Definitely! Now I just need to finish my collection of the Japanese CAV "Special Collection" releases, which are pretty much considered the best versions of these pre-THX editions. Thanks for watching!
I recently spotted a Fox Video cover edition of the widescreen LaserDisc of Star Wars that was sold on eBay a while back, but it had the “Printed in U.S.A.” text similar to the Pioneer USA pressing of the CBS/Fox edition. Lo and behold, the discs inside seemed to be those of the CBS/Fox edition.
I have the Definitive Collection and the Special Edition sets, but I may have to check this out if I find one. I get such a kick watching the original versions of SW because it not only takes me back to my childhood, but it's all the more amazing what was accomplished w these films.
If you can find the Technidisc pressing from 93, it's even more "vintage" looking somehow and it has the correct aspect ratio throughout. It's pretty much the best nostalgic version next to the old pan and scan versions.
Culture dog I've got the Mitsubishi pressing 92 playing on pioneer 909 to a 50 inch plasma. I don't have a problem with the aspect ratio I have definitive edition and faces it matches aspect wise with both of them the 92pressing discs and jacket are still in original shrink-wrap it's only cut to get the discs out love the channel can't wait for new videos
I love all the Star Wars films, that looks like a cool disc, the ratio changing is amazing I can't remember anybody ever saying that about any film on any format before, I always wanted The Phantom Menace as it was one of the last laserdiscs released I think.
The Legends of Cherry Hill I still need to get The Phantom Menace too. Yeah, it was a very late release, but luckily a lot of people imported copies so there are a lot of used copies kicking around on ebay. The 6.1 EX-encoded Dolby Digital track is supposed to be incredible, and I hear the picture quality is also top notch.
+Culturedog I got the phantom menace on laserdisc a while back and I can confirm the picture quality and sound are pretty amazing I was shocked how good it looked and it's the theatrical version to boot
Horrifyingly Hillarious Nice! I still can't believe I haven't picked up a copy yet! I need to make that happen once I'm done with my James Bond import madness.
This was, of course, among my very first laserdisc purchases. I picked up all three films at once; the only catch was that Jedi was just pan and scan. If I remember correctly, they tried to tell me Jedi was not available widescreen. I eventually caught up to a widescreen version at another store. The Definitive Collection is my favorite, though.
The widescreen Jedi was a straggler - think it was released a year after the Star Wars and Empire discs dropped. I need to do a video on The Definitive Collection at some point - such a landmark release!
I didn't know that about the Jedi disc. I thought the clerk was just telling me it was not available so that I would buy the pan and scan, which I did.
i have this one, has a good reproduction of the 35mm dolby stereo mix, could have been louder. the aspect ratio moves with each side. the faces master can be used as the baby boom mix, i'd love to see that released
Watching your video again here I just went and checked the 1992 Widescreen VHS counterpart to this release, and the aspect ratio does not change throughout the film. Must've been something inherent with how the LD was mastered, I imagine.
Nice review. Few talk about the Fox SWE discs other than the shrinking ratio, but to be honest these are all nice discs that remain the easiest way to see the trilogy relatively unaltered on a official release. They have good color and sound due to being primarily CLV ports of the Japanese Special Collection discs. SW has the 1985 video remix done for the JSC which is primarily the 1977 Dolby stereo mix with 3P0's tractor beam line added back in. I like the older mixes compared to the Definitive Collection one because I hate the additions they made. (But the first film was reputed to be based off of the 70mm Dolby version as its base.) The lack of early DNR is key, and they used healthier prints than the faded IPs used for the Definitive Collection. Definitely find the Technidisc release. Despite the crosstalk issues it was found to be an entirely new transfer of a different print source, presumably to correct the shrinking issue. No one knows any details but it resulted in a fantastic transfer aside from the crosstalk that is full of richer color. It's in my opinion the best ever official release for the film--and that's even owning the first JSC disc. I just love how natural it feels. The only downside is that it doesn't have the mono mix which is my favorite.
duckyousuckr Thanks! Good to hear about the Technidisc pressing. I'm going to put that back up near the top of my active search list. I still need to pick up the Japanese Special Collection discs for Star Wars and Empire as well. My ROTJ copy is getting lonely!
