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[LestradeTGQ]

Finally got all my downloads sorted and have all three films on disc now. I scrubbed through them just to make sure the discs worked, and Harmy really has done a fantastic job on these. I think in some ways Adywan's colour correction is more accurate and consistent overall, but these reconstructions are incredible.

Some stuff (like Lapti Nek) is more obviously an insert (since there is currently no remastered or HD source for these scenes), but other elements (like the original Sarlaac pit or Bespin's windows in ESB) are so seamless it's crazy.

Like many others here, I am not against many of the SE upgrades and tweaks. But as it's been said many times, all we want is the choice. These discs are a damn good start.

I also have the dark_Jedi V3 GOUT upscaled releases, which are technically the closest there is to an existing version of the theatrical trilogy from the source.

 

[androvsky]

Heck, forget ROTJ, I still think Star Wars holds up visually today. Especially after they cleaned it up and remastered it. Some shots look like it was done yesterday.

I agree for the most part, but there's a shot in the Death Star battle that's used a couple times that looks super cheap. It's the first-person view from inside an X-Wing with explosions going off on the surface, but unlike every other shot it's obviously a cheap plastic model with sparklers on it. I couldn't believe it when I went to see the Special Edition in the theater and that shot was unchanged.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Finally got all my downloads sorted and have all three films on disc now. I scrubbed through them just to make sure the discs worked, and Harmy really has done a fantastic job on these. I think in some ways Adywan's colour correction is more accurate and consistent overall, but these reconstructions are incredible.

Some stuff (like Lapti Nek) is more obviously an insert (since there is currently no remastered or HD source for these scenes), but other elements (like the original Sarlaac pit or Bespin's windows in ESB) are so seamless it's crazy.

Like many others here, I am not against many of the SE upgrades and tweaks. But as it's been said many times, all we want is the choice. These discs are a damn good start.

I also have the dark_Jedi V3 GOUT upscaled releases, which are technically the closest there is to an existing version of the theatrical trilogy from the source.

The one thing that bugs me is the dewback next to the cantina in Mos Eisley. It has a jitter to it when the camera moves. It's clearly been edited in and it's just not matched up right.

I agree for the most part, but there's a shot in the Death Star battle that's used a couple times that looks super cheap. It's the first-person view from inside an X-Wing with explosions going off on the surface, but unlike every other shot it's obviously a cheap plastic model with sparklers on it. I couldn't believe it when I went to see the Special Edition in the theater and that shot was unchanged.

Ya, there's a few things that stand out, but stuff like aboard the Tantive IV look current which is amazing given that the film is over 30 years old. Even more amazing is how awesome 2001 looks on Blu Ray.

 

[Chiggs]

I agree for the most part, but there's a shot in the Death Star battle that's used a couple times that looks super cheap. It's the first-person view from inside an X-Wing with explosions going off on the surface, but unlike every other shot it's obviously a cheap plastic model with sparklers on it. I couldn't believe it when I went to see the Special Edition in the theater and that shot was unchanged.

I think 2001 holds up better than A New Hope. Far too many questionable/cheap shots that occur during the Death Star battle.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Can anybody PM me on how to get these movies? I would beyond appreciate it <3

 

[Gvaz]

Holy shit, I'm watching the hd version of episode 1....and he totally removed the puppet version of yoda and replaced it with an 3D model. What the everloving fuck lucas

 

[skullwolfgp]

Holy shit, I'm watching the hd version of episode 1....and he totally removed the puppet version of yoda and replaced it with an 3D model. What the everloving fuck lucas

Meh, the puppet they used in episode 1 was pretty wonky (much moreso than the old yoda puppet). I could care less what he does with episodes 1-3, they're dead to me.

 

[Aku-Audi]

Meh, the puppet they used in episode 1 was pretty wonky (much moreso than the old yoda puppet). I could care less what he does with episodes 1-3, they're dead to me.

 

[JB1981]

Watched Jedi last night, forced 1080i thru PS3 by de-selecting 720p/480p/480i. It will not force 1080p but the PQ is tremendous. Beyond happy with these!

 

[The Hermit]

Sorry for the bump, but I think it is kinda appropriate.

In the light of the Star Wars news this week, I decided to look about the Old Trilogy in HD but without Lucas bullshit.
Unfortunately there no official release of that...
So I was searching and looks like a bunch of guys did this "despecialized" version that's pretty much what I want.

I am downloading them right now, but I watched this youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHfLX_TMduY video and it looks like they were very thorough.

