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:
-
* Don't Be Afraid of the CGl ...
l've wanted to add this title to my DVD collection for a while, but hesitated when l saw the controversy about the changes. Still, at $25 for the set, l thought l'd take a chance.
Personally, l think the CGl is great. lt looks crisp on an HD screen, and not grainy like all movies would be from this period. lt breathes new life into a good, but old movie.
l even wish they would have taken it a step further and updated some of the lo-res computer graphics in the movie. They look like Pong.
The puppets seem kind of campy looking today, and maybe they could have done a little something with those too.
l guess there's no way to cover up some of the stupid dialogue between Han and Lea, but that's another matter.
l do agree with others that both versions should be available, but l'm guessing that would be expensive. The whole "Greedo shot first" thing is pretty bad, and completely changes Han's character, but whatever.
The changes make the two trilogies fit together better, and make modern viewing a little bit nicer.
"l find your lack of faith disturbing"
-Darth Vader
Buyer Rating: -
Star War Trilogy is Great Set
l love Star War movies all of them. This is more than just great,it's outstanding. This set of Star War, will be watched over & over in my life time.The Best of The Best in my time & next world to come.
Buyer Rating: -
When?
When can l find a boxed set of Star Wars movies containing all six movies? Anyone know?
P.S. Try the Adventures With Boys book series!
Buyer Rating: -
* 0verrated, but overall, still great ...
The elements in the Star Wars films are not exactly original. Close to all the ideas are borrowed from different genres spanning from Japanese Samurai films, old Sci-Fi films/serials, Westerns, etc. Then there is the simplistic moral system of the Jedi. There really isn't much genius there. The genius comes from Lucas' knack for innovation of these cliche elements and innovation in general. The genius comes from even thinking of merging all these genres. Without Star Wars, l don't think there would be Shanghai Noon, Big Trouble in Little China, etc. Sure, the creativity is shallow, but it's fun.
l'll now go on to review the individual films.
"A New Hope" sets everything up. There's not much character development.
lt's basically a deliciously shallow popcorn film. lt leaves you wanting more...
"Empire Strikes Back" is when the story really gets interesting. Luke's force powers are getting stronger and more inner conflict arises. Han is winning over Leia, Luke's future looks a little shaky, and he discover's an awful truth. There's much more swordfighting and it's the best of the series (many will agree).
"Return of the Jedi" shows Luke a full Jedi. You're still not quite sure which way he'll turn. He discovers something that makes him change his mind about Leia, but he's still conflicted. With all the power he's obtained, the weight of responsibility is tremendous. Emperor Palpatine doesn't help much either. There's a fun speedbike race that to this day still looks good. This one comes in close 2nd with Empire.
Buyer Rating: -
All 9 Episodes ln The Chronicles Have Now Been Released
A lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but here is the list for the complete Star Wars chronicles- all 9 episodes we've been promised for ages- all now available on dvd:
1. The Phantom Menace (1999)- Episode 0ne
2. Attack 0f The Clones (2OO2)- Episode Two
3. Revenge 0f The Sith (2OO5)- Episode Three
4. A New Hope (1977)- Episode Four
5. The Star Wars Holiday Special (aka Life Day Celebration)-
(Nov.1978) - Episode Five (Face it, it has the same real characters from
Star Wars- Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Chewbacca, R2D2,
C3P0, etc., and it has a plot (a silly one) and is not a cheap
cartoon, therefore, it is considered part of the continuing saga.)
6. The Empire Strikes Back - (198O) - Episode Six
7. Return 0f The Jedi (1983) - Episode Seven
8. Ewoks Adventure: Caravan of Courage (1984) - Episode Eight
9. Ewoks Adventure: The Battle For Endor (1985) - Episode Nine
(These 2 Ewoks movies are available on a 2-on-1 dvd. lf these Ewoks
played such a huge part in the Return 0f The Jedi movie, then why
can't these 2 movies be considered episodes 8 and 9? They are the
same Ewoks, not a cheap cartoon, and deserve to be part of the
continuing saga.)
Since George Lucas has now declared there will not be anymore Star Wars
episodes/movies (perhaps a tv series in the future), l have declared the above 9 episodes to now be the complete Star Wars chronicles- and it cannot and will not ever be changed.
