Star Wars: Different versions!
Robert Steven Glickstein
I'm the last person on earth I ever thought would have a question
about Star Wars (a movie which was, for many years, a way of life for
me [*blush*]), but I just discovered something interesting:
In the version I've seen umpteen-trillion times, Luke, Han, Chewie,
Ben, C-3PO, and R2-D2 break into the control room for the hangar where
the Millennium Falcon is being held. Artoo plugs into the computer
network and starts whistling.
C-3PO: He says he's found the main controls to the power beam
that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise
location appear on the monitor.
(Diagrams of the Death Star interior appear on the monitor while
everyone watches in silence; the tractor-beam controls are located
and light up.)
Ben: I don't think you boys can help. I must go alone.
In the version I taped from the Disney channel a few months ago
(during one of their free trial weekends), the same sequence went as
follows:
C-3PO: He says he's found the main controls to the power beam
that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise
location appear on the monitor.
(Diagrams of the Death Star interior start to appear on the
monitor. C-3PO's voice is dubbed over:)
C-3PO: The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven
locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the
ship to leave.
(The tractor beam controls are located and light up.)
Ben: I don't think you boys can help. I must go alone.
I'd heard the extra line spoken by Threepio before; it was a line from
the original footage that was edited out before the film was released.
The line was included, however, in the LP, "The Story of Star Wars" (a
compilation of music, sound effects, dialogue, and narration to
recreate the Star Wars experience at home in the days before videotape
rentals). I believe this extra line also appeared in the novel and
the commercially-sold screenplay (in "The Art of Star Wars").
My question is, why did the version broadcast by Disney include this
extra line? Commercial videotape versions of the film do not include
it. Theatrical releases do not include it. Commercial and pay-TV
broadcasts, with the exception of Disney, do not include it. (All of
these assertions are made with 100% confidence within the limits of my
experience.) Where did Disney get their copy? Why did Disney get a
non-standard copy? Where are other non-standard versions of Star Wars
floating around, and why?
By the way, several years ago I encountered yet another differing
version of Star Wars. It was a 16mm print that was shown to students
on our campus. In it, Aunt Beru's voice was redubbed by a different
actress, as was a line spoken by a stormtrooper. Why would anyone
have redubbed those lines? (Incidentally, I found a similar
alteration in a 16mm copy of "Raiders of the Lost Ark.")
Thanks in advance. As you can probably imagine, this is all very
upsetting to me :-)
______________ _____________________________
Bob Glickstein | Internet: bo...@andrew.cmu.edu
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Ben Ragunton
>I'd heard the extra line before by Threepio before; it was a line from the
>original footage that was edited out before the film was released.
Au contraire mon frere. I saw the movie plenty of times at our local
theater, and that dialogue was in the print that I saw. However, when I went
to San Francisco to see it in a theater with EXTREMELEY SOPHSTICATED sound
system, that dialogue was removed, and the voice of Aunt Beru was different.
I also noticed a change in the "alien sounds" from the cantina sequence. The
only thing that I can figure is that there is more than one soundtrack to
this film(No. Really?). As to why, I have no idea.
Ben "Obi-Wan" Ragunton
Bob Niland
A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave."
> My question is, why did the version broadcast by Disney include this
> extra line? Commercial videotape versions of the film do not include
> it. Theatrical releases do not include it. Commercial and pay-TV
> broadcasts, with the exception of Disney, do not include it.
The recent widescreen laserdisc release (CBS/Fox 1130-85) does include it.
Regards, Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland Internet: r...@hpfcrjn.FC.HP.COM 3404 East Harmony Road
UUCP: [hplabs|hpfcse]!hpfcrjn!rjn Ft Collins CO 80525-9599
Michael A. Green
>
> C-3PO: The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven
> locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the
> ship to leave.
>
I used to have a copy of this when it was broadcast on UK TV. The above line
was included. It is also in the video version here (I think - I don't have a
video at the moment so I cannot check).
I am also pretty sure it was in the version shown in our Univ theatre (yep
we had shows of SW followed by TESB, and later shows of SW, TESB, TROTJ -
great fun)
Anyone else int the UK looked at the video version lately?
--Mike
--
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David B. Knight
>
> (Diagrams of the Death Star interior start to appear on the
> monitor. C-3PO's voice is dubbed over:)
>
> C-3PO: The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven
> locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the
> ship to leave.