 

[Timeless]

Version 2.0 of The Empire Strikes Back is out. It looks very good.

 

[Mr. Sam]

Empire's barely changed in its blu-ray special edition - as far as I recall - why do your own HD version?

 

[levious]

The emperor/vader scene was redone. Bunch of visual stuff was added to cloud city. And that dialogue change for vader. Annoyed/disgruntled "Prepare my shuttle" to "alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival." Benign change, but the delivery of the new line is odd.

Oh there was some added shots of the scene with luke in the cave.


This is comparing original to blu ray. Compared to the late 90's rereleases there's probably not much different.

 

[Anth0ny]

Empire's barely changed in its blu-ray special edition - as far as I recall - why do your own HD version?

List of changes in ESB Despecialized 2.0

ESB has definitely the least amount of changes in the Special Editions, but there are still fixes worth making.

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

Finished watching A New Hope: Despecialized last night and I absolutely loved every second of it. Can't wait to get my hands on ESB.

 

[mrklaw]

not considered this but might try these versions, along with the 'machete' viewing order (IV, V, II, III, VI)

 

[threetri333]

Sorry for the long bump, but I wanted to watch A New Hope before Episode 7 comes out.

The last time I enjoyed A New Hope is the DVD version when I borrowed it from the library. Lately, the later releases have horrendous CGI.

Is v2.5 the best version so far? I mean are there more recent versions?

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Is v2.5 the best version so far?

Absolutely.

 

[jett]

A few months ago I watched the entire "despecialized" trilogy, it was fantastic. Despite the fact a lot of the content is derived from different sources, you don't really notice it. And all of the original SFX hold up just fine when you're not nitpicking it frame by frame.

The Special Editions really were just a bunch of unnecessary crap.

 

[Bodacious]

Sorry for the long bump, but I wanted to watch A New Hope before Episode 7 comes out.

The last time I enjoyed A New Hope is the DVD version when I borrowed it from the library. Lately, the later releases have horrendous CGI.

Is v2.5 the best version so far? I mean are there more recent versions?

Absolutely.

And just to make sure, the current "best" versions are

A New Hope, v. 2.5

Empire Strikes Back, v. 2.0

Return of the Jedi, v. 1.0


Is that correct???

 

[Kvik]

I still can't believe they royally fucked up the colour grading in 2011 Blu-ray release. Might as well call Leia The Princess of Red Lobster.

Harmy's is the definitive edition of OSWT as far as I am concerned.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

And just to make sure, the current "best" versions are

A New Hope, v. 2.5

Empire Strikes Back, v. 2.0

Return of the Jedi, v. 1.0

Yup. Both Star Wars and Empire are in 1080p now, with multiple soundtracks (5.1, 2.0, Mono, commentaries) and Jedi is still only 720p for now, but he's currently working on updating that one as well.

 

[SURGEdude]

Yup. Both Star Wars and Empire are in 1080p now, with multiple soundtracks (5.1, 2.0, Mono, commentaries) and Jedi is still only 720p for now, but he's currently working on updating that one as well.

Didn't know this was a thing. Thanks guys! Might not need to pull out the laserdisc player anymore.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Oh, I dunno. There's something about the side changes, that smeary 400-line image, the CBS/FOX VIDEO fanfare...

edit: Ha, I went to see if I could find a youtube video of the LD startup, and instead I found a Classic Game Room review of the Definitive Edition LD set.

I love those guys.

 

[Gambit 1138]

I know it's a great time to shit on Lucas and the Star Wars releases

but is this still not considered promoting a type of piracy?

Star Wars is above this type of petty discussion

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Apparently I was wrong: None of the despecializeds are at 1080p.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

I haven't watched the despecialized editions, but does the 2.5 edition of New Hope still lack the Force fanfare as the rebel ships dive into the Death Star like the 2004 DVDs do?

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I haven't watched the despecialized editions, but does the 2.5 edition of New Hope still lack the Force fanfare as the rebel ships dive into the Death Star like the 2004 DVDs do?

77 Dolby Six-Track - it's there
77 Dolby Stereo - it's there
77 Mono mix - it's there (loudest version of it, too)
85 Laserdisc mix - it's there
93 Definitive Edition mix - it's there (seems to be the quietest version, next to the 2004 DVD mix, where it disappears completely)

 

[PhoncipleBone]

77 Dolby Six-Track - it's there
77 Dolby Stereo - it's there
77 Mono mix - it's there (loudest version of it, too)
85 Laserdisc mix - it's there
93 Definitive Edition mix - it's there (seems to be the quietest version, next to the 2004 DVD mix, where it disappears completely)

So which version does the Harmy version use? The omission of that cue always bothered me on the DVD.

