STAR WARS - ON BLU-RAY... TO BE CONTINUED
The new Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu Ray Disc set is coming to stores on September 16 and it’s sure to be a huge High-Definition revelation for a new generation of children, old Sci Fi fans and the overall geekitude universe. If you’ve lost count, this is now the 927thversion of the films that George Lucas has released in the past 25+ years or so (give or take a few) and it may or may not be the last. Unless they come up with ANOTHER way to watch films. Perhaps instant downloads into your cranium or eyeball retina inserts. I’m not sure, but both seem completely feasible in the near future.
If you’ve lost track (I know I have) ‘ole Georgey has released the films in these mind blowing variations…
Star Wars - VHS
The Empire Strikes Back - VHS
Return Of The Jedi – VHS
Star Wars - Betamax
The Empire Strikes Back - Betamax
Return Of The Jedi – Betamax
WAIT!
Let me rewind a bit (get it?) and get a little home viewing history going here. When George Lucas finished the original Star Wars film, he exceeded his original film budget by so much that he gave up the rights to the film and to some of the marketing and licensing. The movie was a smash hit and the toys and licensing materials made him a ton of money. Eventually this money gave him the power to negotiate the film rights back to him and help finance the next film (The Empire Strikes Back). When Star Wars was released on VHS and Betamax tape for home viewing, the studio was still in control and George had almost no control on how it was released. Back in the day (1977–1985) it took a really long time for a movie to come out on video—anywhere from six months to a year (Now they come out in about two weeks) and the studios did the bare minimum to get them on tape and out to the public.
Directors and filmmakers didn’t have a lot of control over how the materials were being released back then. The VHS color was bad, the audio terrible and the movie got cut off on the top, bottom and sides. It was a pretty primitive system. Betamax was basically on the way out before George started profiting from it and getting quality control of the home video releases, but it’s still a version of the films to be noted. But by the time Lucas was in full control of his destiny, he was raking in the cash by the boatloads for all three films and their respective merchandising. And don’t forget, when VHS tapes were for sale in the 80’s and even in the early 90’s, they could range in price anywhere from $79 to $129. Zoinks! So even though the films were just basic crappy transfers on VHS tapes, George was still making buku bucks. Then, the Laserdisc came…
Star Wars - Laserdisc
The Empire Strikes Back - Laserdisc
Return Of The Jedi – Laserdisc
Star Wars complete edition - Laserdisc
The Laserdisc was really a game changer because it showed the power of the home entertainment market and that people had a desire to watch high quality films at home with stereo sound and excellent visuals. Not only that, Laserdiscs were convenient to use because of their ability to jump to scenes. Like the Music CD after the cassette tape, things were changing quickly. Right around the early to mid 90s, Lucas, Spielberg and Scorsese started touting the virtues of watching films in their proper aspect ratio. They started releasing their films and other film classics they had the rights to in “Letterbox” versions of the film, or as it’s now called, WIDESCREEN. Unfortunately it was so ingrained in popular culture for people to watch films on their television, that many people didn’t realize they were watching films with the sides cut off to fit the aspect ration of the TV box shape. Generations of kids watched the Star Wars films without knowing that action and characters were appearing over other character’s shoulders or seeing any of the grand set designs that were painstakingly created.
But many folks were unable to get this message through their thick skulls and started to backlash against the letterbox/widescreen. The film industry started putting messages before films to instruct the viewer on what they were watching. Messages like “you are watching the letterbox edition of this film, the black bars at the top and bottom are normal for this film aspect ratio, you dumb fuck” or something like that. People still didn’t understand and simply wanted to watch films in the regular TV box shape, so while industry people were making Widescreen VHS movies, they were also releasing “FULLSCREEN” versions—or as I call them, idiot box versions.
George was one of the first people to release a major motion picture, the Star Wars Trilogy in particular, in a Special Edition Letterbox set in the proper aspect ratio…
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – VHS - Letterbox
A lot of people felt that the widescreen versions made the film look too small on their TVs and they wanted the film to “fill up” the TV screen and so the Fullscreen remained as popular, if not more popular than the letterbox/widescreen versions that were being released. (Yes, that was Orson Wells rolling over in his grave). So all of a sudden around 1996, we had a strange mixture of preferences happening all at once. The DVD started showing up in stores and it challenged the laserdisc. People still loved the VHS. Some wanted letterbox and other wanted fullscreen. It got a little nuts.