Mine is a 1986 imported Japanese pressing, three disks CAV. I bought it at a whole-in-the-wall strip mall laserdisc specialty store in what is now Moreno Valley CA, but was, if memory serves, still the small separate hamlets of Sunnymead and Edgemont at the time. Expensive! It's odd that I would sink so much money into Star Wars (and the companion Empire Strikes Back, which I also bought) considering I'm not a huge fan of the franchise. I did, however, see the three original films in various theaters during their initial runs, the first two multiple times. I find the first a lot of campy fun, the second a distinct improvement, and the third such a great disappointment I never bothered to see any of the later releases. I was and remain a fan of the John Williams music score and the movie's surround-sound effects when properly reproduced to do them justice. I still find Star Wars and Empire quite enjoyable, but don't see myself ever replacing them on a newer format unless my LDs succumb to laser rot.
+SenileImbecile Nice! That's the legendary Japanese "Special Collection" release, which is where the masters for these U.S. versions came from. Those cost a pretty penny back in the day, and now they're starting to creep back up again. I actually am a big fan of the original three films, but likewise never had any urge to replace my LD copies.
Very nice, I have most of the versions of the trilogy but still need to grab A New Hope & Empire. Have the Jedi edition from '92 which is cool with the raised aspect ratio for Juba's dialogue. Will be looking forward to maybe seeing your take on them. Maybe even the 7.1 ex mix of Episode I in another video?
Thanks! Will definitely be digging in to some more Star Wars titles. I did a vid for the Japanese CAV release of Jedi, which is pretty much the same thing as that '92 release with the raised picture. People say that the US version is raised because they wanted to cover up the Japanese subtitles, but the Japanese version was raised too. I think it was raised so that the alien subtitles would show up under the frame like you said. Where's my research team when I need them? :-D
I don't have an ultimate favorite - but shrinking aspect ratio aside this is a nice release. The Technidisc version is an interesting alternative. The Definitive box is cool, but there are so many quality control issues that it's just easier and more convenient to rock the Faces. But yeah, this release is the closest thing we have in the U.S. to the Japanese Special Collection.
I used to have that release back in the day. Now i just have the THX editions with the faces on the cover. While the Japanese releases are superior they do have unremovable subtitles. There was a great rare pressing that was an archival disc that sold for a ton not long ago.
I don't think my DVDO Edge Green does it, but I've heard that some of their higher end processors can actually create black masking bars to cover up the subs on Japanese discs. Luckily they don't really bother me, especially on scope films when they're out of the frame entirely. Would be a cool option though.
I need to pick up one of the high end processors that can mask the subtitles. I have a large collection of Japanese and Hong Kong laserdiscs. What do you have for equipment so far?
***** I've got a mongrel collection of new and old stuff. My main room's got an old '99 Rotel AV/Receiver and the DVDO Edge Green, some old Advent speakers and a huge SVS cylinder subwoofer, a Sony VPL-HW10 SXRD projector, a Monster HTS-3500 power center, a region-hacked JVC DVD player, an old Phat PS-3, a Technics 1200 turntable and the trusty old Pioneer CLD-D704 LD player going into a Panasonic DVD recorder for the comb filter and then into a DPS-290 time base corrector. Think that's about it. My VCR just crapped out, so I need to get a good replacement so I can make some DVDs out of my old tapes.
Great setup Culturedog! I'm a home theater nut. I don't have any LD equipment right now, but I have had various pioneer units and a Mcintosh LD player in the past. I'm running a Denon 5308 receiver, Atlantic Technology ITWS30 THX in walls, and a Klipsch sub. Blu ray is Oppo 103.
***** Sounds like some heavy duty gear! There was an Atlantic Tech 5.1 speaker system I used to drool over all the time in the pages of Home Theater and Technology magazine. Never did wind up getting it though. I remember when Oppo first came out and all the hardcore enthusiasts were picking up their super-cheap DVD players because of their insane level of quality. Now they're a "legit" high end brand. Pretty cool.
+OpticalHaze Star Wars on LD is either 4:3 pan and scan or 2.35:1 letterboxed. There were a very small amount of 16:9 LaserDiscs produced, but none of those were Star Wars titles.
Generally I think of letterbox as when the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen are part of the picture. Anamorphic is when the picture fits a 16:9 screen without stretching the image.
