Disc Version 1
|
Disc Version 2
|
Return of the Jedi Special Edition, DVD, Bootleg, Dish Emperor/"Look" version, China 2000
These versions were among the first bootlegs that started to appear in 2000. The source for these DVDs were the 1997 US laserdiscs of the special editions. Laserdisc was the High-end video format of the day, and using them as a source meant these DVDs were superior to VHS but not comparable to a properly mastered DVD.
This disc does not have a menu of any kind. Before the movie starts, the Dolby Digital "Canyon" trailer is played. The movie is letterboxed widescreen, but not anamorphically enhanced. The Chinese subtitles are burnt-in and contained within the lower letterbox band. For the parts with alien subtitled languages, the Chinese subtitles are just superimposed over the English subs. The only audio on the disc is a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, but I can't confirm that it is a bit-for-bit rip from the Laserdisc source.
The disc has a mastering error, found on all three copies I have of this release. The .VOB-file for the opening Dolby Digital trailer has something wrong with its time code, so the file causes a read error in DVD-ROM drives. Regular DVD players ignore the fault and skips to the film like it should.
I have several copies of these bootlegs, and I've seen two variants of the disc art. One has nice, saturated printing, but leaves out artwork at the centre, and the other has washed out colours, but goes all the way to the spindle hole. I've checked, and the files are exactly the same date and size on both versions, so this is an insignificant variation.
This set came from Hong Kong in a flat envelope with just the discs and the artwork (You can see the fold along the spine on the insert). You had to provide the actual case yourself. This was standard practice for bootleg sellers. Note that they just copied the credits from VanDamme's Maximum Risk. Who would notice? No pride in their work...
If you were a bootlegger, Star Wars was a goldmine in the early 2000s. Lucasfilm's reluctance to release these films on DVD meant that numerous Star Wars fans paid up to $100 for a set of the trilogy. (Guilty as charged.)
From the artwork of these releases, they have been nicknamed the "Dish Emperor" versions. However, the actual content of the discs is identical to many other bootlegs. They were released with many cover variations, most of them using the John Alvin artwork you see here.
Dolby Digital "Canyon" trailer
|
Fox fanfare
|
A long time ago...
|
Title card
|
Opening crawl
|
Star Destroyer
|
Jedi rocks
|
Jabba subtitles
|
Obi Wan
|
Shuttle landing
|
Emperor's slug
|
Duel
|
Praxis effect
|
Coruscant celebration
|
End credits
|
End credits
|
