The Star Wars Classic Trilogy on DVD: Buy Them Again for the First Time
By now, I'm sure that all of our intrepid readers have heard the news of the imminent release of the Classic Star Wars Trilogy on DVD this fall. For those that haven't, or who will be too lazy to click through to read the announcement, here's the gist: Ever since the introduction of the "Special Edition" remixes of the original Star Wars Trilogy released by Lucas in the late 90's, fans have been begging for the availability of the original, unaltered, unenhanced versions which had previously been available only on VHS and Laserdisc. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the series or the "Special Editions", they came about as a sort of marketing pre-hype for the release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 1999. Lucas had long spoken of how the original movies did not come out as he "would have liked" given the limits of technology in the late 70's, and if he had the chance to do them over again they would be greatly improved. Enter the Special Editions-Lucas took the original films, cleaned up the picture, sharpened the sound into 5.1 Dolby Digital, enhanced a number of the special effect sequences (the attack on the Death Star from A New Hope was one major "upgrade"), and, in several instances, inserted new or previously deleted scenes (the conversation between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt from A New Hope, originally filmed with a large actor portraying Jabba, was re-edited with a CGI version of the slug superimposed over the actor). It also brought about one of the biggest controversies ever witnessed amongst Star Wars fans-the "Greedo shot first" incident of the late nineties.So, in a move all too familiar to Star Wars fans, Lucasfilm has announced yet another release of the Classic Trilogy-this time, in individual two-disc editions, showcasing not only the 2004 DVD version of each film, but as "bonus" material, the original, uncut, unenhanced, theatrical versions. I find it interesting that they are not fully committing to this release, but rather marketing them as "bonus material" for what amounts to reissues of the same DVDs that were release 2 years ago. Fans of the series, while not strangers to the practice of re-buying what they already own, must at least feel somewhat slighted in that, after just spending $60 for these films, they must spend another $60 just for the "privilege" of owning the theatrical versions. I also find it interesting that, while never officially announced by Lucasfilm (but also never officially denied, and keep in mind George maintained all along he would never release these versions on DVD) there are rumblings of a massive box set of all six films, complete with bonus materials to end all bonus materials, of which these upcoming releases are NOT part of.
In closing, let me say that, like the good Star Wars drone that I am, I will not only be purchasing these movies that I already own in several incarnations, but will most likely be getting them the day they are released. It just disappoints me that we've had to wait so long to have access to these versions and will be forced to repurchase the movies we already own just for the honor. So, to recap:
The Good:
- 1977 special effects at their best
- A Hayden Christensen-less Return of the Jedi
- Han shoots first!
- Buying yet another copy of DVDs we already own
- The massive box set is most likely just around the corner
- The fans that are going to wait in line outside Best Buy to purchase these DVDs