Customer Reviews

Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition Without Bonus Disc)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

These are not the original movies; they are modified versions of the original films that have been tinkered with over the years in various ways. I sold my copies cheap at a garage sale recently, because I could no longer stand to watch them. If the original movies were released on DVD, I would probably buy them. I loved those old movies without the added musical numbers, CGI characters, extra sound effects, etc., etc., etc. This version was a disappointment because all of that new stuff is so distracting that it takes away from the gentle spirit and lovable goodwill of the original theatrical releases.

THE STAR WARS movies (the original trilogy) are perhaps some of the greatest movies ever made. They had great characters, a fantastic story, brilliant acting (at some parts) and were just all around fun. I grew up, of course, after they came to theaters, but like most people, I had them on VHS. I was also one of the millions of people who said Star Wars deserved a huge DVD release. In 2004 I got it, and much to my dismay, it wasn't exactly what I expected. Some of the changes are not for the better. On the contrary, the majority of them are worse. The DVD set released in 2005 is essentially the same, only you don't have bonus features... which is alright, the bonus features were nothing special anyway. The release in 2004 had four documentaries (the only good one being the A&E Special: Star Wars: Empire of Dreams), an XBOX demo (not a big XBOX fan) Star Episode III Preview (useless now) and commentary. That was about it (at least the bulk), and after such a long wait I wanted more. Like say... the holiday special that I, someone who grew up in the 90's NEVER got to see. Ever (say sorry). I also wanted the indiviual makings of the movies. When this DVD relese came around, I was disappointed that none of that stuff was included.

Star Wars was full of fun, action, loveable characters (well developed too), story and just about everything that could make a good movie. The Empire Strikes Back is often cited as the greatest sequel ever made (especially with the line: "Luke, I am your father"). With how successful and well accepted the films became, why did George Lucas decide to change it? Especially to connect it with the prequels?

The changes aren't just small things either. They're things that have me pretty upset. I'm talking more than just "Who shot first? Han or Greedo?" (but we all know the scene really is messed up and somehow lessens Hans' character). What I'm talking about are the even bigger changes such as Hayden Christensen appearing in Return of the Jedi, the CGI which is supposed to be superior, but looks a lot worse. I'm also tired of Lucas doing things like, replacing real life extras with CGI characters. This might stem from the fact that then Lucas had virtually nothing to work with, and now he has just about everything to work with. He's opting for Computers over raw talent. I'm not against computers, I'm just saying these films were already perfect the way they were, and now that Lucas has come in trying to make them even more perfect, he's destroying them. A trilogy that once stood above everything, is now being reduced. Boba Fett's voice is now the same one who did Jengo Fett in the prequels, Anakin's ghost is Hayden Christensen, even the music score has been altered to some extent. Conversations have been altered with terrible dialogue (most notably is the conversation between Darth Vader and the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back), things that were already given CGI treatment for the 1997 release were given even more CGI treatment and it looks terrible (most notably, Jabba the Hutt in A New Hope).

Overall, I'm disappointed with the DVD release. And this isn't the last to come. According to IMDB, Lucas has another release of the trilogy scheduled for release in 2007. I probably won't pick that one up.

The 1997 release was much better than this. The 1993 release even better. Movies shouldn't be altered to let them compete with "newer" movies. I think people have enough common sense to say to themselves, "You can't expect a movie made in 1977 to look like a movie made in 2006." There's a reason why the color version of Casablanca caused an uproar, and there's a reason why the original Star Wars trilogy being tweaked is causing an uproar. You're supposed to preserve classics, not ruin them. I doubt Lucas will ever let people nostalgic for the original have it. Honestly, he should have two sets out. One that's completely the original versions, every single mistake every CGI taken out and everything we loved about the original and one with all these "tweaks" for those who actually like them (you can always strap that one with a warning sticker or something). But don't limit our choices to only being able to have a trilogy that's been tarnished.

I'll let it slide with a three. Three stars because they were three great movies. But some of these changes aren't for the better. Digitally restored pictures and sound I can deal with, altered sequences I can't.