But this is where Lucas REALLY nailed the market. Before the second trilogy hit the market, he started a barrage of versioning that would not only satisfy every demographic for film watching, it would net him insane amounts of money. Around 1997, he spent 10 million dollars revamping the original trilogy, buffing it up shiny and new with enhanced digital special effects, CGI and added characters and released them in theaters and then on VHS and DVD as the “Special Editions.” He also catered to the people who wanted the ORIGINAL untouched films. If you remember the marketing campaign in video stores, it was “The Original. One last Time.” Here’s how all the different versions went down when all was said and done…
ORIGINAL FILMS:
Star Wars – VHS - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back – VHS - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi – VHS – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars – DVD - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back – DVD - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi – Laserdisc – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
Star Wars – VHS - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back – VHS - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars – DVD - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back – DVD - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars – Laserdisc - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back – Laserdisc - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi – Laserdisc – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – Laserdisc – Widescreen
SPECIAL EDITIONS:
Star Wars: Special Edition – VHS - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – VHS - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – VHS – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set: Special Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – Laserdisc – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – Laserdic - Fullscreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – VHS - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – VHS - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – DVD - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – DVD - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – Laserdisc – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Widescreen
Whew! Did you get all that? That’s an incredible amount of variations on three movies. Of course the VHS and laserdisc have gone by the way of the Dodo, but tell that to my dad back in 1997 when he was still chaffing against the DVD. He still has a set of original Star Wars VHS tapes he wrangled at the Blockbuster Video that are still in the plastic wrap and sitting in a cabinet. Worth about 50¢ on eBay!
Then, when the horrible (read: tolerable) prequels came out on home viewing, it went like this…
PREQUELS:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith– VHS – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith– DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith– DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – Laserdisc – Widescreen
(note: There may be more versions of Phantom Menace Laserdiscs but it’s hard to say as Laserdisc was almost phased out by then)
By the time these prequel films started coming out on DVD and for some reason VHS, George started reworking and repackaging the original trilogy AGAIN! This time, he re-titled them and put them in numerical order so that they had their place in the whole pantheon of films. By 2004 Mr. Lucas had reworked and remastered the films ONE MORE TIME and releasing them in both the new NEW version and with the original theatrical releases as a Limited Edition. I guess he was kidding when he said in 1997 “The Original, One Last Time.” Fortunately he had eliminated the VHS at this point and was just doing DVDs. But still, here’s the rundown…
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Limited Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Limited Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Limited Edition – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set Limited Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Limited Edition – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Limited Edition – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Limited Edition – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Limited Edition – DVD – Widescreen
But then George figured, “Hey, you know, people liked the original films SO MUCH, why not release them just by themselves on DVD…”
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Original Theatrical Release– DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Original Theatrical Release – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Original Theatrical Release – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Original Theatrical Release – DVD – Widescreen
Then of course he released all the Special Edition films on DVD without the original theatrical releases in the case, so you simply had the new remastered films and nothing else…
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Enhanced Version – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Enhanced Version – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Enhanced Version – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Enhanced Versions – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Enhanced Version – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Enhanced Version – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Enhanced Version – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Enhanced Versions – DVD – Widescreen
Are you bleary eyed yet? I sure am! And if you can even fathom what I’m about to write next, your head might pop off your neck like a firecracker on a dandelion. I haven’t even begun to mention the incredible amount of collector’s editions and alternate versions that went along with these. All the way back to the 1997 VHS tapes. Some had bonus documentaries disks, some didn’t. Some had photo books, some didn’t. Some of the documentaries and bonus disks were sold separately. The variations are mind-boggling—tin cases, giant box sets, photo books, making-of docs, Music CDs of John Williams score, remastered, originals, special editions, limited editions, special limited editions, Special limited editions with bonus disks. It just goes on and on and on.
