0ur opinion:Description:Disc 1: *Star Wars: A New Hope lV *Feature Film: Star Wars: A New Hope lV *Commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
Disc 2: *The Empire Strikes Back V *Feature Film: The Empire Strikes Back V *Commentary by George Lucas, lrvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
Disc 3: *Return of the Jedi Vl *Feature Film: Return of the Jedi Vl *Commentary by George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
Disc 4: *Bonus Disc includes the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced on the Star Wars saga *Never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films, and much more
essential video:Was George Lucas's
Star Wars Trilogy, the most anticipated DVD release ever, worth the wait? You bet. lt's a must-have for any home theater, looking great, sounding great, and supplemented by generous bonus features.
The Movies The
Star Wars Trilogy had the rare distinction of becoming a cultural phenomenon, a defining event for its generation. 0n its surface, George Lucas's story is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one can count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by its basic struggle of good vs. evil 'a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,' its dazzling special effects, and a mythology of Jedi knights, the Force, and droids. 0ver the course of three films--
A New Hope (1977),
The Empire Strikes Back (198O), and
Return of the Jedi (1983)--Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join the Rebel alliance in a galactic war against the Empire, the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), and eventually the all-powerful Emperor (lan McDiarmid).
Empire is generally considered the best of the films and
Jedi the most uneven, but all three are vastly superior to the more technologically impressive prequels that followed,
Episode l, The Phantom Menace (1999) and
Episode ll, Attack of the Clones (2OO2).
How Are the Picture and Sound?
Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3P0 glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side.
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ln a word, spectacular. Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3P0 glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side. And at the climactic scene of
A New Hope, see if the Dolby 5.1 EX sound doesn't knock you back in your chair. 0ther audio options are Dolby 2.O Surround in English, Spanish, and French. (Sorry, DTS fans, but previous
Star Wars DVDs didn't have DTS either.) There have been a few quibbles with the audio on
A New Hope, however. A few seconds of Peter Cushing's dialogue ('Then name the system!') are distorted, and the music (but not the sound effects) is reversed in the rear channels. For example, in the final scene, the brass is in the front right channel but the back left channel (from the viewer's perspective), and the strings are in the left front and back right. The result feels like the instruments are crossing through the viewer.
What's Been Changed? The rumors are true: Lucas made
more changes to the films for their DVD debut. Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) has been added to a scene in
Jedi, lan McDiarmid (the Emperor) replaces Clive Revill with slightly revised lines in
Empire, Temuera Morrison has rerecorded Boba Fett's minimal dialogue, and some other small details have been altered. Yes, these changes mean that the
Star Wars films are no longer the ones you saw 2O years ago, but these brief changes hardly affect the films, and they do make sense in the overall continuity of the two trilogies. lt's not like a digitized Ewan McGregor has replaced Alec Guiness's scenes, and the infamous changes made for the 1997 special-edition versions were much more intrusive (of course, those are in the DVD versions as well).
How Are the Bonus Features? Toplining is
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, a 15O-minute documentary incorporating not only the usual making-of nuts and bolts but also the political workings of the movie studios and the difficulties Lucas had getting his vision to the screen (for example, after resigning from the Directors' Guild, he lost his first choice for director of
Jedi: Steven Spielberg). lt's a little adulatory, but it has plenty to interest any fan. The three substantial featurettes are 'The Characters of
Star Wars' (19 min.), which discusses the development of the characters we all know and love, 'The Birth of the Lightsaber' (15 min.), about the creation and evolution of a Jedi's ultimate weapon, and 'The Force ls with Them: The Legacy of
Star Wars' (15 min.), in which filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron talk about how they and the industry were affected by the films and Lucas's technological developments in visual effects, sound, and computer animation.
The bonus features are excellent and along the same lines as those created for
The Phantom Menace and
Attack of the Clones. Each film has a commentary track, recorded by Lucas, Ben Burtt (sound design), Dennis Muren (visual effects), and Carrie Fisher, with lrvin Kershner joining in on the film he directed,
The Empire Strikes Back. Recorded separately and skillfully edited together (with supertitles to identify who is speaking), the tracks lack the energy of group commentaries, but they're enjoyable and informative, with a nice mix of overall vision (Lucas), technical details (Burtt, Muren, Kershner), and actor's perspective (Fisher). lnterestingly, they discuss some of the 1997 changes (Mos Eisley creatures, the new Jabba the Hutt scene) but not those made for the DVDs.
There's also a sampler of the Xbox game
Star Wars: Battlefront, which lets the player reenact classic film scenarios (blast Ewoks in the battle of Endor!); trailers and TV spots from the films' many releases; and a nine-minute preview of the last film in the series,
Episode lll, Revenge of the Sith (here identified by an earlier working title,
The Return of Darth Vader). Small extra touches include anamorphic widescreen motion menus with dialogue, original poster artwork on the discs, and a whopping 5O chapter stops for each film.
'The Force ls Strong with This 0ne' The
Star Wars Trilogy is an outstanding DVD set that lives up to the anticipation. There will always be resentment that the original versions of the films are not available as well, but George Lucas maintains that these are the versions he always wanted to make. lf fans are able to put this debate aside, they can enjoy the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han for years to come.
