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created 12/15/97.
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created: 9/9/04
updated: 9/21/04
The
Star Wars Trilogy
1979-1983
(2004) - (Lucasfilm) 20th Century Fox
review
by Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits
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Overall
Set Rating
(Video/Audio/Extras):
A/A-/B
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Episode
IV - A New Hope
Film Rating: A
Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras):
A/B/B
Specs and Features
125 mins, PG, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced,
THX-certified, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at
63:08 at the start of chapter 28), keep case packaging with
custom slipcase, audio commentary (with writer/director George
Lucas, star Carrie Fisher, sound designer Ben Burtt and special
effects supervisor Dennis Muren), THX Optimizer, DVD-ROM
weblink, 3 random animated film-themed menus sets with sound and
music, scene access (50 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1 EX
& 2.0 Surround), French and Spanish (DD 2.0 Surround),
subtitles: English, Closed Captioned
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Episode
V - The Empire Strikes Back
Film Rating: A+
Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras):
A/A/B
Specs and Features
127 mins, PG, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced,
THX-certified, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at
58:02 in chapter 27), keep case packaging with custom slipcase,
audio commentary (with writer/producer George Lucas, director
Irvin Kershner, star Carrie Fisher, sound designer Ben Burtt and
special effects supervisor Dennis Muren), THX Optimizer, DVD-ROM
weblink, 3 random animated film-themed menus sets with sound and
music, scene access (50 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1 EX
& 2.0 Surround), French and Spanish (DD 2.0 Surround),
subtitles: English, Closed Captioned
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Episode
VI - Return of the Jedi
Film Rating: C+
Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras):
A/A/B
Specs and Features
135 mins, PG, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced,
THX-certified, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at
62:38 at the start of chapter 22), keep case packaging with
custom slipcase, audio commentary (with writer/producer George
Lucas, star Carrie Fisher, sound designer Ben Burtt and special
effects supervisor Dennis Muren), THX Optimizer, DVD-ROM
weblink, 3 random animated film-themed menus sets with sound and
music, scene access (50 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1 EX
& 2.0 Surround), French and Spanish (DD 2.0 Surround),
subtitles: English, Closed Captioned
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Star
Wars Trilogy - Bonus Material
Disc Rating (Extras): B
Specs and Features
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the
Star Wars Trilogy documentary (151 mins - 16x9, DD
2.0, 12 chapters), The Characters of
Star Wars featurette (19 mins - 16x9, DD 2.0), The
Birth of the Lightsaber featurette (16 mins - 16x9,
DD 2.0), The Force is with Them: The
Legacy of Star Wars featurette (13 mins - 16x9, DD
2.0), 10 theatrical trailers & 11 TV spots (all 16x9),
production photo gallery, poster art gallery, Episode
III preview featurette (The
Return of Darth Vader - 9 mins - 16x9, DD 2.0), Episode
III: Making the Game featurette (6 mins - 16x9, DD
2.0), videogame trailer, playable Star
Wars Battlefront Xbox game demo, Easter
egg, DVD-ROM weblink, keep case packaging with custom
slipcase, animated film-themed menus with sound and music,
feature access, languages: English (DD 2.0), subtitles: none
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Part
One - The Films & Changes
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"A
long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."
It's very strange to finally be writing a review of these films on
DVD. I don't think a single day has gone by in the eight years we've
been running The Digital Bits
that we weren't asked: "When is Star
Wars coming out on DVD?" We've struggled to answer
that question as best we could of course, constantly checking with
both 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm. We've repeatedly tried to
convince George Lucas himself to release these films on DVD,
eventually succeeding in getting at least the prequel films on disc
(after a LONG campaign with other websites in which we jointly
collected over 30,000 signatures and took out
a
full page ad in Daily Variety). But as to the ultimate
question of when Star Wars,
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi would be
released on our favorite format, Lucasfilm's answer was always "eventually".
Well... eventually has finally arrived, hard though it is to
believe.
The Star Wars Trilogy arrives
on DVD in the form of a new 4-disc box set, containing not only the
much-loved movies, but also a separate disc of all-new bonus
material. So let's take a closer look, shall we? We'll start with
the films themselves.
As most of you know, Star Wars: Episode
IV - A New Hope tells the story of Luke Skywalker, a
young farmboy living on a backwater planet with dreams escaping his
humdrum plight for a life of heroism in outer space. It seems that
the galaxy is embroiled in a massive civil war between the evil
Galactic Empire and the freedom-loving Rebel Alliance. Luke longs to
fight for what he believes in, but the conflict is raging a long way
from his far-flung world... at least until a pair of bumbling droids
suddenly arrives on his uncle's farm. Luke discovers that the droids
are carrying a secret message from a Rebel princess, intended for a
wizened Jedi Knight named Obi-Wan Kenobi, who happens to live
nearby. The droids are also carrying the stolen plans for the
Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, a massive space station
with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet. Unless these
plans can be safely delivered to the Rebel forces, their struggle
for freedom and justice will be crushed once and for all. So with
the help of Kenobi and a wise-cracking pirate named Han Solo, Luke
suddenly finds himself whisked away into deep space on the adventure
of his life, pursued all the while by the Empire's most sinister
agent of evil... Darth Vader.
