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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6035 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-20
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 361 minutes

DVD Details
Four-disc set includes:

• Episode IV, A New Hope (Special Edition)--with commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher; Easter egg: credit roll (2 min)
• Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)--with commentary by George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher; Easter egg: credit roll (2 min)
• Episode VI, Return of the Jedi (Special Edition)--commentary by George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher; Easter egg: credit roll (2 min)
• Bonus disc: all-new bonus features, including 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

Subitles (all material across all four discs): English, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Click here to see detailed information on the special features included on the bonus disc.

Amazon.co.uk Review

George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy is a clever synthesis of pop-cultural and mythological references, taking classic fairy-tale themes, adding more than a dash of Arthurian legend, and providing cinematic high adventure inspired as much by Kurosawa's Samurai epics as by Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. As a result, audiences of all ages can find something to identify with in Luke Skywalker's journey from disaffected teenager dreaming of adventure to Jedi Knight and saviour of the galaxy. He not only rescues a Princess, but discovers she's a close relative. And if there's a lesson to be gleaned from the Skywalker clan, it's that no matter how bad things get in the average dysfunctional family, it's never too late for reconciliation.

Originally released in 1977, Star Wars, the first film, was made as a standalone. Perhaps that's why Obi-Wan Kenobi seems a tad inconsistent in his attitude towards his old pupil Anakin Skywalker, and perhaps also why Luke is allowed to develop a guilt-free crush on Princess Leia. Lucas's story, told from the point of view of the two bickering droids (a device taken from Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress), also borrows freely from Errol Flynn's Robin Hood, as does John Williams's seminal Korngold-inspired music score.

Thanks in equal part to Leigh Brackett's screenplay and Irvin Kershner's direction The Empire Strikes Back (1980) is the most grown-up instalment in the series. The basic fairy-tale is developed and expanded, with the principal characters experiencing emotional turmoil--blossoming romance, mixed feelings and confused loyalties--amid a very real threat of annihilation as Darth Vader's motivations become chillingly personal. Luke's quasi-Arthurian destiny is complicated still further by the half-truths of his wizardly mentors; and swashbuckler Han Solo finds the past catching up with him, quite literally in the form of bounty hunter Boba Fett. The film is graced by more fabulous landscapes (ice, forest, clouds), more unforgettable new characters (Yoda), more groundbreaking special effects (the asteroid chase), and John Williams's finest score.

The difficult third film, 1983's Return of the Jedi, seems schizophrenic in its intentions, hoping to please both the kiddies who bought all the toys and an older audience who appreciated the narrative's epic and mythological strands. The result is a film that splits awkwardly into two. One thread, which might be subtitled "The Redemption of Anakin Skywalker", pursues the story of the Skywalker family to a cathartic conclusion. The other thread, which might be described as "The Care Bears Go to War", attempts to say something profound about primitivism versus technological sophistication, but just gets silly as furry midgets doing Tarzan whoops defeat the Emperor's crack legions.

In 1997 Lucas re-released the three original films in digitally remastered "Special Edition" versions, in which many scenes have been restored and enhanced (some would say "unnecessarily tinkered with"). Despite loud and continued criticisms from fans, these Special Editions are now considered definitive, if only by Lucasfilm. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
4-disc DVD box set containing Special Editions of all three films in the original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes IV-VI), plus a bonus disc of brand new special features.

Special Features
Episode IV, A New Hope (Special Edition):

• Commentary by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher
  
• Easter Egg: credit roll (2 mins)

Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition):

• Commentary by George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher
  
• Easter Egg: credit roll (2 mins)

Episode VI, Return of the Jedi (Special Edition):

• Commentary by George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren and Carrie Fisher
  
• Easter egg: credit roll (2 min)

Bonus disc containing all-new bonus features, including:

• The most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced on the Star Wars saga
  
• Never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films

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Customer Reviews

The Force is still with us
I saw Star Wars in the cinema on its original release in 1977 and I was not slow to buy a ticket for an encore. The sheer experience of that film was exhilarating at a time when movie SFX were still a fair distance away from the quality we know and expect today. Few cinemas had stereo sound then because Dolby Stereo was in its infancy, and to actually be in a cinema so equipped at that time was a rarity. If you were really lucky, in addition to Dolby stereo, it might have a 70mm facility which would give you an enhanced picture, plus a 6 channel stereo split instead of the normal 4 channel of standard Dolby. Nowadays digital stereo in the cinema and home makes that sort of differentiating pretty irrelevent.
Seeing Star Wars in stereo and with its incredible effects really was an experience . After that sound and SFX were never going to be the same, and neither have looked back since.

