# Anyone notice this error on the Star Wars DVD?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676 "2004-09-29T15:41:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/1 "2004-09-29T15:41:07Z")
There’s an incredibly heated debate going on right now on some home theatre forums regarding the Star Wars DVD set. Apparently, on “A New Hope”, the audio mix in the rear speakers is reversed. Let’s call the front right speakers “A” and the front left speakers “B”. Well, apparently the soundtrack (the music only, not dialogue or sfx) coming from “A” goes to the _rear_ speakers for “B”, not “A” like it should -and vice versa. What you end up with is an apparently confusing misdirection of the music, coming at you from two different sides, instead of the same side. Lucasfilm claims there is no mistake, and the changes to the audio were what they’re calling a “creative decision”. But the fact that this makes no sense, doesn’t seem to better the movie watching experience, and the fact that it only happens on “_A New Hope_” and not “_The Empire Strikes Back_” or “_Return of the Jedi_” has some folks raising an eyebrow. Audiophiles claim it ruins the movie for them , but that ‘casual’ movie watchers won’t even notice. That’s where I am curiuos. Did anyone here notice the flip-flopped music track? Did you notice somethig, but couldn’t quite put your finger on it? I haven’t watched yet, but after reading the several hundred pages on the topic over at that forum, I’m sure I’ll be listening for it now matter how hard I try to not. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/2 "2004-09-29T17:25:00Z")
> [@RumMunkey](#): > > There’s an incredibly heated debate going on right now on some home theatre forums regarding the Star Wars DVD set. > > Apparently, on “A New Hope”, the audio mix in the rear speakers is reversed. > > Let’s call the front right speakers “A” and the front left speakers “B”. Well, apparently the soundtrack (the music only, not dialogue or sfx) coming from “A” goes to the _rear_ speakers for “B”, not “A” like it should -and vice versa. > > What you end up with is an apparently confusing misdirection of the music, coming at you from two different sides, instead of the same side. > > Lucasfilm claims there is no mistake, and the changes to the audio were what they’re calling a “creative decision”. But the fact that this makes no sense, doesn’t seem to better the movie watching experience, and the fact that it only happens on “_A New Hope_” and not “_The Empire Strikes Back_” or “_Return of the Jedi_” has some folks raising an eyebrow. > > Audiophiles claim it ruins the movie for them , but that ‘casual’ movie watchers won’t even notice. That’s where I am curiuos. Did anyone here notice the flip-flopped music track? Did you notice somethig, but couldn’t quite put your finger on it? > > I haven’t watched yet, but after reading the several hundred pages on the topic over at that forum, I’m sure I’ll be listening for it now matter how hard I try to not. Geeks!!! :dubious: :smack: :wally ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/3 "2004-09-29T17:26:45Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Geeks!!! We may be Geeks, but at least we know enough not to quote the entire damn OP for a one-word reply. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/4 "2004-09-29T17:50:31Z")
Damn… I thought this would be about Han not shooting first in the Cantina scene… Whew! Must be just an ugly rumor then… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/5 "2004-09-29T19:32:39Z")
Actually that scene was re-redone so now the shots are almost the same time. I did’t notice the sound. But then again the only copy of ANH was an old non-surround sound VHS. So I can’t compare it to the DVD. Not that much dialogue should be coming from the rear speakers anyway. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/6 "2004-09-29T22:36:47Z")
> [@RumMunkey](#): > > Audiophiles claim it ruins the movie for them , but that ‘casual’ movie watchers won’t even notice. That’s because casual movie watchers generally only have 2 stereo speakers, not a surround system. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/7 "2004-09-29T23:21:56Z")
Really? I consider myself pretty casual and even I have a 5.1 surround system. I though it was pretty standard fare in today’s home entertainment unit (what with all the “Home Theatre in a Box” units available now). Oh and **Zebra** , A) there was a fully-loaded, surround sound, bell & whistle Laserdisc put out in 1997 when the “Special Editions” first came out and B) it’s only the _music_ in the rear channels that’s crossed over. The sound effects and dialogue tracks are on th ecorect side. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/8 "2004-10-05T14:56:31Z")
I heard about it just after I saw the movie and didn’t notice a thing. I think you will only notice it if you are one of those people who insist that the placement of instruments has to be the same as in a real orchestra. So, for example (as I don’t know where everybody sits in a real orchestra), the strings should be on the left and the brass-section to the right. This is now swapped. Well, boohoohoo, big frikkin’ deal. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/9 "2004-10-05T16:05:48Z")
Except that it’s only swapped in the rear speakers. I don’t care what side they put what instruments on, just do it the same on both speakers. What you end up getting (apparently, I admit my stereo didn’t make it too obvious) is a screwed up balance where you’re hearing things from front to back and side to side, like a big “X” instead of right and left. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/10 "2004-10-05T18:35:36Z")
I saw it with only front speakers, so I wouldn’t have noticed. Does this also apply to the in-scene music (dang, I can’t remember the technical term for this)? As in, the music the Cantina Band is playing is originating inside the Cantina, and so should seem to come from a particular source. Here, I thought this thread was going to be about Luke’s lightsabre turning green in some scenes, or the yellow boxes around the TIE fighters which still haven’t been edited out. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/11 "2004-10-05T18:57:23Z")
This story was “broken”, if you will, on the [John Williams fan site](http://www.jwfan.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=558&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0). [Here](http://www.jwfan.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=557)’s some write-ups and follow-ups on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/12 "2004-10-05T18:58:07Z")
So could this ‘problem’ be solved by switching where the speakers are plugged in? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-notice-this-error-on-the-star-wars-dvd/266676/13 "2004-10-05T18:59:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Here, I thought this thread was going to be about Luke’s lightsabre turning green in some scenes, or the yellow boxes around the TIE fighters which still haven’t been edited out. Re: the yellow boxes, you might find [this thread](http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/17016836/?126) interesting…