If the DVD or Blu Ray film is 2:35:1 it's still going to have the black bars on an HD widescreen TV because it's a wider aspect ratio, I think letterboxing is beautiful so it doesn't bother me! Letterbox is natural. Pan/Scan is rape.
Riddler95 I still haven't found one yet, but if I recall correctly they'll have a 1993 date on the back of the jacket. It's supposed to have a lot of crosstalk problems, but I'm still curious.
Riddler95 It's picture noise that looks an awful lot like the RF interference that you'd see back in the day on old TV sets. It's usually in a herringbone pattern, and is mostly found on warped discs or in faulty players that mix up the correct image frames with adjacent frames. The old CLV discs used to suffer from it pretty badly, which is why they eventually created CAA discs (and simply called them CLV for the rest of the format's life). Unfortunately, Technidisc could never get rid of their crosstalk problems - not sure if it was inherent in their masters or what, but their discs looked nasty on every player. Still, I needs me a copy of their Star Wars pressing!
Riddler95 I had no idea either until a few years ago! If I remember correctly the old version of CLV would continually slow down as the laser tracked outward, but it resulted in lots of video interference. So CAA was created, which solved the issue by stepping down the speed incrementally in segments. Everyone except for 3M adopted it and they just decided to keep on calling it CLV. Total craziness!
Hey Sam I know you got the technidisc pressing of this could you do a video on it compared to your mistubishi disc that you also have cheers thanks keep spinning
Yeah, I really need to do that - I want to do some image captures too to really show the shrinking ratio on the Mitsubishi and how different the Technidisc looks.
in terms of quality what editions would be better the original widescreen releases, the definitive collection or the faces editions, what ones have correct aspect ratios
+Horrifyingly Hillarious The Definitive Collection and the Faces sets are sourced from the same video masters, and have the correct aspect ratios. They're a little darker, though the THX engineer David Schnuelle said this matched the look of the actual film prints, and earlier versions had been mastered too brightly. On the downside, they used a Swedish digital noise reduction system for the first time, and it created some interesting artifacts on its own (invisible legs, 4-eyed Stormtroopers, etc.) while it cleaned up the dirt on the prints. People go back and forth on picture quality between the CAV DC and CLV Faces, though the convenience and affordability of the Faces releases makes it a tough competitor. The extras on the DC aren't that copious, and there are a number of pressings still out there with defects (like the missing 8 seconds from the start of one Empire disc) and laser rot. You can also try hunting down the Technidisc pressing of this Fox Video U.S. release, though it's not as easy to discover as most people say it is. That one has the correct aspect ratio too, and no excessive DNR. People also love the Japanese Special Collection CAV sets, which is where the master for the original U.S. widescreen LDs was sourced from. Though the image is shifted up to place the Japanese subtitles in the lower black letterbox bar, and there aren't any English subtitles for the alien dialogue. Sorry for the long-winded answer! Overall, the best bang for your buck is the Faces series.
Culturedog thanks all this info, I guess I'll get the faces version when I can I have them on vhs but when it comes to vhs vs laserdisc laserdisc wins in my opinion , what about the special editions though id like to get those too but I read something about the aspect ratios being off a bit on those sets, even if it is id still get them but im just curious
Culturedog also I found this on lddb on the special editions page For unknown reasons - and making a mockery of the THX LD programs so-called "standards" - the Special Edition transfers in this box set have incorrect aspect ratios. Star Wars is only 2.21:1, instead of the correct Panavision ratio of 2.39:1, while Empire and Jedi's aspect ratios are both 2.28:1 - better than Star Wars, but still short of the original Panavision framing. In addition to being the very last release of the original three Star Wars films on LD, this LaserDisc set is the only home video release to present the Special Editions of all three films with the same picture and discrete digital soundtracks used for the theatrical releases. All later editions on DVD and Blu-ray are altered to various degrees and don't represent the theatrical prints. As a technical side-note, these are the only LaserDisc's of the Star Wars films to be encoded with Faroudja Lab's Super NTSC process which produces greater color resolution, reduces chroma noise and eliminates most of NTSC's artifacts such as dot crawl and flickering rainbows on closely spaced diagonal lines. While Super NTSC produces improved picture quality with all types of comb filters, when a Super NTSC LaserDisc is decoded with an advanced Motion Adaptive 3D comb filter, color resolution of up to 160 lines horizontally and 480 lines vertically with no loss of vertical, horizontal or diagonal luminance resolution is possible.