O.K. George you are almost there. I am a fan of the original movies, as I am a fan of all original movies without changes. I still only want the ORIGINAL "STAR WARS". I do like the concept of box sets without the extra discs because how many times are you going to watch the extra features. Those of you who are interested in extra features can buy the other boxed set at the higher price. Me I'm a purist, I just want the film. George you can make millions if you released them individually and in their orginal state, until then you don't get a nickel from me.

So I noticed this set at my local record store a few weeks ago, with the nice cover art, but shrugged my shoulders thinking it was just a new package for the 2004 DVD set. Several weeks later, I'm back, and I see the two side by side, and notice the price difference, so I decide to read the back and see what's different. Okay, there is obviously no 4th disc, um... what else... and then I read this:

"3-Disc Set includes all three classic movies digitally restored and remastered."

HOLY CRAP! How did I not know about this?!? I'm skeptical for a moment, but this HAS to be the original versions. There is no implication on the packaging that it is the 1997 Special Editions, and it even says "classic." I snatch it up, get in the car and race home, and prepare to finally view the films in the original theatrical, unmolested versions ... or so I thought.

I thought I would quickly hop on Amazon to see how much praise it had recieved, and see fellow fans drooling that their ultimate DVD fantasy has finally come true. Well, I find all these 1-star reviews and realize I've been duped by Lucas & Co. Thankfully I've kept it in the shrink wrap so I'll be returning this piece of garbage tomorrow.

Thanks for nothing, Lucas, you greedy fool. Your daft ploys have gone too far.

As a lover of film history, you would think that Lucas would want to preserve the original versions of his classic trilogy on DVD, but he seems determined to try to re-write history by flooding the market with still more copies of his monkeyed-with versions. <sigh!> Just give us back the originals, George! Pronto, please.

1. This is not real widescreen. GOD what a dissapointment this purchase was! I knew that this edition had added CG effects, some of which are good and some ridiculous like the singer in Jabba's house, but decided that I could live with that. The real problem is the picture-format!! The top and bottom of the picture in all three movies has simply been masked, to suit widescreen TVs.

In RETURN OF THE JEDI, look for example at the chapter index picture of Jabba's fortress with a frog creature in the foreground, and compare it to the picture in the film. How enjoyable is it to see a panorama landscape view with a fortress in the distance having the top cupolas chopped off? It is awful!!! Furthermore the color nuances are all gone in this scene, it's all reddish!!

And how enjoyable is it to see tops of heads chopped off?? It is AWFUL!!!

Why do they have to mask the top and bottom of the picture??? If they had left it whole, a widescreen TV would still not show the top and bottom because it would not fit, so it wouldn't make a difference! But on a normal TV it does! Furthermore, widescreen TVs are not actually that wide, so they still show black stripes at top and bottom with this edition!

This proves that superficial proportions of the picture is more important than the actual content and integrity of the art. IS Star Wars art? Well, I respect George Lucas for his vision and work, but a real artist would surely not treat his own work in this abusive manner.

(The widescreen editions of the newest Staw Wars films, part I, II, and III, is a different matter. They are complete in picture. They are great.)

2. The Bonus Disc doesn't satisfy real fantasy fans. Where are the detailed pictures of all creatures and original sculptures? Phil Tippet's Rancor? The frog creature ouside Jabba's nest? The chessboard creatures? The new long-necked dinosaur creature at Mos Eisley? Those are the kind of things we want to see up close! For the layman's pleasure, and for future generations of fantasy creators to learn from. Why do you deny us that George?

Please ignore all the silly fanboys complaining about the new graphics, and redundancy of this set. Quite honestly this set is for people who aren't as hard-core and don't care for all the extra stuff...but still want the films themselves. If that sounds like you then this is the set you should pick up. Though I understand the fanboy complaints, they are ultimately futile as this set is geared towards a specific group of people who don't care about all their quibbles. They just dig Star Wars!!!

