DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

About firkin time . . . . .

The original Star Wars trilogy will be released on DVD for the first time in September, Lucasfilm has announced.
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi will be released as a four-disc box set, with bonus footage and improved picture and sound quality.

Lucasfilm executive producer Jim Ward said he hoped the long-awaited DVDs would be "as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time".

The DVDs will be followed by Star Wars: Episode 3, due in cinemas in May 2005.

Everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience

Jim Ward, executive producer
The trilogy will be released on 21 September in the US and Canada, with international release dates "following closely", Lucasfilm said.

The set contains a bonus disc filled with new features, including a feature-length documentary said to be the most comprehensive ever produced about the Star Wars saga.

It also includes previously unseen footage from the making of all three films.

Each film has been digitally restored and re-mastered for superior sound and picture quality.


The DVDs promise better picture quality than VHS
The films will only be available as a collection, and the release will be greeted with delight by fans.

They are the most frequently requested films for the DVD format, according to the official Star Wars website.

Executive producer Mr Ward said: "We know how long fans have waited for this release and how much they have been looking forward to it.

"So everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience."

Mr Ward said the DVDs would deliver "the very best possible sound and picture and take advantage of everything the medium can offer".

"On top of that, we are creating added-value material that gets inside the creation of the Star Wars films in a fresh and fun way," he said.

Fans were urged to check the official website over coming months for "more specific details".

Sith

About fookin time, judging by the picture quality of Indiana Jones these will be awesome.

corradoboy

Pre-order from DVD Soon to benefit from good pre-order prices and excellent exchange rate at the mo'.

class_A

Lucas needs shooting. Yet another different version of the classic trilogy.

Not the original releases, or the Special Editions, but re-edited Special Editions.

Still, suppose the best we'll ever get unless you can get hold of the bootleg Laserdisc caps. on DVD

Cheers,
Alex

greasemonkey

As long as the re-edit has Han shooting Greedo first again, I'm not too bothered, although I'll be mildly ticked off if they've replaced the footage of Sebastian Shaw (old Anakin in ROTJ) with an "aged" Hayden Christiansen.

As for the Laserdiscs, suppose with these coming it's finally time to put my LD player out to grass. End of an era!

Mr.Cookie

greasemonkey

Yup Only reason i bought my LD player was for Star Wars trilogy like you say end of an era

Si

Shark

class A

I take this to mean the originals and not the specials?

Same as they released the originals on VHS, then came out the specials a while later - I remember having a gutted mate, because I waited !

David

farmer1

How many bloody times can you make a fortune from one set of films, he must be loving it.

carl

Personally I prefer the originals to the "special editions". The computer graphics -- particularly Jabba -- are completely at odds with the rest of the effects.

greasemonkey

Ah, when I say era, that's exactly what I mean. Had something like 500 discs at one point, and many super-rare NTSC limited editions that were worth an absolute mint in their time, and that still aren't available in the same form on DVD.

Haven't decided yet whether player will stay in in my HT system or move to a nearby cupboard, but certainly the SW trilogy is the last of the "big" titles I was waiting to replace on DVD.

No, by all accounts it'll be the 1997 Special Edition versions. This is a direct quote from Jim Ward of Lucasfilm, so it's pretty official at this stage. Still, as long as they fix the faults in the Dolby Digital soundtracks on the '97 Laserdiscs, I'll be happy enough.

There was a lot of rumour about this DVD box featuring new "Archive" editions, which would have been the 1997 editions with further tweaking to tie them into episodes 1-3 as well as further re-editing (the original Han/Greedo scene and rework of the Han/Jabba confrontation in ANH being the main ones). It seems now as though George is keeping these back to fleece the buying public all over again, probably to tie in with the 30th anniversary of Star War's release in 2007.

Scooby Drew

I've got them - they look OK but the speech is slightly out of sink.

Roll on September - it would be great if it came in DTS audio

greasemonkey

DTS? Who cares, DD is just as good when it's done properly. I'd rather they used the space for more video bitrate or commentary.

farmer1

Is there any truth that he is now planning to do a 7th 8th and 9th episode?

greasemonkey

You'd have to check the Star Wars geek sites for the latest on that, but I don't think there's anything approaching a solid decision. Suppose the key thing will be the performance (both critical and box office) of Episode III.