+Horrifyingly Hillarious No problem! I have heard that the ratios on the special edition box aren't the proper width. On the plus side, the transfers are gorgeous and the 5.1 mixes are awesome. Side note - I think I just bought a copy of the Technidisc pressing of the original Fox widescreen release, so I'll be making a follow-up video once that comes in.
Culturedog honestly its the only way to see those versions so its worth it as a huge star wars fan, im the kind who has every cut of the movies lol, nice find on that technidisc pressing I gotta check it out when you post the video
+corder1991 Pretty close to it, other than a few small things (like the opening title crawl is the 1981 version instead of the original 1977 one). But there aren't any new sound effects or anything like what they added to the later THX releases.
To me Star Wars has never sounded as good as the sequels on any format and probably due to the production, it is older and all kinks hadn't been worked out yet. The aspect ratio changes sounds really weird!
Yeah, for sure - the overall thinner sound is kind of charming in a time capsule way. The aspect ratio changes are definitely weird - I should do a follow-up video now that I have the 1993 Technidisc pressing that fixes it.
Yeah, watching the original '77 Star Wars now is like watching a TV show pilot after you've watched the later seasons, it looks VERY primitive and the quality is sketchy as hell! Like you said, it has that charm about it!
Nice release of a classic film. Honestly, I will take film grain and filthy frames over smudged digital softening any day.
Definitely! Now I just need to finish my collection of the Japanese CAV "Special Collection" releases, which are pretty much considered the best versions of these pre-THX editions.
Thanks for watching!
“ I’m Darth Vader see” said like Edward G Robinson laugh my ass off . Good stuff !!!!
Haha! Glad you enjoyed it!
I recently spotted a Fox Video cover edition of the widescreen LaserDisc of Star Wars that was sold on eBay a while back, but it had the “Printed in U.S.A.” text similar to the Pioneer USA pressing of the CBS/Fox edition. Lo and behold, the discs inside seemed to be those of the CBS/Fox edition.
great artwork on that cover keep them rolling
Thanks! Will do!
I like how it has the original movie poster art work on the cover
MrBuc128 Absolutely! Looks way cooler than the later release with the huge Darth Vader helmet.
I have the Definitive Collection and the Special Edition sets, but I may have to check this out if I find one. I get such a kick watching the original versions of SW because it not only takes me back to my childhood, but it's all the more amazing what was accomplished w these films.
If you can find the Technidisc pressing from 93, it's even more "vintage" looking somehow and it has the correct aspect ratio throughout. It's pretty much the best nostalgic version next to the old pan and scan versions.
I just picked up one of these recently, but sadly, it was a rotter. Mine reads "Made in the USA" on the back o' the jacket.
Culture dog I've got the Mitsubishi pressing 92 playing on pioneer 909 to a 50 inch plasma. I don't have a problem with the aspect ratio I have definitive edition and faces it matches aspect wise with both of them the 92pressing discs and jacket are still in original shrink-wrap it's only cut to get the discs out love the channel can't wait for new videos
I love all the Star Wars films, that looks like a cool disc, the ratio changing is amazing I can't remember anybody ever saying that about any film on any format before, I always wanted The Phantom Menace as it was one of the last laserdiscs released I think.
The Legends of Cherry Hill I still need to get The Phantom Menace too. Yeah, it was a very late release, but luckily a lot of people imported copies so there are a lot of used copies kicking around on ebay. The 6.1 EX-encoded Dolby Digital track is supposed to be incredible, and I hear the picture quality is also top notch.
+Culturedog I got the phantom menace on laserdisc a while back and I can confirm the picture quality and sound are pretty amazing I was shocked how good it looked and it's the theatrical version to boot
Horrifyingly Hillarious Nice! I still can't believe I haven't picked up a copy yet! I need to make that happen once I'm done with my James Bond import madness.
This was, of course, among my very first laserdisc purchases. I picked up all three films at once; the only catch was that Jedi was just pan and scan. If I remember correctly, they tried to tell me Jedi was not available widescreen. I eventually caught up to a widescreen version at another store. The Definitive Collection is my favorite, though.
The widescreen Jedi was a straggler - think it was released a year after the Star Wars and Empire discs dropped. I need to do a video on The Definitive Collection at some point - such a landmark release!