I'm sorry but did anyone ever ask for the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition to be released without the bonus features? Second, the title is misleading because this really isn't a Limited Edition as the title so aptly states. Don't be duped into thinking this is the box set for the ORIGINAL EDITIONS of the Star Wars Trilogy.

I find the method of releasing the Star Wars Trilogy editions to be quite strange. First there's a Star Wars Trilogy SE DVD set released with a bonus features DVD included. Then there's a Star Wars Trilogy SE DVD set released WITHOUT features. Then there's the new, limited Original Editions of the Star Wars Trilogy released on DVD but there isn't a bonus features DVD!

Why can't there be a Star Wars Trilogy edition released with both the originals and the special editions AND the bonus features DVD? Wouldn't that save a lot of hastle?

Like others here I was befuddled when I originally saw this disc set at my local store and quickly snatched it up looking it over for a glimpse that my prayers have been answered and Lucas released a remastered version of the original films from my childhood including the original ewok song ending to Ep. VI. Believing that the use of the ORIGINAL artwork for the discs' box and no mention of the special editions on the box I bought a copy happy that I had in fact just missed this release due to my busy work schedule leading up to the holidays, but an hour later I was ready to call Lucasfilm and raise hell with their deceptive marketing practices.

DO NOT BUY THIS SET. If you want this set pay a bit more and get the bonus disc, Lucas must be made to understand that the fans WANT the original CLASSIC films on DVD, not some repackaged gimmick to pry more money from his fans.

**Avoid this set and get the 2006 "Limited Edition" 2 disc sets instead. With that set you not only get the (lackluster) 2004 special editions like here, but also the theatrical cuts of each movie.**

First off, yes, I am a Star Wars fan, and yes I own these films on DVD, VHS, and watch them regularly. This is NOT a rambling denunciation of the Special Editions or a rant against George Lucas, so please bear with me if you are an honest customer seeking real info, let me explain myself:

Yes, this "2005 Set" is just the 2004 set, without the "Bonus Disc" as many others have said, thus my comments apply equally to the previous set (note: that bonus disc is great for the 3.5 hour documentary "Empire of Dreams" and the smaller mini behind the scenes specials. The "Episode III Teaser" is fluff, as are many of the other "bonus features" which include the space filler Star Wars Battlefront II trailer and Xbox only 1 level demo.. an overhyped and sadly buggy game, and a fluff video for the overhyped Episode III:Revenge of the Sith console game). The screenshot galleries are nice, but everyone who wanted to see deleted scenes was disappointed, though many little hints can be found in the nice trailers section).


In 1997 George Lucas released the Star Wars Trilogy on the big screen again after 11 years (since the last re-release of Return of the Jedi). Many fans were upset over the Special Edition changes like Greedo suddenly taking a wild shot at Han Solo, some CGI Banthas wandering around for no reason, Jabba the Hutt's new musical theater, flute music replacing the Ewok song, a poorly done Jabba the Hutt scene with redundant dialouge and many other goofs as well as nice things like pretty new skylines on Cloud City and enhanced CGI space combat around the Death Star.

Seven years later, Lucas decided to release the films on DVD, but he would not just release them as the 1997 Special Editions, but as a "new" set that was supposedly even closer to his "original vision" and what he "always intended" the movies to be.

But that is NOT what I'm going to get into with this review. That debate has been beaten to DEATH, and the most serious fans have already encoded their Laser Disc versions of the ORIGINAL original trilogy and made them into home-made DVDs, and even made fan edits of their own "special edition" to view alongside or instead of these new incarnations.

Some will complain (as Roger Ebert does) that these movies have lost some of their "film quality" in the transfer process. It is well known among cinemaphiles that Films (that is, movies shown on celluloid) have natural imperfections in the medium, commonly known as "film grain." This "gritty sand" that is subtly noticable in movies is normal. Movies shot on Video tape (commmonly called "video" as opposed to "film") do not exhibit this texture. Likewise digital video such as movies shot entirely on digital "tape" like Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith do not have film grain. Perhaps in an effort to make the visual look of these movies more closely "Match" the prequels on DVD, the grain was mostly "removed" from this set. Some purist may criticize this. It is not my desire to do so in this review, but it is something worth noting. If film grain is something you can't live without, avoid this set.