 

[Cross-Section]

You can switch between all five mixes, I believe. There's a isolated score track included as well.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

You can switch between all five mixes, I believe. There's a isolated score track included as well.

Oh, very nice. I do need to download these at some point.

 

[threetri333]

77 Dolby Six-Track - it's there
77 Dolby Stereo - it's there
77 Mono mix - it's there (loudest version of it, too)
85 Laserdisc mix - it's there
93 Definitive Edition mix - it's there (seems to be the quietest version, next to the 2004 DVD mix, where it disappears completely)

Which is the best one?

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Which is the best one?

I guess it depends. For overall sound quality, Dolby Six-Track. But if you're going to factor nostalgia into the mix, then the answers can be different. There are differences across the mixes, lines dropped/added, effects processed differently - the kind of stuff you don't really know you've noticed before until it starts to play differently. In those instances, you might objectively KNOW that the Six Track is the best sounding mix, but you might prefer the Laserdisc mix, or if you're REALLY old (like me) you might dig the mono mix, even though it's obviously thinner and a little harsh sounding in the louder moments, although then again - they put a LOT of work into that Mono Mix because they figured that was going to be the one most people heard since most theaters didn't have a fully tricked out sound system back then.

 

[Norfair]

Someday I'll actually put the effort forward to figure out how to download these.

 

[Kvik]

Someday I'll actually put the effort forward to figure out how to download these.

Should be up on a few major private torrents (better to look for the one with freeleech since it's ~12GB approx)

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Should be up on a few major private torrents (better to look for the one with freeleech since it's ~12GB approx)

Actually, the 2.5 version of Star Wars is 18 gigs, and the 2.0 version of Empire is about 20 gigs.

 

[Kvik]

Actually, the 2.5 version of Star Wars is 18 gigs, and the 2.0 version of Empire is about 20 gigs.

Thanks, apparently my memory has failed me :-\

 

[SURGEdude]

edit: Ha, I went to see if I could find a youtube video of the LD startup, and instead I found a Classic Game Room review of the Definitive Edition LD set.

I love those guys.

That's the boxset I have. It is/was amazing. The artbook alone is worth tracking down.

 

[Auto-Reply]

Can't seem to get a hold of this, files missing there, deleted here etc.


Damn, I wish Disney would collaborate with Harmy and put this on Bluray officially.

 

[Branduil]

Can't seem to get a hold of this, files missing there, deleted here etc.


Damn, I wish Disney would collaborate with Harmy and put this on Bluray officially.

I imagine there might be legal issues with that. In any case, if they were going to release the originals, I'm sure they'd just make a digital master from the actual films.

 

[boiled goose]

Man. The return of the jedi special edition is borderline unmatchable.

The jabba palace song
The ruined sarlac pit.
Burp humor.

Why lucas why??

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I still haven't downloaded these because they're annoying to get a hold of and I'm lazy.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I still haven't downloaded these because they're annoying to get a hold of and I'm lazy.

Worth it though. I burned blurays and just bought the nice steelbooks to place them in on top of the shit editions.

 

[MBison]

Worth it though. I burned blurays and just bought the nice steelbooks to place them in on top of the shit editions.

Damn. Elite.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Worth it though. I burned blurays and just bought the nice steelbooks to place them in on top of the shit editions.

Niiice.

 

[Chuck]

Man. The return of the jedi special edition is borderline unmatchable.

The jabba palace song
The ruined sarlac pit.
Burp humor.

Why lucas why??

and, by far worst of all, removal of yub nub

 

[JeTmAn81]

I finally got this working correctly for Episode IV on my PS3 and watched it today. It still holds up and looks great in HD. You can't even tell that the Jawa sandcrawler is a model in that moving shot.

 

[Murder. She Wrote]

Just saw A New Hope despecialized and it was fantastic, thanks OP! Nothing better to get into the mood for The Force Awakens.

 

[inm8num2]

Jeremy Jahns discusses the SW Despecialized

edit: also a BTS look at the construction of the Desp versions, if not already posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXifjbxZDAM

 

[gabbo]

Just saw A New Hope despecialized and it was fantastic, thanks OP! Nothing better to get into the mood for The Force Awakens.

I wish I knew where to get a hold of these. I've looked into them before, but it's a run around to find copies online, even though they definitely look like it'd be worth it