Balance of Terror - Are they phasers?

[Captain Robert April]

And I knew a guy who swore up and down that when Star Wars was released in '77, it had "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" at the top of the crawl. He was still dead wrong.

Sorry, but when it was running in syndication in the 70's, there was no sound in those battle sequences, other than the music. That came later with the first remasterings.

 

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[MarsWeeps]

And I knew a guy who swore up and down that when Star Wars was released in '77, it had "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" at the top of the crawl. He was still dead wrong.

Well, it did say "Episode IV" ...I don't remember "A New Hope" being on it.

Sorry, but when it was running in syndication in the 70's, there was no sound in those battle sequences, other than the music. That came later with the first remasterings.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Tomalak]

CoveTom, et al:

My very early Columbia House VHS of "Balance of Terror" arrived in the mail today. (I think this was the very first VHS version released.)

It turns out the classic "photon torpedo" sound does *not* accompany either the firing of or the detonation of the "proximity blast" phasers; it's just music--as a lot of people seem to have correctly recollected.

It looks like the "photon torpedo" sound was added later--either starting with a *later* version of the VHS tapes (before the DVDs came out--which seems unlikely) or starting with the earliest "two-episodes per disc" DVDs--which seems more likely). And, if it did start with the old DVDs, they might well have made VHS tapes for a while using the same "cleaned up and altered slightly" versions of the episodes that were put onto the DVD--before they phased out making the VHS tapes altogether.

TOS was remastered for a VHS re-release (and possibly reruns in the States) in the late nineties - perhaps for the 30th anniversary in 1996. I think that was the release that had the short interviews with the cast before each episode.

I think it was these versions that were used on the initial two-episode DVDs. Presumably the sound effect was added in the nineties.

Edit - Here's the Memory Alpha link.

It suggests the remaster was originally for the Japanese laserdiscs...

 

[Captain Robert April]

And I knew a guy who swore up and down that when Star Wars was released in '77, it had "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" at the top of the crawl. He was still dead wrong.

Well, it did say "Episode IV" ...I don't remember "A New Hope" being on it.

Um, no, it didn't.

 

[MarsWeeps]

And I knew a guy who swore up and down that when Star Wars was released in '77, it had "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" at the top of the crawl. He was still dead wrong.

Well, it did say "Episode IV" ...I don't remember "A New Hope" being on it.

Um, no, it didn't.

I'm not sure what that is supposed to prove. I saw Star Wars twice when it first came out 30 some years ago. Once in a theater, once several weeks later at a drive in theater.

I'm fairly certain that I saw the "Episode IV" thing because I remember everyone asking about it and even reading an article about it which stated that prequels were planned.

But, that was 30 some years ago so I can't offer proof, just what I thought I remembered.

 

[Captain Robert April]

It proves that childhood memory is not exactly a reliable source.

The "Episode IV" wasn't added until the early 80's rerelease, after The Empire Strikes Back came out with its "Episode V" moniker, which started the discussion in the first place.

 

[MarsWeeps]

The "Episode IV" wasn't added until the early 80's rerelease, after The Empire Strikes Back came out with its "Episode V" moniker, which started the discussion in the first place.

According to IMDB, it was added a year after the initial release, in 1978.

"Upon its original release, the opening crawl did not include "Episode IV: A New Hope." According to Lucasfilm, this was added upon its re-release in 1978."

I'll just chalk up my memory to an alternate time line.

 

[Captain Robert April]

This whole thing was pretty well documented at the time, and the "Episode IV" didn't show up until after Empire had come out with its "Episode V".

From Star Wars opening crawl - Wikipedia:
Episode IV opening crawl

When originally released in 1977, the first film was simply titled Star Wars, as 20th Century Fox forbade Lucas to use a subtitle because it could be confusing, since there had been no other Star Wars movies prior to 1977.[1][4] In addition, it was not certain if the film would be followed with a sequel. When The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980, the subtitle "Episode V" appeared above the title card. To match its sequel's crawl, the subtitle "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" was added for the 1981 re-release of the film where it continued to appear throughout the film's home video releases. The original version, without the subtitle, was not released again until the 2006 limited edition DVDs.
[edit] References

1. ^ a b c d Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD commentary
2. ^ Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary
3. ^ Pearlman, Cindy (May 15, 2005). The Force. Chicago Sun-Times.
4. ^ a b Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope DVD commentary

BTW, a correction to that imdb.com entry is now pending.

 

[Warped9]

Sorry, but when it was running in syndication in the 70's, there was no sound in those battle sequences, other than the music. That came later with the first remasterings.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I guess we'll just have to agree that you're in error. The original broadcast and subsequent reruns in syndication had no sound during the phaser bursts in "Balance Of Terror." And the first VHS copies I saw also had no sound yet added.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'm not sure what that is supposed to prove. I saw Star Wars twice when it first came out 30 some years ago. Once in a theater, once several weeks later at a drive in theater.

I'm fairly certain that I saw the "Episode IV" thing because I remember everyone asking about it and even reading an article about it which stated that prequels were planned.

Nope.

Saw it opening night in 1977 and I don't know how many times during its first run. No episode number, no title. It was Star Wars.

 

[nightwind1]

Well, it did say "Episode IV" ...I don't remember "A New Hope" being on it.

Um, no, it didn't.

I'm not sure what that is supposed to prove. I saw Star Wars twice when it first came out 30 some years ago. Once in a theater, once several weeks later at a drive in theater.

I'm fairly certain that I saw the "Episode IV" thing because I remember everyone asking about it and even reading an article about it which stated that prequels were planned.

But, that was 30 some years ago so I can't offer proof, just what I thought I remembered.

I was 16 when I saw Star Wars three days after it opened. There was NO Episode IV.

 

[Tomalak]

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I guess we'll just have to agree that you're in error. The original broadcast and subsequent reruns in syndication had no sound during the phaser bursts in "Balance Of Terror." And the first VHS copies I saw also had no sound yet added.

Like I said, it must have been introduced in the 1996 VHS remasters.

 

[I Grok Spock]

Um, no, it didn't.

I'm not sure what that is supposed to prove. I saw Star Wars twice when it first came out 30 some years ago. Once in a theater, once several weeks later at a drive in theater.

I'm fairly certain that I saw the "Episode IV" thing because I remember everyone asking about it and even reading an article about it which stated that prequels were planned.

But, that was 30 some years ago so I can't offer proof, just what I thought I remembered.

I was 16 when I saw Star Wars three days after it opened. There was NO Episode IV.

Affirmative. No "Episode IV: A New Hope" added until 1981 re-release.