And NOW, yes now we finally have the Blu Ray disks coming out so we can all get the glorious films of our youth (or some reasonable bastardization of them) in High Definition glory. God knows what versioning we’ll be seeing or how many times it will be repackaged. But I assume it will be pretty tight this time around. No VHS, no Laserdisc and certainly no FULLSCREEN. I think George is just releasing the six films remastered in High Definition Blu Ray in a box set with enough bonus materials and documentaries to keep you indoors for a good chuck of your life, and the two trilogies in separate box sets (I-III and IV-VI). That sounds great, right? The variations are going to be something like this…
Star Wars Episode I-III Trilogy Box Set – Blu Ray
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set – Blu Ray
Star Wars Episode I-VI Complete Saga Box Set – Blu Ray
Wait, hold on a minute! You think it’s over? It’s not over! Did you know that George is converting all six films into 3-D and RE-RELEASING all of them in the theaters? I know! HOLY SHIT! That means when the films come out on 3-D DVD… AGAIN, they’ll be more versions to buy! So it could be something like this…
Star Wars Episode I-III Trilogy Box Set – 3D
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set – 3D
Star Wars Episode I-VI Complete Saga Box Set – 3D
And since he’s releasing the films in the theater at different times, he may also release the 3-D DVD versions when they’re ready to hit the DVD market, which could mean six different 3-D DVD releases. That way, the kid that nobody likes who thinks ‘Attack Of The Clones’ is the only one worth owning, by golly, he’ll have the chance to own ONLY that film. So it’s entirely possible that there will be anywhere from 12 to 3,952 different 3-D DVD variations on the six films. Oh joy!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Star Wars movies. I saw the original Star Wars in the theater with my family when I was six years-old. It blew me away like it does every child who has the pleasure of seeing it for the first time. The films are a part of my being as much as my DNA and any sort of life philosophies I’ve adopted. I actually believe the force exists in some way and I’ve tried using it on many occasions.
I guess the point of this whole exercise (besides how you can rework the same thing over and over) is that if you manage to wait it out, you’ll eventually get a bigger and better version. And this could apply across the consumerist board. If you wait for the new Apple Computer, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee or the new whatever, you’ll be waiting forever because they’re always releasing the bigger better version.
So now you consumers out there have a decision to make. Do you pounce and get the Star Wars Blu Ray Complete Saga, wait for all six 3-D movies to hit theaters and then come onto the 3-D DVD home entertainment market, or do you wait for the 4-D hologram version that can beam directly into your cerebral cortex and comes with virtual reality eye goggles?
Like Han Solo dropping cargo at the first sign of an Imperial Cruiser, these are the tough decisions we’re unfortunately forced to make.
If you’ve lost track (I know I have) ‘ole Georgey has released the films in these mind blowing variations…
Star Wars - VHS
The Empire Strikes Back - VHS
Return Of The Jedi – VHS
Star Wars - Betamax
The Empire Strikes Back - Betamax
Return Of The Jedi – Betamax
WAIT!
Let me rewind a bit (get it?) and get a little home viewing history going here. When George Lucas finished the original Star Wars film, he exceeded his original film budget by so much that he gave up the rights to the film and to some of the marketing and licensing. The movie was a smash hit and the toys and licensing materials made him a ton of money. Eventually this money gave him the power to negotiate the film rights back to him and help finance the next film (The Empire Strikes Back). When Star Wars was released on VHS and Betamax tape for home viewing, the studio was still in control and George had almost no control on how it was released. Back in the day (1977–1985) it took a really long time for a movie to come out on video—anywhere from six months to a year (Now they come out in about two weeks) and the studios did the bare minimum to get them on tape and out to the public.
Directors and filmmakers didn’t have a lot of control over how the materials were being released back then. The VHS color was bad, the audio terrible and the movie got cut off on the top, bottom and sides. It was a pretty primitive system. Betamax was basically on the way out before George started profiting from it and getting quality control of the home video releases, but it’s still a version of the films to be noted. But by the time Lucas was in full control of his destiny, he was raking in the cash by the boatloads for all three films and their respective merchandising. And don’t forget, when VHS tapes were for sale in the 80’s and even in the early 90’s, they could range in price anywhere from $79 to $129. Zoinks! So even though the films were just basic crappy transfers on VHS tapes, George was still making buku bucks. Then, the Laserdisc came…
Star Wars - Laserdisc
The Empire Strikes Back - Laserdisc
Return Of The Jedi – Laserdisc
Star Wars complete edition - Laserdisc
The Laserdisc was really a game changer because it showed the power of the home entertainment market and that people had a desire to watch high quality films at home with stereo sound and excellent visuals. Not only that, Laserdiscs were convenient to use because of their ability to jump to scenes. Like the Music CD after the cassette tape, things were changing quickly. Right around the early to mid 90s, Lucas, Spielberg and Scorsese started touting the virtues of watching films in their proper aspect ratio. They started releasing their films and other film classics they had the rights to in “Letterbox” versions of the film, or as it’s now called, WIDESCREEN. Unfortunately it was so ingrained in popular culture for people to watch films on their television, that many people didn’t realize they were watching films with the sides cut off to fit the aspect ration of the TV box shape. Generations of kids watched the Star Wars films without knowing that action and characters were appearing over other character’s shoulders or seeing any of the grand set designs that were painstakingly created.
