The Star Wars Trilogy

By: The Dweeb

September 2004

DVD Features Video: 2.35:1 Audio: Dolby Digital EX 5.1,  Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Star Wars: A New Hope Commentary By George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher The Empire Strikes Back Commentary By George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher Return Of The Jedi Commentary By George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher Plus a Bonus Disc with over four hours of Special Features Including Empire Of Dreams Documentary Three featurettes chronicling the evolution of the legendary Characters of Star Wars, a glimpse at The Birth of the Lightsaber, and the influence of the movies on other filmmakers in The Force is with Them: The Legacy Of Star Wars Behind-the-scenes look at Episode III in The Return Of Darth Vader Trailer and Xbox playable demo Star Wars Battlefront game, plus a sneak peek at the making of the Episode III video game Theatrical teasers, trailers and TV spots from all three films Still galleries, a DVD-ROM weblink to exclusive content Theatrical release:5/25/1977, 5/21/1980, 5/25/1983 DVD released on 9/21/2004 by 20th Century Fox Running time of 387  minutes Starring: Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Kenny Baker, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, Alec Guinness, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz, David Prowse Director: Irvin Kershner, George Lucas, Richard Marquand Plot: Episode IV A New Hope The Jedi Knights have been exterminated and the Empire rules the galaxy with an iron fist. A small group of Rebels have dared to fight back by stealing the secret plans to the Empire’s mightiest weapon, the Death Star battle station. The Emperor’s most trusted servant, Darth Vader, must find the plans, and locate the hidden Rebel base. Princess Leia, a captive Rebel leader, sends out a distress signal that is intercepted by a simply farm boy, Luke Skywalker. Seizing his destiny, Luke takes up the challenge to rescue the princess and help the Rebellion overthrow the Empire, along with such unforgettable allies as the wise Obi-Wan Kenobi, the cocky Han Solo, the loyal Chewbacca, and the droids R2-D2 andiC-3P0 Episode V The Empire Strikes Back It is a dark time for the Rebellion. After a devastating attack on their ice base on the frozen planet of Hoth, the Rebels are scattered by Imperial pursuit. Luke Skywalker seeks out the mysterious Jedi Master Yoda in the swamps of Dagobah, while Han Solo and Princess Leia outrun the Imperial fleet to the beautiful Cloud City of Bespin. In an attempt to convert Luke to the dark side, the evil Darth Vader lures young Skywalker intuit trap. In the midst of a fierce lightsaber duel with theistic Lord, Luke faces a terrible truth about the Skywalker legacy. Episode VI Return Of The Jedi In the spectacular final chapter of the Star Wars saga, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt, the galaxy’s most loathsome gangster. Reunited, the Rebels team up with tribes of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor and Darth Vader conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War culminates in the ultimate showdown, as thereby forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Strain the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy.

For years, legions of DVD fans have been clamoring for Star Wars to have its turn in DVD players across the land, nay even the world. Well, the wait is over, George has decided it is time for the Force to be with us (yet again if you count the numerous VHS and laserdisc editions), and once again he could not leave well enough alone. Did Davinci come back to the Mona Lisa and tweak the painting some more? I don’t believe so. Well, according to Lucas a filmmaker’s work is never done. Aside from a few more changes to the films, this edition is absolutely stunning.

I won’t go much into talking about the actual movies themselves, after all, who has not seen them right? Right? Ok, so there a few holdouts out there. This is it my non Star Wars educated friends, time to finally see what all the fuss is about. If you want to see what the real Star Wars is about, in slightly altered form, get a hold of this DVD set. You’ll be in for a wild ride, even with some really awful hairstyles that no computer effects could ever erase.

Overall, I don’t have much of a problem with a lot of the “improvements” made to these three classics, most of them blend nicely and open the door a lot wider to this unusual universe. The improved attack on the Death Star in Star Wars is far superior to the original. What I do have a problem with is the slight alterations to the context of the story. This has been debated to death on the internet, but Han shoots first! Now George wants us to think it was in self defense, yet the whole scene is edited showing the complete opposite. It just doesn’t fit the scene, or Han’s makeup as a character. He is a criminal himself, so he should act accordingly.

As for the other minor tweaks to this Star Wars 2.1 version, I didn’t think pasting in Hayden Christiansen’s visage at the end of Jedi works, nor the new emperor in Empire. Lucas has also taken the liberty of altering the conversation slightly during the Vader and Emperor scene which changes the entire context of the movie! Hmmmm, not sure I like that. Once again, since I’ve seen these movies countless times, I can’t seem to get past these changes. I always thought that A New Hope and Empire were the least kid friendly in the series. Since these new editions came out, some of the animation tries to be cute, which drives me insane. Seeing these movies as a kid, I thought they were really cool even without any of the cute stuff, so why add that now. Isn’t that what the droids are for? I guess its easy to get carried away with this stuff.

What Lucas lacks in restraint in making changes to his films, he makes up with on the technical side of the DVD. These discs are just stunning, mind blowing really. I’ve never seen the picture so damn clear, like it was filmed last week. The sound to these movies is just incredible, probably some of the best soundtracks ever to be heard on a DVD, too bad this doesn’t come in DTS as well. If anyone would ever need a compelling reason to get a home theatre system, this box set is it. Wow. Just be forewarned if you are an audio geek and go over these things with a fine tooth comb, you may notice some slight audio differences but to the average listener you won’t even notice. Lucasfilm disavows that these are problems and that they are intentional, we shall see about that.

Naturally, a spectacle such as this wouldn’t be complete without a thorough helping of extras included. Each movie comes with a commentary track and the menus are really neat to watch. Much cooler than Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. The fourth disc is filled with all kinds of bonus material, including the 2 hours plus Empire of Dreams documentary. That was really interesting to watch so you get all kinds of insights into the hows and whys and the aftermaths of these movies. Also thrown on there are all of the trailers and TV ads, for each release of the movie mind you. Those original Star Wars trailers from 76 were really awful! There is also a poster gallery showing each films different poster, both domestic and international. And of course there is a tease for Episode 3, featuring the creation of Darth Vader’s mask. I thought it was pretty cool seeing how they make that stuff. You can spend half a day just watching all this stuff. Most impressive.

So, unless you are going to wait it out for the super duper box set, or for the next version in HD DVD after that, I would say go get it. If any home theatre format was created for a specific movie, Star Wars would be it.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!