I didn't know that about the Jedi disc. I thought the clerk was just telling me it was not available so that I would buy the pan and scan, which I did.
It did finally come out in 1990, so he may have been hustling you if it was sometime after that!
i have this one, has a good reproduction of the 35mm dolby stereo mix, could have been louder.
the aspect ratio moves with each side. the faces master can be used as the baby boom mix, i'd love to see that released
Watching your video again here I just went and checked the 1992 Widescreen VHS counterpart to this release, and the aspect ratio does not change throughout the film. Must've been something inherent with how the LD was mastered, I imagine.
I always forget about that particular widescreen VHS release. That's very interesting that they didn't share the same master. The plot thickens!
Nice review. Few talk about the Fox SWE discs other than the shrinking ratio, but to be honest these are all nice discs that remain the easiest way to see the trilogy relatively unaltered on a official release. They have good color and sound due to being primarily CLV ports of the Japanese Special Collection discs. SW has the 1985 video remix done for the JSC which is primarily the 1977 Dolby stereo mix with 3P0's tractor beam line added back in. I like the older mixes compared to the Definitive Collection one because I hate the additions they made. (But the first film was reputed to be based off of the 70mm Dolby version as its base.) The lack of early DNR is key, and they used healthier prints than the faded IPs used for the Definitive Collection.
Definitely find the Technidisc release. Despite the crosstalk issues it was found to be an entirely new transfer of a different print source, presumably to correct the shrinking issue. No one knows any details but it resulted in a fantastic transfer aside from the crosstalk that is full of richer color. It's in my opinion the best ever official release for the film--and that's even owning the first JSC disc. I just love how natural it feels. The only downside is that it doesn't have the mono mix which is my favorite.
duckyousuckr Thanks! Good to hear about the Technidisc pressing. I'm going to put that back up near the top of my active search list. I still need to pick up the Japanese Special Collection discs for Star Wars and Empire as well. My ROTJ copy is getting lonely!
Mine is a 1986 imported Japanese pressing, three disks CAV. I bought it at a whole-in-the-wall strip mall laserdisc specialty store in what is now Moreno Valley CA, but was, if memory serves, still the small separate hamlets of Sunnymead and Edgemont at the time. Expensive! It's odd that I would sink so much money into Star Wars (and the companion Empire Strikes Back, which I also bought) considering I'm not a huge fan of the franchise. I did, however, see the three original films in various theaters during their initial runs, the first two multiple times. I find the first a lot of campy fun, the second a distinct improvement, and the third such a great disappointment I never bothered to see any of the later releases. I was and remain a fan of the John Williams music score and the movie's surround-sound effects when properly reproduced to do them justice. I still find Star Wars and Empire quite enjoyable, but don't see myself ever replacing them on a newer format unless my LDs succumb to laser rot.
+SenileImbecile Nice! That's the legendary Japanese "Special Collection" release, which is where the masters for these U.S. versions came from. Those cost a pretty penny back in the day, and now they're starting to creep back up again. I actually am a big fan of the original three films, but likewise never had any urge to replace my LD copies.
Very nice, I have most of the versions of the trilogy but still need to grab A New Hope & Empire. Have the Jedi edition from '92 which is cool with the raised aspect ratio for Juba's dialogue. Will be looking forward to maybe seeing your take on them. Maybe even the 7.1 ex mix of Episode I in another video?
Thanks! Will definitely be digging in to some more Star Wars titles. I did a vid for the Japanese CAV release of Jedi, which is pretty much the same thing as that '92 release with the raised picture. People say that the US version is raised because they wanted to cover up the Japanese subtitles, but the Japanese version was raised too. I think it was raised so that the alien subtitles would show up under the frame like you said. Where's my research team when I need them? :-D
What would be, in your opinion, the best version to watch (besides the Japanese edition)? This version, the faces, or the definitive edition?
I don't have an ultimate favorite - but shrinking aspect ratio aside this is a nice release. The Technidisc version is an interesting alternative. The Definitive box is cool, but there are so many quality control issues that it's just easier and more convenient to rock the Faces.
But yeah, this release is the closest thing we have in the U.S. to the Japanese Special Collection.
I used to have that release back in the day. Now i just have the THX editions with the faces on the cover. While the Japanese releases are superior they do have unremovable subtitles. There was a great rare pressing that was an archival disc that sold for a ton not long ago.