It's really unnecessary to say much more about this film, as you're
all no doubt intimately familiar with it by now. Released as a lark
in 1977 by 20th Century Fox, George Lucas' original Star
Wars became a hugely successful blockbuster almost
overnight and it quickly changed the landscape of Hollywood
filmmaking, not only reviving a long-lost cinematic genre but also
pioneering the field of movie visual effects. The film had an
incalculable impact on my then ten-year-old life, opening my eyes to
the possibilities of the film medium and firing my imagination like
nothing before it. I'm certain that, like me, most of you have a
very special place for the film in your hearts. But Star
Wars today is somewhat different than you might remember
it from 1977... or even the 1997 special edition re-release.
As you may have heard, a number of new digital changes have been
made to the Star Wars films
for this DVD release. As with the 1997 special edition, A
New Hope has received the majority of the attention. Many
shots have been altered in very subtle ways, which only the most
zealous fans will notice. There are, however, a number of more major
changes. In A New Hope, these
include a revised opening shot as Luke's landspeeder enters Mos
Eisley Spaceport (the speeder model is more detailed and moves more
naturally), an improved version of the Han/Greedo fight (Greedo
still shoots first, but only just - the blasts are much closer
together and Han's movement is smoother), a new CG model of Jabba
the Hutt (it's a revised version of the Episode
I model of the character and is much improved) and
re-rotoscoped lightsaber blades throughout the film (blade color is
more pronounced and the animation is more like the prequel films).
Personally, I quite like most of these changes. The Han/Greedo fight
is still less than perfect, but it does look more natural. Han's
head doesn't jerk like it did before - instead his whole upper body
shifts over slightly. And the blaster shots are VERY close together
now, so the encounter is not as implausible as it was in 1997. I
still wish George would just let Han shoot first as he did
originally in 1977, but I can at least stomach watching this scene
now.
There is, however, one change I can't stomach, and it has to do
with the music. During the first part of the Death Star battle at
the end of the film, John Williams' score has been reduced in
prominence in the sound mix. This is particularly obvious right as
the X-Wings make their dive down to the surface to begin the attack
- the familiar "Force Theme" trumpet fanfare is now almost
inaudible. Lucasfilm says this was a deliberate creative decision
and I absolutely hate it. Ah well... seems like there's always
something to dislike when George tinkers with these films.
[Editor's Note:
Click
here to see screen shots of most of the major changes
George Lucas has made to the Star Wars Trilogy for the 2004
DVD release.]
Three years after the release of the original film,
Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
continued the epic adventure. After successfully destroying the
Death Star, Luke and his Rebel friends have been pursued across the
galaxy by Darth Vader and the Empire's mighty space fleet. While
hiding out in a new secret base on the frozen planet of Hoth, the
Rebels are discovered by Vader. After a massive snow battle, our
heroes barely escape with their lives and are scattered across
space. Luke finds his way to the jungle planet Dagobah, where he
begins training to become a Jedi Knight. Meanwhile, Han and the
princess find refuge on the planet Bespin, unaware that they've been
followed by Vader's forces. Soon, Luke must abandon his training to
come to his friends' rescue, ultimately risking his fate in a
reckless confrontation with Vader himself.
Widely considered to be the best of the Star
Wars series, The Empire
Strikes Back tells a much darker and more personal story
than the original film, despite the inclusion of several dramatic
action sequences. In a risky move, this unconventional sequel sees
the good guys basically getting their asses kicked from the start of
the film until the very end. It's not a happy or upbeat adventure by
any means, and it ends with a stunning and unforeseen twist that
left theater audiences hanging on the edge of their seats for more
than three years after its original release in 1980. Despite the
cliff-hanger ending (or perhaps because of it) Empire
ranks easily among the best film sequels of all time. It holds up
well to this day.
The digital changes to Empire
for this DVD release are fewer than they are in A
New Hope. In fact, there are only three major changes.
These include the use of Temuera Morrison as the voice of Boba Fett
(which I suppose makes sense given that Boba is a clone of Jango
from Episode II), the
elimination of Luke's scream when he jumps to escape Vader on Cloud
City (which had been a source of much debate among fans - why would
he scream if he were jumping willingly?), and the use of actor Ian
McDiarmid as the Emperor (replacing the old woman and voice actor
Clive Revill who played the character originally). I should note
that the Emperor alteration also involves a change in the scene's
dialogue - one that is at first confusing. The Emperor now tells
Vader that he has no doubt "the young rebel who destroyed the
Death Star" is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, to which
Vader replies "How is that possible?" That doesn't seem to
make sense, because we know that Vader is aware of who Luke is from
dialogue earlier in the film ("That's it. The Rebels are there.
