Using the same transfer as the previous movie-only release from January 1998, the new DVD improves on that due to the loss of the pan and scan version. That loss allows the new anamorphic widescreen DVD to spread out over two layers instead of cramming the whole two-hour plus film onto one. This improves the overall sharpness and decreases some of the compression artifacts that showed up on that older release. For a 1979 film, I was amazed at how great this picture looks. The colors are rock solid and natural looking bringing out vibrant blues and reds without problems.
Blacks are pure and deep with excellent contrast in the detail.
The print used for the transfer was exceptionally clean and really shocked me. I only noticed the very rare pixel break up and stair-stepping artifacts. This picture really looks great for being over 20 years old. The audio for the original release also got a makeover and contrary to the packaging, which states English Stereo Surround, the remastered 5.1 track is here. Presumably released in 1979 in 70mm with six-track magnetic sound, this soundtrack sounds to be a variation of that with the surrounds split.