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96 of 114 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Beware of the Dark Side, September 11, 2006
So after waiting 11 years or so, we finally get a re-release of the original version of Return of the Jedi in all it's unaltered glory. Just as fans have been dreaming about since the advent of DVD.
Well, um...I don't think any fan was dreaming about this particular release.
The original release version of Return of the Jedi (the only reason to buy this set as most all fans will already have one of the previous Special Edition releases) is relegated to bonus material on disc two. Ouch! But wait, it gets worse.
George Lucas, the champion of pristine presentation in the theatre and at home has released the film that made him a legend in the state of the art of technology circa 1993.
Yes, that's right. This transfer is from the laserdisc release of '93. Even worse the film is not anamorphic like just about every other modern day DVD. What does that mean? Well a non-anamorphic DVD has a low visual clarity and the image won't fill a widescreen TV. To make a movie anamorphic takes very little time and money. That Jedi is not anamorphic shows a disregard for the film that is disturbing.
Star Wars fans expect these landmark films to be treated just like many other films (Vertigo, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Snow White, etc.) that have gotten detailed restorations that cleaned up dirt, grime and audio ticks and presented the films in today's state of the art. This is the release most fans were dreaming of. A release that showed the film some modicrum of respect.
George, the fan base you have worked so hard to woo over the years is fed up with your shoddy treatment of these films.
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61 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Slaps your face with one hand and picks your pocket with the other., May 26, 2006
This could very easily be an ecstatic 5-star review. The original, unaltered Star Wars trilogy, finally on DVD with no droid & alien cartoon antics, no Hayden Christensen's face on Sebastian Shaw's body, no videogame-quality Jabba the Hutt, the original Academy Award-winning special effects, the music we remember... This should be a red-letter DVD release for Star Wars fans. Sadly, it is not.
Here's why you should boycott this release:
1. The picture & sound are intentionally presented in mediocre quality. These DVD's are transferred from the exact same videotape used to create the laserdisc release in 1993. That means a non-anamorphic, muddy, letterboxed picture that will have to be zoomed in to fill widescreen TVs or computer monitors. Lucasfilm refuses to fulfill the basic minimum standards of a current DVD release and make a new transfer. The quality of this DVD presentation will not live up to that of such timeless classics as Caddyshack II & Ishtar.
2. It's overpriced. If Lucasfilm is only willing to toss out these beloved films in this shoddy version, and they are unwilling to spend any time or money at all on their release, that is their right. They should charge accordingly. As bootleg-quality laserdisc transfers, these DVD's should sell for $5-$10, tops. Incredibly, Lucasfilm is charging $90 retail for these three movies! That's almost twice the cost of the (still available) box set with the exact same Special Edition discs!
They're trying to justify the cost by bundling the unaltered movies (the only reason to buy this version) with the Special Edition movies, but they must know it's a sham. Anybody who is willing to pay $90 ($60 @ Amazon) for the Special Edition DVD's has already bought the existing box sets. The Special Edition discs in this set are a complete waste of plastic, and they do not justify the outrageous cost.
If, for some reason, you have not yet purchased Star Wars on DVD, this set may be an adequate value. For anyone else, this set plus the existing box set you already have will run you a total of $160 retail ($110 @ Amazon). Is that a fair price to pay for an intentionally mediocre release of the movie that made Lucas' empire possible? Is it right to release this classic piece of cinematic history with picture and sound quality far below the latest releases of Buckaroo Banzai or Barbarella? I'll leave that for you to decide.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed that the Theatrical cuts are non-anamorphic, July 17, 2006
Well, I was going to pick these up to get the theatrical cut of each film in a widescreen release, but it looks like I will not now. It's really disappointing that they are non-anamorphic and since it seems to be inevitable that they will be re-released at some point with anamorphic transfers despite the fact that Lucas says otherwise. If I was still using a standard television set for my primary device to view DVDs, this would be fine for now I suppose, but having just purchased a widescreen television in January, non-anamorphic DVDs are not attractive to me at all.
So a warning to all, if you don't know the difference between anamorphic and non-anamorphic DVDs and unless you don't mind buying these again to get anamorphic transfers in the future, I suggest you go do a search on the web to see for yourself what the difference is so that you can make a more informed purchase.
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