THX Cavalcade Trailer Aspect Ratio Comparison
3Trailer: In a darkly-lit environment, we zoom in toward a glassy light blue sphere, which has clouds rolling and lightning flickering. As the environment illuminates, we see that the sphere is barely hovering over a textured blue floor. Suddenly, the sphere shatters, and the sky is revealed to contain several rolling gray clouds. The glass then liquefies and gathers in the center. Some lightning strikes it and forms a silver THX logo. If you look closely while the logo forms, you can see rain pouring down. Then, the environment fades to black as "LUCASFILM", spaced out to fit the width of the THX logo, fades in on top of it and a shimmering blue rectangle (the same one from "Broadway") is drawn clockwise around the logo (like a laser). The logo fades out as the text "Digitally Mastered for Optimal Audio and Video Performance" (à la Broadway) fades in.
Variants:
In late 2005, the "LUCASFILM" text was removed due to the 2002 split from Lucasfilm as mentioned above. A www.thx.com web address and copyright info now appear at the end of the trailer in place of the Digitally Mastered message. The Lucasfilm Ltd. variant is still used on DVDs until July of 2006
For the scope version of this trailer, the glass pieces look more stretched out.
A version of this trailer exists, where the screen is more wider. This variant can only be found on the 2003 DVD release of Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets, the 2004 DVD release of THX 1138, and the 2005 DVD release of Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume 1.
Music/Sounds: First, we hear the sounds of rainfall, and then thunderclaps/electric shocking sounds, followed by glass shattering, then the Deep Note. A laser-like sound is heard as the rectangle is formed.
Music/Sounds Trivia:
The sound of the thunderclap heard before the pieces turn into liquid is the same one that was heard from the Dolby "City" trailer.
Also, if you listen closely just as the Deep Note starts playing up to when the logo is formed, you can almost hear the Deep Note used in the "Broadway 2000" trailer being mixed together, meaning that this version of it was originally going to be included in this trailer, similar to the Terminator 2 variant.
Music/Sounds Variants:
In the T2 variant, music from Terminator 2 is heard which fades into the Deep Note used in Broadway 2000; the sound design and mix are by Gary Rydstrom at Skywalker Sound according to the credits of the T2 Ultimate Edition DVD.
There is a higher-pitched variant of both versions usually for PAL prints.
Availability: Common. The T2 version was first seen on the Terminator 2: Judgment Day "Ultimate Edition" DVD, released on August 29, 2000, with the regular version appearing in most THX-certified theaters starting on May 25, 2001 with Pearl Harbor. Seen on several THX DVDs, such as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, The first four Harry Potter films (Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets, Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban, and Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire.), Alien Quadrilogy, From Hell, Home Alone (2003 DVD release), Re-Animator, La Mentale, 36th Precinct (36 Quai des Orfèvres), The Incredibles, Bayside Shakedown 2, THX 1138 (fittingly enough), the 2004 Star Wars Trilogy DVD set, and X-Men 1.5; in THX-certified theaters, and on the video games NBA 09: The Inside, MLB 08: The Show, and MLB 09: The Show. It's also the intro to the menu of The THX Ultimate Demo Disc. The final appearance of the Lucasfilm byline variant was Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire, released on March 10, 2006, and the remastered variant with the THX website URL but no Lucasfilm byline appears on the French DVD releases of Ghost Rider and L'Ennemi Intime, as well as most THX certified DVDs released by Wild Side Video, and even the HD DVD release of Pan's Labyrinth (Le Labyrinthe de Pan). This trailer does not appear on the Australian DVD release of Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire as it uses the Science Of Sensation trailer instead.
Note 1: This is the comparison for one of my favorite THX trailers.
Note 2: Fuck! Had to say it to keep the comments.