The wait is over, and all has been revealed... and it doesn't appear that Lucasfilm will be including the theatrical editions of the original Star Wars trilogy in the upcoming Blu-ray releases. Big surprise. Guess I'm hanging onto my old laserdisc set. Here's the official press release:
Bring home the adventure and share Star Wars™ with your whole family – when STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment! To be released beginning on September 12 internationally and on September 16 in North America, the nine-disc collection brings the wonder of the entire Saga direct to your living room, where you can revisit all of your favorite Star Wars moments – in gorgeous high definition and with pristine, 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Dive deeper into the universe with an unprecedented 40+ hours of special features, highlighted by never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm archives.Pre-orders are open now. There are three different options – original trilogy, prequels, or all six films. Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray will be available for $139.99 US, discounted to $89.99 on Amazon right now. The Original Trilogy is RRP $69.99 but currently$44.99 US. Same for the Prequel Trilogy.
Special Features:
STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY is presented in widescreen with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Special features include:
DISC ONE – STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC TWO – STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC THREE – STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC FOUR – STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC FIVE – STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC SIX – STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC SEVEN – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III
Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more
DISC EIGHT – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI
Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more
DISC NINE – THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES
NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more – and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes – and into the costumes – as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.
Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.
• Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray]
• Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV - VI) [Blu-ray]
• Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I - III) [Blu-ray]
The UK Complete Saga is to be £89.99, currently £69.99 via Amazon. The Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy are to be £44.99 RRP, currently £33.99.
Sigh. No sale for me, I'm afraid, not until Uncle George shows the unrevised original trilogy some love.
ReplyDeleteGarbage.
ReplyDeleteI've got the originals on VHS. *shrug*
A Blu-ray set I won't be buying, got al those extras bar a few on various formats anyway and no Theatrical Version of the films is terrible !!! I doubt any of those extra have been given the HD treatment or even could be so I'll stick with the various sets I've got !!!
ReplyDeleteI'll probably get the Original Trilogy discs, even if they're only the Special Editions...
ReplyDeleteNo. I'm sorry, but no.
ReplyDeleteCall me old Tex miseryguts, sitting in the corner, pissing and moaning about how there's no good to come of this, but no.
I've bought a lovely set of, ahem, "grey market" DVDs taken from the Japanese laserdiscs of the REAL Star Wars Trilogy, thenk yew veddy much. And THOSE are the ones I show folks, and their kids. NOT the Special-K editions.
5'll get ya 10 that Georgie Girl dinks with his "Special" editions for the Blu-ray set.
Tex
(and yew kids gerroff moy land!)
I already have the original trilogy (non-Special Edition) versions on DVD. It would of course be wonderful to have those on blu-ray too.
ReplyDeleteThose vintage documentaries would be great to have though. I don't think I've seen all of them. Certainly not the ESB one with Kersh.
I'd be tempted to get a set of the just the extras discs if they released those. And I might put the original set on a birthday or Christmas wish-list but that's about it.
ReplyDelete