I don't think my DVDO Edge Green does it, but I've heard that some of their higher end processors can actually create black masking bars to cover up the subs on Japanese discs. Luckily they don't really bother me, especially on scope films when they're out of the frame entirely. Would be a cool option though.
I need to pick up one of the high end processors that can mask the subtitles. I have a large collection of Japanese and Hong Kong laserdiscs. What do you have for equipment so far?
***** I've got a mongrel collection of new and old stuff. My main room's got an old '99 Rotel AV/Receiver and the DVDO Edge Green, some old Advent speakers and a huge SVS cylinder subwoofer, a Sony VPL-HW10 SXRD projector, a Monster HTS-3500 power center, a region-hacked JVC DVD player, an old Phat PS-3, a Technics 1200 turntable and the trusty old Pioneer CLD-D704 LD player going into a Panasonic DVD recorder for the comb filter and then into a DPS-290 time base corrector. Think that's about it. My VCR just crapped out, so I need to get a good replacement so I can make some DVDs out of my old tapes.
Great setup Culturedog! I'm a home theater nut. I don't have any LD equipment right now, but I have had various pioneer units and a Mcintosh LD player in the past. I'm running a Denon 5308 receiver, Atlantic Technology ITWS30 THX in walls, and a Klipsch sub. Blu ray is Oppo 103.
***** Sounds like some heavy duty gear!
There was an Atlantic Tech 5.1 speaker system I used to drool over all the time in the pages of Home Theater and Technology magazine. Never did wind up getting it though.
I remember when Oppo first came out and all the hardcore enthusiasts were picking up their super-cheap DVD players because of their insane level of quality. Now they're a "legit" high end brand. Pretty cool.
Great look at Star Wars dude.... 😊
Thanks man!
is it possible to obtain a Star Wars laserdisc that hasen't letterbox format? I want widescreen 16:9
+OpticalHaze Star Wars on LD is either 4:3 pan and scan or 2.35:1 letterboxed. There were a very small amount of 16:9 LaserDiscs produced, but none of those were Star Wars titles.
don't you think letterbox sucks? i mean I hate dvds like that
OpticalHaze Nope. I personally love letterboxing. Big fan of being able to see the original aspect ratio.
Generally I think of letterbox as when the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen are part of the picture. Anamorphic is when the picture fits a 16:9 screen without stretching the image.
If the DVD or Blu Ray film is 2:35:1 it's still going to have the black bars on an HD widescreen TV because it's a wider aspect ratio, I think letterboxing is beautiful so it doesn't bother me! Letterbox is natural. Pan/Scan is rape.
Great vid. I have this release somewhere and haven't check it out. Gonna have to ;)
Thanks man! I'm eager to find a copy of the Technidisc pressing so I can check that out too.
Riddler95 I still haven't found one yet, but if I recall correctly they'll have a 1993 date on the back of the jacket. It's supposed to have a lot of crosstalk problems, but I'm still curious.
Riddler95 It's picture noise that looks an awful lot like the RF interference that you'd see back in the day on old TV sets.
It's usually in a herringbone pattern, and is mostly found on warped discs or in faulty players that mix up the correct image frames with adjacent frames.
The old CLV discs used to suffer from it pretty badly, which is why they eventually created CAA discs (and simply called them CLV for the rest of the format's life).
Unfortunately, Technidisc could never get rid of their crosstalk problems - not sure if it was inherent in their masters or what, but their discs looked nasty on every player.
Still, I needs me a copy of their Star Wars pressing!
Riddler95 I had no idea either until a few years ago! If I remember correctly the old version of CLV would continually slow down as the laser tracked outward, but it resulted in lots of video interference.
So CAA was created, which solved the issue by stepping down the speed incrementally in segments. Everyone except for 3M adopted it and they just decided to keep on calling it CLV. Total craziness!
Riddler95 That makes sense, since it's basically a variation on the CLV standard anyway, and still had the same 1 hour per side features etc.