Rather (sorry to get through this long introduction but this is Star Wars, the product with the most replies, I might as well make this UNIQUE right?), here are the reasons this set FAILS to be the ULTIMATE HOME EDITION OF STAR WARS we've all dreamed of owning:

1- The colors. Yes, Lowry Digital did a bang up job "restoring" the Trilogy so that they almost look like modern movies shot last week instead of movies shot 20 years ago. However, they used an automated process to save time and money and unfortunately this system was not quite perfect, so the color timing is way off in many scenes throughout the 6 hours of the Star Wars saga. You want examples? Sam Davatchi's page has well documented these but sadly his web page is down, but many thumbnails of his pics can be seen via google image search. But in any case, they exist, and here are some examples:

- Blue Rebel Soldiers. In a few shots of the Rebel soldiers who try to hold off the Stormtroopers in Episode IV, their outfits look blue. They are actually supposed to be gray, but some shots the blue level is too high.

- Weird lightsaber colors. This is most commonly noticed with regards to Darth Vader's lightsaber (which is supposed to be RED). Often times it turns pink or violet for no reason, and then will be red in the next shot. Too much blue, or not enough red. In a few shots in Episode V, Darth Vader's saber turns orange (when he leaps at Luke in their first fight in the "carbon freeze chamber" and when he puts his saber up to Luke in "the cave" on Yoda's Dagobah). Luke's lightsaber in Episode IV, while on the Falcon appears green in the far shot (compare this to the menu version of the same shot on the Bonus Disc, which unfortunately you don't get in this set, so compare to animated menu for that same scene in the ANH menus), when it should be blue. Luke's saber (the one Ben Kenobi says belonged to his father), is shown blue when he first swings it around in Ben's hut at the beginning of the movie. It's then bright green on the Falcon. Then it turns a blue/green color for the rest of the scene, except the last part of the "wearing the helmet with the blast shield down" training scene where Luke "starts to get the hang of it" when it is the proper blue color. In the original versions, the lightsaber was always blue, though the color faded over time to almost white in many of these shots. The automatic color balancing tool they used obviously decided green was the proper color and goofed up most of these shots. One can compare the lightsaber Luke uses in Episode V (storywise it's supposed to be the same one, and it's ALWAYS blue). Finally, in Episode IV, in the otherwise awesomely done "enhanced" lightsaber battle (the lightsabers are recolored to match the rest of the movies) between Vader and Kenobi, Vader's saber appears violet/pink in several shots, while red in a few others. There are one or two far shots (when the Stormtroopers are coming over to watch the fight) where Vader and/or Kenobi's sabers are still unpainted where Lowry Digital forgot to repaint them as they did all the other shots, so they appear as white sticks. In a quick shot where Kenobi's saber infamously "shorts out" as he's facing the camera and swinging at Vader, Lowry Digital added a glow, but forgot to color the white "core" of the saber, so it still appears to be a prop rod, rather than a fantasy energy blade.