But many folks were unable to get this message through their thick skulls and started to backlash against the letterbox/widescreen. The film industry started putting messages before films to instruct the viewer on what they were watching. Messages like “you are watching the letterbox edition of this film, the black bars at the top and bottom are normal for this film aspect ratio, you dumb fuck” or something like that. People still didn’t understand and simply wanted to watch films in the regular TV box shape, so while industry people were making Widescreen VHS movies, they were also releasing “FULLSCREEN” versions—or as I call them, idiot box versions.
George was one of the first people to release a major motion picture, the Star Wars Trilogy in particular, in a Special Edition Letterbox set in the proper aspect ratio…
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – VHS - Letterbox
A lot of people felt that the widescreen versions made the film look too small on their TVs and they wanted the film to “fill up” the TV screen and so the Fullscreen remained as popular, if not more popular than the letterbox/widescreen versions that were being released. (Yes, that was Orson Wells rolling over in his grave). So all of a sudden around 1996, we had a strange mixture of preferences happening all at once. The DVD started showing up in stores and it challenged the laserdisc. People still loved the VHS. Some wanted letterbox and other wanted fullscreen. It got a little nuts.
But this is where Lucas REALLY nailed the market. Before the second trilogy hit the market, he started a barrage of versioning that would not only satisfy every demographic for film watching, it would net him insane amounts of money. Around 1997, he spent 10 million dollars revamping the original trilogy, buffing it up shiny and new with enhanced digital special effects, CGI and added characters and released them in theaters and then on VHS and DVD as the “Special Editions.” He also catered to the people who wanted the ORIGINAL untouched films. If you remember the marketing campaign in video stores, it was “The Original. One last Time.” Here’s how all the different versions went down when all was said and done…
ORIGINAL FILMS:
Star Wars – VHS - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back – VHS - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi – VHS – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars – DVD - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back – DVD - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi – Laserdisc – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
Star Wars – VHS - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back – VHS - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars – DVD - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back – DVD - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars – Laserdisc - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back – Laserdisc - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi – Laserdisc – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set – Laserdisc – Widescreen
SPECIAL EDITIONS:
Star Wars: Special Edition – VHS - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – VHS - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – VHS – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set: Special Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Fullscreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – Laserdisc – Fullscreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – Laserdic - Fullscreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – VHS - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – VHS - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – DVD - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – DVD - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition Box Set – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Widescreen
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Widescreen
Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition – Laserdisc – Widescreen
Star Wars Trilogy Box Set: Special Edition – Laserdisc - Widescreen
Whew! Did you get all that? That’s an incredible amount of variations on three movies. Of course the VHS and laserdisc have gone by the way of the Dodo, but tell that to my dad back in 1997 when he was still chaffing against the DVD. He still has a set of original Star Wars VHS tapes he wrangled at the Blockbuster Video that are still in the plastic wrap and sitting in a cabinet. Worth about 50¢ on eBay!