Of the three films Return Of The Jedi is in 3rd place, a great film but is simply bettered by the two that came before it. In second place sits Star Wars itself. The film remains one of those viewing experiences which just remains in your mind as a milestone. What effects, what imagination, the ability to lift you out of every day life and take you to a galaxy, far, far away. Who can forget seeing that opening shot of the huge Star Destroyer bearing down on Princess Leia's fleeing vessel?
No audiences had seen spaceships of those looks and dimensions on the big screen before...
The pride of place by a whisker is taken by The Empire Strikes Back. Of the three films, this is the one that has stood up to more repeat viewings than the others. When I first saw it it did not have the effect that seeing the first did, absorbing though it still was. The passage of time has seen it establish itself as my fave of the trilogy though. I always felt that the plot for Star Wars drew on the Arthurian Legend and nowhere is this more apparent than in The Empire Strikes Back, particularly when the true identity of Darth Vader is revealed for the first time.
There is a moodiness about Empire that runs through the film from start to finish, and I often wonder what Jedi would have been like if George Lucas had let the director of Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner helm that film too....

As to the controversy of the editing that Lucas has made to the dvd releases, my feelings are as follows:
I loved the originals and have the vhs versions of all three. However, with nearly 20 years between Jedi and The Phantom Menace there were always going to be continuity issues concerning casting and SFX. Play an original vhs version of Star Wars, and you will soon see that the mattes have not aged well and stand out visibly. Yet did we notice them at the the time of the films release? No of course not because the SFX then were state of the art. Now with the passage of time and SFX having come on in leaps and bounds, George Lucas decided to update the former films.In my opinion he has done a good job too SFX wise. The casting editing is more to link with the newer editions of the franchise than to improve the quality of the originals, so my thoughts on that are mixed though. I can see the reason for doing it but I simply prefer the original actors in their roles. Clive Revill's Emperor in Empire Strikes Back I think is the deletion that was most unnecessary.
Overall though I am glad that I have a choice and can either watch the originals on vhs or put on the updated versions on dvd.
I have looked forward to the dvd release of these films for years and am delighted with finally being able to blast them across my home cinema set up. The picture on 16:9 anamorphic is great on a widescreen tv. All sound channels are crisp and totally clear of any distortion. Laser blasts and Tie Fighters shoot across the room to varying degrees...Such is the effect of being able to do that, it has returned me to the awe struck kid seeing Star Wars for the first time in a cinema. Thanks for the dvds, George, it may have taken a while but at least they are here now.

It's about time !!
Whether you have the VHS originals from 1977 to 1983, or you own the 1997 or 2002 special editions, this wonderfully packaged DVD collection is a must for Star Wars fans.

Never before has Star Wars been available to own on DVD !!! This now means you can keep your VHS originals in pristine condition. - No more wear and tear.

The extras DVD is worth the price alone. For the first time ever, Star Wars fans can get an insight into what it was like to make the original trilogy, for both George Lucas and the rest of the team, in the fantastic 2.5 hour documentary "Empire Of Dreams". This is well worth a watch. Get the wife and kids out of the room (unless they're Star Wars fans, too), plonk yourself in front of the TV with a large bag of crisps and sink into the Star Wars Universe !!! There are multiple documentaries on the extras DVD, each one as good as the last, but Empire Of Dreams stands out, and could have maybe been on a DVD on its own. - It's that good !!!

As for the films themselves, the picture is so crisp, and the sound so outstanding, they could be completely new movies made just this year.

I won't spoil things by letting on about the extras in each film, but it's both interesting and exciting for a Star Wars fan to watch the films and see something completely new.

All in all, I think anyone who is a Star Wars fan deserves to own this outstanding box set. - Go on, treat yourselves !!!

Just enjoy it!
I've been reading, with growing amusement, the furious reviews of others who are getting very hot on under the collar because various bits have been changed and added and the classic trilogy has been tinkered with. I first saw Star Wars in 1977 when I was five and then spent the rest of my childhood pretending to be Luke Skywalker. Now I watch the films with my son (who want to be Darth Vader)and though they have changed, the magic is still there, It really doesn't matter how many stormtroopers where there in the original and how many were pasted in at a later date. These are timeless pieces of swashbuckling adventure, like the Adventures of Robin Hood or the Crimson Pirate before them. I think the problem with Star wars is that the phenomonal success has pushed the films to a level of importance which they were never intended to reach. To truly enjoy these films and to realise there wonder, I look at my sons face as Darth Vader questions the rebel by squeezing his neck or when the century ships sweep onto the falcon and the music gives you gooosebumps.