A final lightsaber note. This is just "one scene" and so it has been heavily critized by some fans as being unimportant. I could argue for dramatic and story purposes it is VERY IMPORTANT, and so to screw it up visually is unforgiveable here. In any case, in the scene in Episode VI, when Luke swings his lightsaber at the Emperor and Darth Vader "blocks" it with his own lightsaber, and the two blades "cross" in front of the Emperor's cackling face... something strange happens. In previous versions, Luke's green blade is blocked by Vader's red blade, and they merge into a "white" area. The Emperor's face is lit up, and what appear to be black "slugs" appear on his face (this was actually a last minute touch up during the original film to cover open areas of light reflection off the unmade-up portions of the actor's face and hood). Probably in an effort to remove the "Emperor's slugs" (the fan name for these odd black blobs that appear on his face) Lowry Digital's tool made the scene very very dark, much darker than normal. As a result, the lightsabers appear more "solid" and less white. In fact, so much so, that Vader's saber appears to be IN FRONT OF LUKE'S (that is, Luke's green blade is closer to the Emperor's face than Vader's). This would lead some to suspect that the story has been changed... Luke was not trying to attack the Emperor and Vader defending. Rather Luke was "blocking" Vader from killing his own master! Wow! And all this because they wanted to remove the slugs by making it too dark, rather than removing them digitally (cheap way out leads to a greater problem). Now on the user end one can "fix" this problem by upping the brightness of their display considerably, and the lightsabers appear correct. However this makes the rest of the movie too bright, and makes obvious "garbage mattes" (VFX artifacts that appear as light green, blue or gray "boxes" around starships as they were blue/green screened into composite shots) that would normally "disappear" in a properly darkened screen stand out like sore thumbs. One more visual glitch that detracts from an otherwise phenomenal experience.

- Pink or Red? Like the Darth Vader lightsaber issue, this one is all over the map as well. When "blasters" or "turbo lasers" fire red shots (everybody fires red except for Imperial starships and starfighters which fire green), they are sometimes the proper red, and sometimes a more pink/violet color. This goes also for explosions which appear violet that were previously red/orange in other releases. But the blaster shots are the most obvious gaffe since they are supposed to be weapon that doesn't change color at random (just like Lightsabers).

- Tammy Faye Leia. Look at Princess Leia's makeup job in the early scenes in Episode IV. Also look at her makeup when she dons "forest gear" for their mission to Endor in Episode VI. That makeup looks REALLY caked on. She's like a white ghost. Her skin is pasty and pale. She does not look this bad in the originals. Rather this is due to the color balancing goofing up with either too much white (light balance) or too much pink. In the shots in Episode IV, her face is often the only "colored" object in the room (everything else is either white, or black like Vader's armor). They mistimed this.

- True Blue R2. This is primarily confined to Episode IV, but watch those shots of R2D2 wandering in the desert after the droids' "escape pod" lands. R2D2 is a frighteningly bright shade of blue. This is not correct. The original prop/costume (whatever you want to call that rig they forced Kenny Baker Jr. to ride around in for his part) is not bright plastic blue, but a kind of dark blue finish that appears almost black except when the light shines on it. The color timing obviously made a choice thinking this was "wrong" and upped the blue, making it now loud and painful on the eyes. The same can be see with the blue object attached to the escape pod noticable in the shots when the droids are first setting out into the sands. It is the same blue color as R2D2. Originally it was much darker in color (I assume this is supposed to be a "parachute" of the pod). Lowry made sure to fix a few "space" shots of R2D2 that originally showed him with Black decals (this was because the blue screen effect used sucked all the color out of R2D2 and they didn't have time to painstakingly put it back in the originals). But they neglected others. So as a result you will sometimes see the exterior of Luke's ship with R2D2 and he's bright blue. Other times, he's black (and not the dark blue he should be always).

- Yoda. Yes, Yoda is made to appear VERY green in Episode V and VI. However at the expense of the rest of the scenes he's in. He was actually a bit more blue and even brown in the original movies. As a result, everything else in the scenes looks too green. They probably did this in the hopes of making him look as vibrantly green as he was in the Prequels. But it's not quite right, and jars with the otherwise drab blueish background of Dagobah. Much of Empire Strikes Back relies on the blue color scheme, which is now a bit more green than before.

- Death Star explosion. Okay this one really bugs me. Take a look at the explosion of Alderaan in Episode IV. It's a big orange/red/yellowish fiery blast. Okay. Now compare the Death Star blowing up in the same movie. It's WHITE. Okay, some people said "well the death star is a cold artificial thing, so maybe it just blows up white." The trouble is in the earlier verisons of the movie the Death Star explosion was the same color scheme roughly as Alderaan. And now check the Death Star II explosion on this set, and what do you find? Nice red/orange/yellowish fiery explosion again! So this was another color timing error. And for those who still need proof, watch the Episode IV Death Star explosion closely. On the outer right edge of the explosion you'll see some obvious, bad blue screen artifacting (looks like blue glow). That wasn't there before! Lowry Digital screwed up again.