Hey Sam I know you got the technidisc pressing of this could you do a video on it compared to your mistubishi disc that you also have cheers thanks keep spinning
Yeah, I really need to do that - I want to do some image captures too to really show the shrinking ratio on the Mitsubishi and how different the Technidisc looks.
in terms of quality what editions would be better the original widescreen releases, the definitive collection or the faces editions, what ones have correct aspect ratios
+Horrifyingly Hillarious The Definitive Collection and the Faces sets are sourced from the same video masters, and have the correct aspect ratios. They're a little darker, though the THX engineer David Schnuelle said this matched the look of the actual film prints, and earlier versions had been mastered too brightly. On the downside, they used a Swedish digital noise reduction system for the first time, and it created some interesting artifacts on its own (invisible legs, 4-eyed Stormtroopers, etc.) while it cleaned up the dirt on the prints.
People go back and forth on picture quality between the CAV DC and CLV Faces, though the convenience and affordability of the Faces releases makes it a tough competitor. The extras on the DC aren't that copious, and there are a number of pressings still out there with defects (like the missing 8 seconds from the start of one Empire disc) and laser rot.
You can also try hunting down the Technidisc pressing of this Fox Video U.S. release, though it's not as easy to discover as most people say it is. That one has the correct aspect ratio too, and no excessive DNR. People also love the Japanese Special Collection CAV sets, which is where the master for the original U.S. widescreen LDs was sourced from. Though the image is shifted up to place the Japanese subtitles in the lower black letterbox bar, and there aren't any English subtitles for the alien dialogue.
Sorry for the long-winded answer! Overall, the best bang for your buck is the Faces series.
Culturedog thanks all this info, I guess I'll get the faces version when I can I have them on vhs but when it comes to vhs vs laserdisc laserdisc wins in my opinion , what about the special editions though id like to get those too but I read something about the aspect ratios being off a bit on those sets, even if it is id still get them but im just curious
Culturedog also I found this on lddb on the special editions page
For unknown reasons - and making a mockery of the THX LD programs so-called "standards" - the Special Edition transfers in this box set have incorrect aspect ratios. Star Wars is only 2.21:1, instead of the correct Panavision ratio of 2.39:1, while Empire and Jedi's aspect ratios are both 2.28:1 - better than Star Wars, but still short of the original Panavision framing.
In addition to being the very last release of the original three Star Wars films on LD, this LaserDisc set is the only home video release to present the Special Editions of all three films with the same picture and discrete digital soundtracks used for the theatrical releases. All later editions on DVD and Blu-ray are altered to various degrees and don't represent the theatrical prints.
As a technical side-note, these are the only LaserDisc's of the Star Wars films to be encoded with Faroudja Lab's Super NTSC process which produces greater color resolution, reduces chroma noise and eliminates most of NTSC's artifacts such as dot crawl and flickering rainbows on closely spaced diagonal lines. While Super NTSC produces improved picture quality with all types of comb filters, when a Super NTSC LaserDisc is decoded with an advanced Motion Adaptive 3D comb filter, color resolution of up to 160 lines horizontally and 480 lines vertically with no loss of vertical, horizontal or diagonal luminance resolution is possible.
+Horrifyingly Hillarious No problem! I have heard that the ratios on the special edition box aren't the proper width. On the plus side, the transfers are gorgeous and the 5.1 mixes are awesome.
Side note - I think I just bought a copy of the Technidisc pressing of the original Fox widescreen release, so I'll be making a follow-up video once that comes in.
Culturedog honestly its the only way to see those versions so its worth it as a huge star wars fan, im the kind who has every cut of the movies lol, nice find on that technidisc pressing I gotta check it out when you post the video
Is this copy unaltered?
+corder1991 Pretty close to it, other than a few small things (like the opening title crawl is the 1981 version instead of the original 1977 one). But there aren't any new sound effects or anything like what they added to the later THX releases.
+Culturedog thanks, after my research i think ill pick these prints for my collection unless i find faces a lil cheaper. Thanks alot.
corder1991 No problem! Thanks for watching!
To me Star Wars has never sounded as good as the sequels on any format and probably due to the production, it is older and all kinks hadn't been worked out yet. The aspect ratio changes sounds really weird!
Yeah, for sure - the overall thinner sound is kind of charming in a time capsule way. The aspect ratio changes are definitely weird - I should do a follow-up video now that I have the 1993 Technidisc pressing that fixes it.
Yeah, watching the original '77 Star Wars now is like watching a TV show pilot after you've watched the later seasons, it looks VERY primitive and the quality is sketchy as hell! Like you said, it has that charm about it!