3 ms·

> I've deliberately sought the DVD edition of the unaltered original trilogy The best you are likely to find is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmy%27s_Despeci

> I've deliberately sought the DVD edition of the unaltered original trilogy The best you are likely to find is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmy%27s_Despecialized_Edition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmy%27s_Despecialized_Editio... – I don't think the unaltered editions were ever released on DVD or BluRay at all, just VHS and LaserDisc.

gsich 4y ago
4k77 also exists. No they were released in the 2006 DVD set, quality is very poor though.
- dspillett 4y ago
  When I tried those I found the brightness and colour balance odd in places. I'm told this is because they are optimised to look as close as possible to how they would in a cinema in 1977 (hence the name) so are optimised for viewing via a projector not an LCD TV.
benj111 4y ago
I've got them (well my brother stole them) sold along with the rerelease so 6 discs total. Digitally remastered but otherwise the cinema release
- jonhohle 4y ago
  They are (unfortunately) not remastered. They are 480i letterboxed scans of an earlier LaserDisc release.
ycombobreaker 4y ago
There's a DVD "limited edition" of the trilogy that is 2 discs each, and the "extras" disc has either the original or laserdisc edit. This is good. The downside is that the black levels and audio are obviously dated/untouched. There's just no market for "remastering" without the content changes.
jonhohle 4y ago
There was a single run that included the THX LaserDisc version of the original Trilogy on DVD. I own it specifically because it included the original release and it’s the version I shown my kids. https://comic-cons.xyz/star-wars-original-trilogy-unaltered-dvd/ https://comic-cons.xyz/star-wars-original-trilogy-unaltered-... At the time the excuse was that there were no longer any masters for the original trilogy to rescan for rerelease, so the LaserDisc version was the best that could be done.
- philistine 4y ago
  No! For purists, those DVD releases don't cut it because they messed with the sound mix and the releases are not in the original frame format. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_changes_in_Star_Wars_re-releases#2006_DVD_release https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_changes_in_Star_War... Their video quality is also terrible, even for DVD, being derived from a scan made for a Laserdisc release.
  - jonhohle 4y ago
    When TVs were 4:3 and media playback was sending signals to control an electron gun, letterboxing was how you presented a 2.39:1 panavision feature. You’re screwed on resolution, but the framing is correct. HandBrake and other tools recognize and crop the matte giving you back a video in the correct aspect ratio (albeit still interlaced). Edit: With the exception of getting LaserDisc releases of various vintages, the DVD release is the best, most accessible (excluding rarity) home video release of the original, unedited trilogy. They are not the highest quality, no doubt, but they are the best that was released. It could be argued that the despecialized editions are better for this reason or that, I personally consider them an incredible novelty, rather than a reference release.
vehemenz 4y ago
There are DVD rips of each LaserDisc, not sure if that torrent is still in circulation, but the video quality isn't as good as Harmy's.

gsich 4y ago

4k77 also exists. No they were released in the 2006 DVD set, quality is very poor though.

dspillett 4y ago
When I tried those I found the brightness and colour balance odd in places. I'm told this is because they are optimised to look as close as possible to how they would in a cinema in 1977 (hence the name) so are optimised for viewing via a projector not an LCD TV.

benj111 4y ago

I've got them (well my brother stole them) sold along with the rerelease so 6 discs total. Digitally remastered but otherwise the cinema release

jonhohle 4y ago
They are (unfortunately) not remastered. They are 480i letterboxed scans of an earlier LaserDisc release.

ycombobreaker 4y ago

There's a DVD "limited edition" of the trilogy that is 2 discs each, and the "extras" disc has either the original or laserdisc edit. This is good. The downside is that the black levels and audio are obviously dated/untouched. There's just no market for "remastering" without the content changes.

jonhohle 4y ago

There was a single run that included the THX LaserDisc version of the original Trilogy on DVD. I own it specifically because it included the original release and it’s the version I shown my kids. https://comic-cons.xyz/star-wars-original-trilogy-unaltered-dvd/ https://comic-cons.xyz/star-wars-original-trilogy-unaltered-... At the time the excuse was that there were no longer any masters for the original trilogy to rescan for rerelease, so the LaserDisc version was the best that could be done.

philistine 4y ago
No! For purists, those DVD releases don't cut it because they messed with the sound mix and the releases are not in the original frame format. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_changes_in_Star_Wars_re-releases#2006_DVD_release https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_changes_in_Star_War... Their video quality is also terrible, even for DVD, being derived from a scan made for a Laserdisc release.
- jonhohle 4y ago
  When TVs were 4:3 and media playback was sending signals to control an electron gun, letterboxing was how you presented a 2.39:1 panavision feature. You’re screwed on resolution, but the framing is correct. HandBrake and other tools recognize and crop the matte giving you back a video in the correct aspect ratio (albeit still interlaced). Edit: With the exception of getting LaserDisc releases of various vintages, the DVD release is the best, most accessible (excluding rarity) home video release of the original, unedited trilogy. They are not the highest quality, no doubt, but they are the best that was released. It could be argued that the despecialized editions are better for this reason or that, I personally consider them an incredible novelty, rather than a reference release.

vehemenz 4y ago

There are DVD rips of each LaserDisc, not sure if that torrent is still in circulation, but the video quality isn't as good as Harmy's.