Disc
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Star Wars Episode I, Bootleg DVD, China 2000
When starting up the disc, you're presented with a Dolby Digital "Water" trailer before the disc proceeds to the main menu. The main menu is a motion menu, playing clips from the film in the background, and a cute/annoying MIDI version of the Star Wars theme. The options are (L to R) "Surround Sound playback", "Stereo playback" and "Sound test". Pressing either of the first two takes you to the chapter menu, where you'll have to press chapter 1 to start the film. "Sound test" gives you a 40-second channel check demo. The small print on the menu says "Zhuhai Special Economic Zone Cultural Audio-Visual Publishing House" if Google Translate is to be believed.
The cover refers to the film as Episode "L". When automatic Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software is used, the roman numeral "I" is often misinterpreted as an "L".
This disc is a rip of the US Laserdisc, but the transfer has been very poorly done, retaining none of the superior image characteristics of the source. The image is letterboxed widescreen, with burnt-in Chinese subtitles in the lower letterbox band. The menu gives two playback options, one for Stereo and one for Surround sound, but the choice is moot, as the disc contains only 1 audio track (and it is slightly out of sync, unfortunately). The audio reads as Dolby Digital 5.1, but I can't confirm it is a bit-for-bit copy of the laserdisc's AC-3 track. The VOBs are dated 2000.
Like other Chinese bootlegs I've seen, this also has an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) number, which is the international identification system for sound recordings and music video recordings. I'm sure it's meant to lend an air of authenicity to the release.
Dolby Digital "Water" trailer
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Main menu
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Surround playback menu
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Stereo playback menu
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Channel check "Sound test"
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Fox fanfare
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A long time ago...
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Title card
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Crawl
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Dioxis!
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Careful, Sebulba
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Senate cameos
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No bridge
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Puppet Yoda
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End credits
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