Then, when the horrible (read: tolerable) prequels came out on home viewing, it went like this…
PREQUELS:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith– VHS – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – VHS - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith– DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– VHS - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – VHS – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones– DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith– DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I-III Box Set – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – Laserdisc – Widescreen
(note: There may be more versions of Phantom Menace Laserdiscs but it’s hard to say as Laserdisc was almost phased out by then)
By the time these prequel films started coming out on DVD and for some reason VHS, George started reworking and repackaging the original trilogy AGAIN! This time, he re-titled them and put them in numerical order so that they had their place in the whole pantheon of films. By 2004 Mr. Lucas had reworked and remastered the films ONE MORE TIME and releasing them in both the new NEW version and with the original theatrical releases as a Limited Edition. I guess he was kidding when he said in 1997 “The Original, One Last Time.” Fortunately he had eliminated the VHS at this point and was just doing DVDs. But still, here’s the rundown…
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Limited Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Limited Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Limited Edition – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set Limited Edition – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Limited Edition – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Limited Edition – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Limited Edition – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Limited Edition – DVD – Widescreen
But then George figured, “Hey, you know, people liked the original films SO MUCH, why not release them just by themselves on DVD…”
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Original Theatrical Release– DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Original Theatrical Release – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Original Theatrical Release – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Original Theatrical Release – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Original Theatrical Release – DVD – Widescreen
Then of course he released all the Special Edition films on DVD without the original theatrical releases in the case, so you simply had the new remastered films and nothing else…
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Enhanced Version – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Enhanced Version – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Enhanced Version – DVD – Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Enhanced Versions – DVD - Fullscreen
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Enhanced Version – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Enhanced Version – DVD - Widescreen
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi: Enhanced Version – DVD – Widescreen
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set: Enhanced Versions – DVD – Widescreen
Are you bleary eyed yet? I sure am! And if you can even fathom what I’m about to write next, your head might pop off your neck like a firecracker on a dandelion. I haven’t even begun to mention the incredible amount of collector’s editions and alternate versions that went along with these. All the way back to the 1997 VHS tapes. Some had bonus documentaries disks, some didn’t. Some had photo books, some didn’t. Some of the documentaries and bonus disks were sold separately. The variations are mind-boggling—tin cases, giant box sets, photo books, making-of docs, Music CDs of John Williams score, remastered, originals, special editions, limited editions, special limited editions, Special limited editions with bonus disks. It just goes on and on and on.
And NOW, yes now we finally have the Blu Ray disks coming out so we can all get the glorious films of our youth (or some reasonable bastardization of them) in High Definition glory. God knows what versioning we’ll be seeing or how many times it will be repackaged. But I assume it will be pretty tight this time around. No VHS, no Laserdisc and certainly no FULLSCREEN. I think George is just releasing the six films remastered in High Definition Blu Ray in a box set with enough bonus materials and documentaries to keep you indoors for a good chuck of your life, and the two trilogies in separate box sets (I-III and IV-VI). That sounds great, right? The variations are going to be something like this…
Star Wars Episode I-III Trilogy Box Set – Blu Ray
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set – Blu Ray
Star Wars Episode I-VI Complete Saga Box Set – Blu Ray
Wait, hold on a minute! You think it’s over? It’s not over! Did you know that George is converting all six films into 3-D and RE-RELEASING all of them in the theaters? I know! HOLY SHIT! That means when the films come out on 3-D DVD… AGAIN, they’ll be more versions to buy! So it could be something like this…
Star Wars Episode I-III Trilogy Box Set – 3D
Star Wars Episode IV-VI Trilogy Box Set – 3D
Star Wars Episode I-VI Complete Saga Box Set – 3D
And since he’s releasing the films in the theater at different times, he may also release the 3-D DVD versions when they’re ready to hit the DVD market, which could mean six different 3-D DVD releases. That way, the kid that nobody likes who thinks ‘Attack Of The Clones’ is the only one worth owning, by golly, he’ll have the chance to own ONLY that film. So it’s entirely possible that there will be anywhere from 12 to 3,952 different 3-D DVD variations on the six films. Oh joy!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Star Wars movies. I saw the original Star Wars in the theater with my family when I was six years-old. It blew me away like it does every child who has the pleasure of seeing it for the first time. The films are a part of my being as much as my DNA and any sort of life philosophies I’ve adopted. I actually believe the force exists in some way and I’ve tried using it on many occasions.
I guess the point of this whole exercise (besides how you can rework the same thing over and over) is that if you manage to wait it out, you’ll eventually get a bigger and better version. And this could apply across the consumerist board. If you wait for the new Apple Computer, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee or the new whatever, you’ll be waiting forever because they’re always releasing the bigger better version.
So now you consumers out there have a decision to make. Do you pounce and get the Star Wars Blu Ray Complete Saga, wait for all six 3-D movies to hit theaters and then come onto the 3-D DVD home entertainment market, or do you wait for the 4-D hologram version that can beam directly into your cerebral cortex and comes with virtual reality eye goggles?
Like Han Solo dropping cargo at the first sign of an Imperial Cruiser, these are the tough decisions we’re unfortunately forced to make.