So I have both versions of the THX release of Alien. The American Alien (1979) [8760-85] pressed by Kuraray and the Japanese Alien (1979) [PILF-2171] pressed by Pioneer JP. Both versions use the same 70mm “Sensurround” AC3 track, because both versions have the same incorrect sound cues during the Nostromo landing, as well as different/missing dialogue such as “Kane’s son,” etc.

The American Kuraray version has absolutely insane bass. It’s actually unreal at the destruction it causes. While on the Japanese disc, the bass is almost completely missing. Even though it’s the same 70mm mix. Can anyone shed some light on what happened with the Japanese version? It’s unfortunate, because the Japanese disc has a slightly better picture quality and if the sound was identical to the American disc, it would have been the ultimate Alien laserdisc.

I would like to clarify that I’m comparing and using only the digital stereo (Dolby Surround) track on both laserdiscs. I do not have a setup for AC3 so have not compared those tracks. But can confirm that the digital stereo track of both laserdiscs comes from the 70mm Sensurround mix, due to the specific music cues and lines of dialog which are particular to that mix. The only difference being that the U.S. digital stereo track has insane bass, while the JP digital stereo track practically has zero bass. A mystery...

Hello!

I'm not sure if you will get a lot of traction because it would mean someone has the exact same pair of edition of this release and able to test it right now.

What you could do, since these are the Digital Tracks and can easily be acquired via a soundboard, would be to do a spectrum analysis of both and see if any filter has been applied to the Japanese edition.

That would be a quest similar to: Tell me the whole story about JP's original mix, dad!

Julien

I'm really amazed that if this did have the same soundtrack Disclord didn't post the info.
How are you sure that it is the same soundtrack other than the sound cues.

The Japanese recording industry didn’t discover bass until the mid 90s. I know this sounds stupid but it’s true. When you listen to domestic pop music recordings from before...let’s say the formation of the band Globe, the bass is so thin it’s basically not there. Everything is tinny and weak. Kick drums sound like taps. Everything Japanese from the 80s is mastered for those crappy orange foam headphones that used to come with the Walkman. I can’t think of any example of foreign stuff being ruined for the JDM market though.

I’m honestly very surprised it isn’t the same mix.

Because both the U.S. digital stereo track and the JP digital stereo track have these changes (I copied the text from another forum), which are exclusive to the 70mm Sensurround mix:

Jerry Goldsmith's score on the title sequence and opening is a little bit different, pay attention when we first enter the corridors of the ship, the 35mm is scored right away.
What appears to be a distant horn emanating from Nostromo when we first see the ship is absent.
Dallas line "Good morning, Mother." is an alternate take.
Kane's line "Roll 92 degrees port yaw." is absent.
Lambert has an additional line of dialogue heard when they prepare to land on the planet, "900 meters and dropping." (subtitled on the 20th anniversary DVD)
From the moment when Nostromo is approaching the planet until they enter the atmosphere, the sound editing is very rough with a few alternate cues heard. (Deep bass from the engines)
Right before the Space Jockey scene, Kane's lines "Come on down here. Something different down here..." are absent.
When the crew discusses Brett's death, Ash's response "Kane's son." is absent.

Yes I understand changes but those are only special to the 70mm soundtrack??
And does that mean that they have both been remastered or are the same soundtrack???

You do know that you can get a soundtrack and even made it mono, right?

I don't own either of these nor do I own an AC3 decoder-demodulator anylonger but just trying to understand how you can say they
are the same.

Was hoping that there was some type of info written on the Japanese release.
Anyway good luck with this, interesting to say the least.

Thanks also zeta for the info on the bass, didn't know Japanese did such a thing, but then again if they are trying to
emu vinyl then that's the way to do it.

I believe he’s saying that the AC-3 is based on the same six track theatrical mix. However since that mix had to be translated to Dolby Digital that means it’s now been remastered so at that point it’s possible to change things. Or, possibly more likely accidentally screw things up. Perhaps the JP pressing is just defective? Mistakes like this have been made before.

The stereo tracks usually being based on the new AC-3...