>
I have a copy of the letterboxed CLV CBS/FOX laserdisc release of Star Wars,
and the above "dub" is indeed present. As for whether or not this was added
since the video release, you would know better than I. Hope this helps...
Dave Knight
dkn...@elm.sdd.trw.com
Cisco's Buddy
[descriptions of alternate versions of a scene in STAR WARS deleted]
} I'd heard the extra line spoken by Threepio before; it was a line from
} the original footage that was edited out before the film was released.
} The line was included, however, in the LP, "The Story of Star Wars" (a
} compilation of music, sound effects, dialogue, and narration to recreate
} the Star Wars experience at home in the days before videotape rentals).
} I believe this extra line also appeared in the novel and the
} commercially-sold screenplay (in "The Art of Star Wars").
} My question is, why did the version broadcast by Disney include this
} extra line? Commercial videotape versions of the film do not include
} it. Theatrical releases do not include it. Commercial and pay-TV
} broadcasts, with the exception of Disney, do not include it. (All of
} these assertions are made with 100% confidence within the limits of my
} experience.) Where did Disney get their copy? Why did Disney get a
} non-standard copy? Where are other non-standard versions of Star Wars
} floating around, and why?
First, this line *was* in theatrical releases. I'd seen the film a number
of times in Boston during its first month of release (when it's showing
was restricted only to the Charles in Boston). A month after the initial
release, when it spread to the burbs, I went to various other theaters
to see it another large number of times. This wider release print contained
the change that you noted. It also contained about three or four other
minor changes in dialogue.
I haven't watched STAR WARS on tv, either network or cable, though I've
watched it on videotape and disc. The videotape, as you say, does not have
that little speech by C3PO, but the newer, letterboxed laserdisc *does*
have it (whether the pan-and-scan disc has it, I don't know).
--
"When a man is tired of Shakespeare, he is tired of literature;
for there is in Shakespeare all that literature can afford."
--- Pamela Dean (after Johnson)
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Jann VanOver
repeating it, but I am an EXTREME Star wars fan. There WERE two sound
tracks, the dolby version had many differences. A few I remember -
1) as Luke and Leia stumble onto the platform from which they must swing
to the other side , the Dolby soundtrack has a distinct echo. "I think
we took a wrong turn urn urn urn urn urn"
2) Running through the Death Star, stormtroopers right behind them,
the stormtroopers say "Close the Blast Doors, Close the Blast Doors",
then as our heros escape through it, the stormtroopers say "Open the
Blast Doors, Open the Blast Doors". The latter line was not in the
Dolby sound track.
3) Luke's Aunt and Uncle, talking about him in the kitchen (what was
that gray liquid, robot's milk?), the non-Dolby track is poorly dubbed.
I think the script is the same, though.
Tod Fontana
to read the computer, but it was a power socket instead. He got shocked, then
woozily plugged into the right socket.
I think this was not in later versions of the movie that I saw....
Ben Ragunton
>the stormtroopers say "Close the Blast Doors, Close the Blast Doors",
>Blast Doors, Open the Blast Doors". The latter line was not in the Dolby
>sound track.
I remember both lines in the movie when I saw it in the theater. I thought
it was one of the funniest moments in the flick. However, when I bought the
movie on videotape, it's the *former* line(Close the blast doors)that's
omitted from the soundtrack. Curiouser and curiouser......
Ben "Quizmaster" Ragunton
"God, I liked him better before he died!" - McCoy
John R Blaker
always differences between the 70mm and 35mm versions of a file due to
differing reel lengths (or something). What shows up on tape or disc
depends on which type print was used for the original. There are often
slight differences in running time as well.
John R Blaker
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Beth Griese
>Apropos of all this different version stuff, if I am not mistaken there are
>always differences between the 70mm and 35mm versions of a file due to
>differing reel lengths (or something). What shows up on tape or disc
>depends on which type print was used for the original. There are often
>slight differences in running time as well.
both a 35 mm and 70 mm print of Indy and the Last Crusade at the same
time-- there's no difference between a 35mm print and 70 mm print
(physically) except one's twice as wide as the other and has magentic
sound instead of optical. There's no difference in reel length or
running time. (In fact, most 70mm these days are just 35mm blown up to twice the size.)
-=-
Beth Griese-- journalist at large | "My kingdom for a quiet movie theater
(or at least for hire) | or a loud dance floor."
|
--Columbus, OH (Ohio State University alumnus-Go Bucks!)