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| Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc) |
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List Price: $69.98
Buy New: $28.02
You Save: $41.96 (60%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $28.02
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 2157 reviews)
Sales Rank: 108
Category: DVD
Author: Star Wars Trilogy
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Brand: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video
Label: 20th Century Fox
Format: Anamorphic, Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Thx, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 387 minutes
Number Of Items: 4
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.8 x 2.8
UPC: 024543123415
EAN: 0024543123415
ASIN: B00003CXCT
Release Date: September 21, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 1977
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Accessories:
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Star Wars, A New Hope: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Special Edition) |
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Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace |
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
Was George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogy, the most anticipated DVD release ever, worth the wait? You bet. It'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. On 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. Over the course of three films--A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), 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 (Ian 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 I, The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II, Attack of the Clones (2002).
How Are the Picture and Sound?
Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side.
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In a word, spectacular. Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3PO 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. Other audio options are Dolby 2.0 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, Ian 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 20 years ago, but these brief changes hardly affect the films, and they do make sense in the overall continuity of the two trilogies. It'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 150-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). It'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 Is 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 Irvin 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). Interestingly, 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 III, 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 50 chapter stops for each film.
"The Force Is Strong with This One"
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. If fans are able to put this debate aside, they can enjoy the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han for years to come. --David Horiuchi
Description
Includes:
* Episode IV, A New Hope
Commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
* Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back
Commentary by George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
* Episode VI, Return of the Jedi
Commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher
* "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy," the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced on the Star Wars saga, and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films
* Featurettes: The Legendary Creatures of Star Wars, The Birth of the Lightsaber, The Legacy of Star Wars
* Teasers, trailers, TV spots, still galleries
* Playable Xbox demo of the new Lucasarts game Star Wars Battlefront
* The making of the Episode III videogame
* Exclusive preview of Star Wars: Episode III
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Customer Reviews: Read 2152 more reviews...
 Cop Out edition of Star Wars. July 24, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I like the Original Trilogy of Star Wars just as much as the next person, perhaps even moreso. These movies were classics in film history, and will never lose their status as such. Star Wars came along, and changed the way movies were made from then on. For the better? Definitely! New directors and writers aren't afraid to make fantasy or sci-fi movies anymore. We have a lot to owe to the Original Trilogy.
But do we have a lot to owe to the DVD's?
A New Hope: Lucas goes on to further change this one since he made the first real changes back in the Special Editions of 1997. Not only is Mos Eisley crowded, but we get 'new aliens' in the cantena. Sure, the graphics and CGI are good, but they subtract from the actual storyline. One instance of this is Jabba the Hutt visiting Han Solo by the Millenium Falcon. The CGI on this version of Jabba is just TERRIBLE to say the least: he looks like an half-finished piece of computer work that a CGI student did in college or something. Not only does he NOT look real... but he looks downright pathetic. Remarkably, he is a step-down from the CGI of 1997. In this scene, Han Solo proceeds to step on Jabba's tail. There are technical reasons for this having to do with a Jabba stand-in being originally a human, but it totally confuses the story and characters. If Jabba is such a feared and exhalted being, how could Han get away with stepping on his tail and showing BLATANT disrespect and disregard for his authority? Jabba comes across as very unscary now, thanks to the DVD and Special Editions.
The Empire Strikes Back: The change of adding in the snow-monster happened back in '97. It wasn't a plausible and useful addition to the movie: instead of being elusive and more scary, we get to see the snow monster now. I have to admit that some of the shots of Cloud City were interesting, and perhaps forgiveable. But what about the original unedited versions? Were they so bad? Did they subtract from the story? No! Not showing all of Cloud City helped the movie be more mysterious... But now the city is layed bare like a nudist woman.
The Return of the Jedi: This is the weaker movie of the Original Trilogy, in my opinion. But that is for another time and place to discuss its actual weaker points. The CGI changes were almost non-existant to the naked eye, right to about the time at the end when the spirits of the Jedi are standing and watching the celebration of the Ewoks. Notice anything? Of course you noticed! Hayden Christensen has replaced Sebastian Shaw! Why? I don't know! George claims continuity... but if he really cared about continuity, he would have made the Prequel Trilogy better, wouldn't he? It is a cop out and disgrace. This is unforgivable, in my opinion.
There are some bonus features on this DVD, but they hardly make up for the bastadization of the actual movies. Such as commentary (sub-par commentary by sound effects artists, George Lucas, and the director of ESB.)
Also, there is a documentary called 'Empire of Dreams.' THAT is indeed worth watching, if you fail to understand the point of view that older fans of the Original Trilogy have of Star Wars and its legacy.
Do I suggest buying this DVD? No. Would it be a good edition to your collection of ridiculous and cop out editions of classic movies? Yes.
 Buy the VHS' July 24, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The changes make this unwatchable. Only The Empire Strikes Back made it out okay.
 The Premier Sci-Fi saga in the galaxy July 16, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
These movies are classic, by thtemselves, the first two are only about 4 stars apiece, but together, this trilogy is golden. Though it's luster is somewhat dulled by the less than steller quality of the more recent Star Wars Trilogy, these movies are still great. The acting is almost perfect for the film, the soundtrack is perhaps one of the most memorable of all time, and the story is a classic one of good versus evil.
Love Star Wars, not the set July 11, 2006
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Honestly, do not buy this. I love the original "Star Wars" Trilogy, but there's one with the original, unremastered movies coming out later this year. That, and it includes these DVDs. If you want Han to shoot first (the way it was meant to be), wait off a bit.
 Finally DVDs for the original Star Wars July 11, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It took a long time for them to finally get here but it is worth it. I am now able to watch the first movies with my family. It is interesting to see how my son reacts to the original movies vs the new CAD/high tech episodes. I espically like some of the additional footage that was deleted from the theater versions.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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