In some ways, I hope he doesn't, as having pedalled the line for years that it's a six episode story, it might smack of commercialism and artistic stagnation (even more than Ep 1 did) if he went further.

However, in some ways, I hope he does, as, I suspect he originally did write a nine part story (and spent most of the eighties and nineties saying so), and after the pants Ep1, better Ep2 and (by all accounts pretty good) Ep3, it's starting to look like he's shaken the cobwebs off and has actually remembered how to write and direct good films again.

The modern Lucasfilm visual effects style would fit better in a post-ROTJ universe than it ever did in pre-ANH times too. Time will tell!

Mr.Cookie

greasemonkey if one of those happens to be Electric Dreams (long shot i know) would you be interested in parting with it

I could never justify the additional cost of LD's over VHS for most films, so while my VHS collections wasn't to shabby my LD one is only aorund the 30-40 mark (but htere all special in one way or another

Si

ScoobyJawa

Trouble with 7 8 and 9 is he'd have to use continuity and go with the original actors eg Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford etc, or it just wouldn't work, and they are all well knocking on!

richiewong

Oh yes about time, the PAL version laserdisc special edition is not bad and it's THX as well. Anybody know what its worth Mr.Cookie/Greasemonkey


SWEET

Mr.Cookie

Richie

To be honest i don't think very much at all, mines a US import as i wanted Dolby Digital release, i think the one that may be woth a few pennies is the original that was going for £300 when it came out.

Si
Ps Had a nose on ebay.co.uk and nothing on there the .com is slightly different story

Mr.Cookie

ebay link

richiewong

Can't complain, saw it in HMV a couple of years back just as DVD's were taking off, so bought it for about £20 Still makes my mates jealous as it's the only digital media of the trilogy so far.

Mr.Cookie

20 quid bargain, i payed [cough] [cough] for mine, i do remember seeing loads in HMV too lol, don't think they quite understood the userbase size might of been why they were trying to flog players aswell at one stage

Si

greasemonkey

As Mr Cookie says Richie, the PAL release isn't worth a lot, as not only was the US release more sought after by home theatre afficionados due to its Dolby Digital soundtracks, it was also a limited edition of 50,000 and sold out almost immediately. The UK release wasn't anywhere near as rare, as you found.

£300 was a conservative estimate for the US box, I was offered a monkey (half a grand, not a bare-arsed simian that is!) for mine a couple of years back. Values will drop now the DVD has been announced, but they'll still change hands for more than what they originally cost.

Still, at least the UK edition has those fabulous full colour covers that are good enough to hang on your wall. The NTSC box just has the five discs in individual black slip sleeves.

Cookie, while I'm as fond of eighties trash euro-cinema as the next ape, Electric Dreams was never one I got into. If I happen to see a copy anywhere when I'm browsing the "old vinyl and LD" sales though, I'll grab it and let you know.

Mr.Cookie

Cheers Greasemonkey i'm quite fond of 80's trash i actually rate this for one scene in particular, where Madeline (Virginia Madsen) is practising scales on the cello and Edgar (the computer) joins in, it's in the same league as the piano on the floor in the toy store in Big, when Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia play chopsticks

Si

greasemonkey

Mmmm, Virginia Madsen, whatever happened to her? At one stage she was everyone's favourite early eighties sex kitten (Slamdance being a highlight), then disappeared for a few years, and by the time she popped back up in Candyman, it was like she'd been replaced by her nowhere near as good looking twin sister.

Mr.Cookie

lol true first film to make me jump that (Candyman by the way ) now i'm just a nervous wreck all the time

Mr.Cookie

Looks like she did a load of TV stuff

greasemonkey

Probably a load of second rate TV movies we've never seen or heard of then. Shame, she had a certain something about her at first that had decidedly disappeared by the time she did Candyman.

richiewong

There you go Mr.CookieClicky
She looks like a Wookie

Mr.Cookie

LOL Cheers Richie i've got it on VHS but there are arguments going on over the rights to it in the UK between Virgin and someone else hence the VHS sells for in excess of 30 quid often much more , but i'd rather have a quality version

Si

Mr.Cookie

Ps Really good site that ta muchly