Yes, the mono mix is there, thank the Maker...

Agreed. It's not just that the "Dinosaur Roar" is missing from the 5.1 remix, but most of the original car and truck engine sounds have been inexplicably replaced by 'new' effects recorded from modern automobiles and semis.

Considering how essential to the soundtrack these sounds were, I simply cannot get through this film listening to it in DD or DTS. The new sound effects take me COMPLETELY out of the movie--more than any other have in any DVD before or since.

Plus some V.O. dialogue is left out of all mixes, but that's another story.

I wonder what will happen when Universal gets around to releasing Duel and Jaws on HD-dvd?

It would sure suck greatly if only the remixes were included on them when/if released.


This is another reason why I'm not that upset about not being region free/PAL capable. Since plenty of international releases of films like Duel, The Terminator and numerous others only contain the remix!

Universal learned their lesson on Jaws so hopefully the mono track of that one will live on in HD DVD. I passed on Duel so I'm not sure about that one.

It still frustrates me that people fight so hard for high quality video and proper aspect ratio, but let the studios slide on bad 5.1 remixes.

The Abyss. The laserdisc's prologic track sounded WAY better. That film is long overdue for an anamorphic transfer anyway, so maybe they'll fix the audio, too, whenever they do that.

I second that the Suspiria remix is quite good, BTW. No problem for me, and I've loved that film for years.

Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home were the two to which I was mainly referring. Thinking about it, Undiscovered Country was not bad at all. Search for Spock had some good moments, but I found it to be a little uneven; some parts were weaker than others. I won't touch Motion Picture or Final Frontier, though.

but for the Duel hddvd version, wouldn't it be full frame? also, jaws still needs a cleaner transfer

I don't think that's true with New Line.

Their 5.1 mix on the original Nightmare was amazing, IMO.

There is no rule that HD DVDs have to be widescreen. They can easily pillarbox it for HD release.

Any DVD release of John Woo's THE KILLER with dd 5.1 (mainly non-region 1 dvds)

A-ha! Ever since I created this thread, I just knew there was another 5.1 remix that was shite but I couldn't recall it until today--turns out, it is an awful remix in its English 2.0, DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 forms: TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME. The bar scene over the Canadian border was intentionally designed for the music to drown out the dialogue to the point of incomprehension, as it often does in real-world clubs and bars with loud music. To that end, the scene incorporates burned-in subtitles for the squashed dialogue. However, on all the English remixes for the film, the dialogue is pumped up to a clear, easily understood level, ruining the original soundscape for the scene, and its innovative verisimilitude, as well as making the subtitles useless, irritating and silly. I greatly hope New Line reissues this title in the near future as an audio-corrected Platinum Series release...

Grease

Apparently the sound of everyone's stomping feet is an important feature in nearly every music number. It's absolutely dreadful on "Beauty School Drop-Out".

And who's bright idea was it to remove the car-honks on "Sandy"?

David Lynch personally mixed that 5.1 track for DVD in the mixing studio in his own home. That's the way he wants it to sound now. That's the way it's going to be.

The remixed audio track on the 10th anniversary edition of "Reservoir Dogs" inexlicably dropped several lines of dialogue.

Aliens was quite underwhelming. I'm not sure if it was a remix, but I was rather unimpressed with it. The .1 was weak, and the overall channel separation left much to be desired. Alien sounded much better, actually, and it's an older flick.

Standard VHS tapes were not 5.1 digital sound encoded, only the limited D-VHS, D Theater format. Hellbound: Hellraiser was never released.

If you meant The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen, I must admit, the 6.1 surround was an improvement, over the Special Edition 5.1 remix.

I'm well aware of that, but it doesn't change the fact that a) it substantially alters the original soundscape, b) is less "true to life" and c) makes the retained subtitles superfluous; additionally, it leaves room for theories that some mastering error was made after Lynch's sign-off of the final audio mix (similar to the appearance of edge enhancement on the Superbit release of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA after Robert Harris had signed off on a completely unenhanced remaster), since the French audio on the same DVD retains the original theatrical effect. I, for one, will not be 1/2 satisfied until I actually read in print or see/hear in an interview David Lynch himself, after the DVD's release, state the audio is exactly how he wants it; assuming that's true, I won't be 3/4 satisfied until he removes the now-unnecessary burned-in subtitles and I won't be 100% satisfied until he admits the error of his ways and gives us the original theatrical audio back...

To be fair, ALIEN's audio was given a complete modern remastering for the 2003 director's cut; the 5.1 remix for ALIENS was probably based on the one made for the early '90s LaserDisc release.

Simitar's 5.1 tracks for their Godzilla catalog were pretty bad, but they were actually surpassed in crappiness by Classic Media's 5.1 tracks.

Here's hoping CM does a much better job this time around...

No kidding. For them to call that a 5.1 mix is something of a joke. That's the only movie I've ever had to actually take it out of Dolby Digital to listen to it.

if you were interested in this, the hkl region 2 version has a 5.1 track, and has a cleaned up transfer without all of the specs on the screen. and the region 2 tartan version of hard boiled also has 5.1 and dts. Now if they're remixed or glorified mono tracks, i don't know.

The original Highlander DVD was the worst mix I ever heard. Don't know if the newer disc is better though.