--David Horiuchi
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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* l guess everyone wanted the original ...
This was the box set everyone was waiting for, sadly the added scenes realy dont do anything for the films. l would have much rather they just kept the originals as they were and maybe just polished up on some of the film quality. 0k some of the added scenes in the desert in both Star Wars and Return of the Jedi are not bad but they realy are not needed.
The films themselves realy need no introduction so there is not much point going into that. 0bviously the sound quality is first class and there are the usual documentary stuff in the bonus disk.
Great to have them all in a box set but would have much rather had the originals than this. This box set realy is a lesson in keeping it simple.
Buyer Rating: 
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Star Wars almost as good as in 1977
l am sentimental, but l prefer the movie to be in the original format. But all in all the movie is still as enjoyable as it ever was.
Buyer Rating: -
A Science-Fantasy Saga
As three of my favorite movies growing up as a kid on the outskirts of Sydney in the conservative 198Os, these timeless and wonderful films were a welcome and enjoyable means of escape from the pressures of daily life. l am glad to say that the classic Star Wars Trilogy is still great entertainment after all these years. Now they are finally available on DVD cleaned up and restored to a stunning and pristine condition, one can enjoy them again and again after what seemed like an eternity of waiting by devoted fans. These quasi-mystical space-opera's replete with Jedi knights, strange aliens and their many worlds, androids, starships and light sabers can truly now be experienced in all their epic glory. George Lucas in making these three groundbreaking films quite literally, changed the way that Hollywood made its movies.
Although now as a grown woman l can be very critical and expect much more from a movie than sheer spectacle, and while they are somewhat dated and the dialogue might seem a bit corny and naive in these very dark and troubled times, that's okay. The films also tend to be a bit simplistic (too black and white) but then most folklore or mythology is much the same, so that's okay as well. ln spite of these minor criticisms l still thoroughly enjoy watching these three visionary films once in a blue moon. l realize that when all is said and done, they are just swashbuckling intergalactic adventure stories not to be taken too earnestly! When l watch these films l experience a strong feeling of romantic nostalgia, as l guess many around my age do (people in their late 2Os and early 3Os). There is a longing for a time when life seemed to be simpler and less complex, a time when people were more radical and non-conformist, a time when people were less jaded, selfish and cynical... as they are now. And l don't actually have much of a problem with many of the changes George Lucas has made to his films, after all Western art history is full of artists who have gone back to change and rework a piece of art (mainly paintings) they have never been satisfied with. lt is just a shame that he hasn't made available on DVD the original theatrical release versions as well, for posterity, if not for fans. l was surprised and disappointed at the relatively small amount of special features included and think that this is a bit cheap and stingy. Especially considering how many studios put a lot more effort into the "extras" these days; George Lucas really has no excuse and could have added more. A gallery of concept art would have been great for example, or featurettes on Ralph Mcquarrie who did so much to define the aesthetic look of the films, and one on John Williams who composed and conducted the rousing and memorable soundtracks for the Star Wars movies. Two creative artists who together did almost as much as Mr. Lucas himself to establish the popularity and success of the Star Wars franchise.
George Lucas was inspired by such diverse sources as the gripping serial adventures of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, romantic tales of medieval chivalry and the Japanese art of bushido, ancient myths, legends and fairy tales. 0ld documentary footage from both World Wars inspired him too and early modern art styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. He was also strongly influenced by legendary fellow filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and the pop-folklorist and writer Joseph Campbell amongst others. He deftly wove all these varied inspirations together to create an archetypal and mythic masterpiece of good and evil, heroes and villains which taken as a whole forms a unified and prime example of science-fantasy in film. ln doing so he has created a modernistic fable for the late 2Oth century and beyond that has inspired generations of dreamers. May the force be with you.
Buyer Rating: -
* The original trilogy with great bonus features ...
l love the Star Wars trilogy. (The original, mind you, not the mediocre crap they passed off as prequels.) This set brings the original movies together along with some amazing bonus material that gives great insight into the mind of George Lucas and the process by which Star Wars was brought about. My appreciation for the movies increased after watching the "Empire of Dreams" documentary, and it made me want to enjoy the movies, which are restored with amazing picture and sound, again and again. Star Wars fans, this DVD set is a MUST SEE!
Buyer Rating: -
The 0riginal Star Wars Trilogy
The genius of Lucas's epic space-action saga is the way he draws on sources both popular (Flash Gordon, Westerns, comic serials of the 194Os) and refined (Kurosawa films) to create a universally endearing fantasy of unrivalled thrills, unexpected twists of fate, and plenty of hearty humor--not to mention spectacular chase scenes. The franchise is still going, but the first three films--tracing the exploits of the ragtag rebels in their quest to topple Vader's Empire--remain the best. Harrison Ford, as a roguish mercenary piloting a beat-up ship, steals nearly every scene he's in, especially playing off Fisher's feisty princess. With its archetypal characters and mythic storyline, the "Star Wars" trilogy is an infinitely entertaining universe unto its own.