2-Sound issues:

Now this one 20th Century Fox actually commented on, and many of us smelled BS. Basically here is what they said:

"Thanks for being so observant, the audience really is listening, these were DELIBERATE CREATIVE DECISIONS." And then just turned away.

Here are the issues, and I'll explain why their excuse is suspect (these are all relating to Episode IV):

- In Episode IV, the stereo channels are reversed. Why is this a "creative decision"? Isn't it rather, "incorrect"? An object you see moving on your right, but sounds like it's moving on your left is a gaffe, isn't it?

- When Govenor Tarkin is talking to Princess Leia on the Death Star, he says "You prefer another target... then name the system! I grow tired of asking..." notice in his speech that the vocal quality of those lines changes rapidly. Sometimes there is a noticable "hiss" behind his lines and other times not. The DVD authors forgot to balance the lines properly so they are all at the same vocal level. This was not part of earlier versions of Star Wars. Likewise notice that whenever Leia speaks in the parts of this conversation suddenly you hear a tape hiss in the background of her lines. It's very noticeable if you have your speakers turned up. Is this also a "creative decision" to make the lines sound more like artificial recordings than natural speech?

Finally, the biggest complaint people had, which is most easily recognizable and puts the nail in the "creative decision" excuse's coffin, is that "horns" incident with the attack on the Death Star. This is often referred to as the famous "Force fanfare" (I think). When Red Leader is saying "...wait for my signal to start your attack run" and then you get a dramatic shot of the X-Wings looping around in formation to swing into the Death Star trench for the first time. You here a big "DUN DUN DUH DUN DUN DUN!" in the music. But in the regular audio tracks, this is completely drowned out by loud engine noise from the fighters, so it almost appears to be WITHOUT music (it's actually still there, just much quieter than before). Creative decision? At first glance, however if you switch from the English to the FRENCH sound track (which is available on Region 1 DVD's at least), suddenly you hear the proper "horns" playing during this same section.

So is Fox saying that French people must hear the scene as it was for twenty years, but English and Spanish speakers must now get only loud engines? Something is fishy at Fox studios!

One could go on and complain about the poor line delivery of Ian McDiarmond (compared to Clive Revil) in his new scene as the Emperor (his voice actually cracks when he says "he could destroy us") or the bored mechanical way that supposed villian Boba Fett delivers his lines in the redubbed by Teumora Morrison scenes also of Empire Strikes Back, but then certain fans could get the satisfaction that I'm complaining ONLY because Lucas keeps altering his movies, and I must just be upset about the Special Edition. So I won't. Rather, I comment on the actual GAFFES in this release, which were not in previous Special Editions, but are NEW, that we the purchasers of these DVD's get to experience for the first time, which should have been caught before release in testing.

These color and sound issues issues are things you can't simply ignore when watching the films, so people buying this, even if they are devoted Lucasphiles who love every change he's ever made to Star Wars, need to consider this before they plunk down their change, thinking this will be the definitive home set of these classics.

As a self-proclaimed "visual filmmaker" Lucas can't ignore these things, and really I think the rush-job to release these new DVD's out in time for a simultaneous release with Star Wars Battlefront (LucasArts actually reported a sales figure that COMBINED sales of the Trilogy DVD box set and the video game, and used this to claim that Star Wars Battlefront was the "#1 best selling Star Wars game of all time"... can you say, fudge marketing??). It's too bad they didn't go back and repair the damage in this 2005 re-issue.

If I were to recommend this set, I would do so for the set with the bonus disc. Despite much of it being fluff and lacking many features fans truly wanted (like actual deleted scenes and commentary that wasn't 50% Ben Burtt gushing about his sound effects skills, which are admittedly amazing of course), it has more value added than this 2005 set which merely changes the packaging. At least it's something!

So let the Buyer Beware, and don't shoot the messenger! ;)