an archival version, that ain't it.
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I have the 1993 Definitive Edition laserdisc set the '06 transfer was ripped from. For various reasons it generally looks better on laserdisc than on the DVDs. Those laserdiscs are three discs per film, four-and-a-bit sides (the last side is a photo gallery), CAV format, analog video. DVD has some advantages over laserdisc, but the digital compression of the various MPEG-2 encodings used for DVD is not among them. For all the lack of resolution by today's standards, it's better than VHS by a lot and the laserdisc doesn't have the default 4:3 aspect ratio that's the DVD standard, so it plays at the native resolution of the frame, with the rest of the screen left blank, rather than forced letterboxing (the DVD transfer has the black bars at top and botten encoded as part of the image, rather than absence of data). It's a pain in the butt for organic viewing, as you have to keep getting up to flip or change the disc, and the side-breaks are often jarringly placed.
But even then, when ILM went through and did an automated Digital Video Noise Reduction, that seems to be what tweaked the color timing for the "Definitive Edition" and all future transfers. The best-resolution, best-color, non-Special-Edition version of the OT is the Japanese Special Collection laserdisc release from the mid-'80s, if you can find it.
But even then, when ILM went through and did an automated Digital Video Noise Reduction, that seems to be what tweaked the color timing for the "Definitive Edition" and all future transfers. The best-resolution, best-color, non-Special-Edition version of the OT is the Japanese Special Collection laserdisc release from the mid-'80s, if you can find it.
JediMichael
Master Member
Someone needs to play the old VHS tape on a 4k tv....want to see just how bad that will look.
DarthLee
Sr Member
And the audio...
Watch.. Ep IV, V, VI.... then watch I, II, III... even on DVD its extreme...
cboath
Master Member
Very doubtful. 7 and 8 seem to make clear they have no interest in the OT. Just look at their Star Wars land for the parks - little to no OT other than Star Tours.
Then again, maybe the outcry over 7 and 8 will get them to throw us a bone to try and get us back in the spending fold.
Then again, maybe the outcry over 7 and 8 will get them to throw us a bone to try and get us back in the spending fold.
Fly4v
Sr Member
But they will add insult to injury by making the 4K version a park exclusive with no way to buy it online like their removable blade sabers.
Greenie
Sr Member
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