In all the hype over the DVD release of Star Wars, I''m afraid to say there''s a bit of bad news about the discs (or at least one of them) from a quality standpoint. We''ve discovered what we believe are serious audio defects on Episode IV - A New Hope. We''ve u p d a t ed our DVD review of the set accordingly with the details as follows:
[Editor''s Note: since we initially wrote this review, we''ve detected a number of audio/mixing errors on the DVD version of A New Hope. They are as follows:
1) The familiar Force theme trumpet fanfare that used to play right after Red Leader says: "This is it!" and just as the X-wings start diving towards the Death Star''s surface has been dialed back in volume so that it''s almost inaudible - it''s almost completely buried in the surround mix.
2) The audio quality varies wildly as Tarkin says the line: "You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system." - almost as if the master sound element was damaged. It''s very distracting.
3) Possibly most critically, John Williams'' entire score for the film has been flipped in the rear channels, so that what should be the left rear channel is playing from the right rear channel (and vise versa). What this means is that the rear channels don''t match the front channels - instruments heard from the front right channel come from the left rear instead of the right rear. Again, this is very distracting once you notice it.
These problems are certainly severe enough in our opinion to merit a repressing/exchange of the disc. We''re waiting to hear back from Lucasfilm on this issue and we''ll u p d a t e this review with the details as soon as we do.]
卢卡斯电影公司对这些问题的官方回复
"We are always impressed with how closely fans listen to the many different sound mixes we have made for the Star Wars movies over the years. It is flattering to know that, indeed, the audience is listening. Consequently, each mix comes out differently and any changes that you hear on the all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX tracks on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set are deliberate creative decisions. We can confirm that there are no technical glitches as reported."
但是玩家对此回复不甚满意
Dialing down the trumpet fanfare during the Death Star attack... okay, I can see that could be a creative decision. But the strange audio quality shift of Tarkin''s line and the surrounds issue - I don''t really buy that those are creative decisions. Judging by the e-mails we''re getting, we''re certainly not the only ones to have noticed these things. We''re going to dig into this further and see what we come up with.