And I'm sure Skywalker is with them."). I suspect, however,
that we'll find out in Episode III
that Anakin DOES learn of Luke's existence as an infant, and he
hides this knowledge from the Emperor. What that would mean is that
Vader's been waiting all these years to find Luke as an adult and
turn him to the Dark Side so that they can overthrow the Emperor
together - a plot Vader ultimately confesses to Luke at the end of
Empire. We'll have to wait for
Episode III to see how this
new bit of dialogue fits in.
Concluding the original trilogy in 1983, Episode
VI - Return of the Jedi opens as Luke, now a fully
trained Jedi Knight, returns with his friends to his home planet to
rescue Han Solo from the vile crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Luke then
revisits Dagobah and learns that he must ultimately confront Darth
Vader if the galaxy is to have any hope of peace. Luke also learns a
surprising secret before rejoining the Rebels as they prepare for
the final, decisive battle in the conflict between Rebellion and
Empire - an all-out assault on the Emperor's second and even more
powerful Death Star.
As the final chapter of the Star Wars
saga, Return of the Jedi fails
to be either as fresh as the original film or as surprising as Empire.
Too much is predictable here (such as the appearance of a second
Death Star) and too many compromises were made for the younger
audience members (the very presence of the Ewoks, for example) which
is especially noticeable after the more adult themes of the previous
installment. That said, Jedi
does manage to adequately complete the story arc of the original
trilogy. There's nice symmetry with the way the character storylines
are wrapped up, and there's enough action to keep the film
interesting. I'll be curious to see how well this conclusion works
in the context of the overall 6-film saga once Episode
III arrives in theaters in May, 2005.
As with Empire, are three
major digital changes to Jedi,
all of which appear at the end of the film. When Luke removes
Vader's mask to reveal his father's face, the eyebrows of actor
Sebastian Shaw have been erased (presumably because Anakin's face
will be badly burned in Episode III).
Then, after the second Death Star is destroyed, when the film cuts
to the various celebrations around the galaxy, Naboo is now included
among the planets we see. Finally (and this is a big one), when the
Force ghosts of Ben, Yoda and Anakin appear to Luke at the very end
of the film, actor Sebastian Shaw has been replaced with Hayden
Christensen (as he'll appear in Episode
III). That's going to piss off a lot of fans, but it
makes sense. Lucas' rational (as he actually explains briefly in the
audio commentary - a rare instance where he comments on a change) is
that when Vader joins the Force, he's able to retain his original
identity as he was when he died as Anakin Skywalker (in Episode
III). Since Yoda and Ben retained their good identities
until they were old, that's how their Force ghosts appear. Yeah,
maybe it's a stretch... but within the logic of the universe, it
does make sense. Like it or not. There are also a couple minor
changes - the shot of Coruscant now includes the Galactic Senate and
Jedi Temple on the horizon (as seen in Episodes
I & II). And
for some reason, Luke and Darth's lightsaber blades now appear a
little dimmer in a select few shots during their fight (particularly
at the very beginning). Don't ask me why.
Ultimately, I've accepted that Lucas is entitled to change these
films until he's happy with them. The fact is, he's been changing
them since 1977 (for example, right after the first film was
released and became a hit, Lucas quickly went back in and added the
Episode IV - A New Hope tag).
These new CG alterations are simply the logical continuation of his
desire to overcome the technical challenges he faced when he
originally made the films. I have to tell you, I'm as surprised as
anyone to find myself actually appreciating most of these changes.
With the sole exception of the Han/Greedo scene (which still bothers
me, although less now than as it was in 1997), I think all of the
changes are either genuine improvements or simply make sense given
the ties to the prequel films. I still think Lucas has a
responsibility to save the original versions of these films out of
respect for the fans who have supported them all these years, the
artists who creatively invested themselves in the original work, and
as a way to remind us all just how far the films have come since
they were first released. And I still have hope that we'll see those
original versions released on disc... eventually... in a more
elaborate box set of the entire saga. But more on that later.
So that's the films as you'll find them on these new DVDs. Now
let's talk about the DVDs themselves. Click to the next page of the
review and I'll tell you all about it.
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on
to Part Two
Easter egg
Instructions
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
To access the Tatooine menu scheme,
press "1" during the FBI warning screen.
To access the Death Star menu scheme,
press "2" during the FBI warning screen.
To access the Yavin IV menu scheme,
press "3" during the FBI warning screen.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire
Strikes Back
To access the Hoth menu scheme,
press "1" during the FBI warning screen.
To access the Dagobah menu scheme,
press "2" during the FBI warning screen.
To access the Bespin menu scheme,
press "3" during the FBI warning screen.
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the
Jedi
To access the Tatooine menu scheme,
press "1" during the FBI warning screen.
To access the Death Star II menu scheme,
press "2" during the FBI warning screen.
To access the Endor menu scheme,
press "3" during the FBI warning screen.
Bonus Disc
To access a Star Wars Trilogy
gag reel, go to the Video Game &
Still Galleries menu page. Using your remote, press "10+",
"1" (or "11" depending on your player) and
wait for the pause as the player accepts the input (note that a
small box next to R2-D2 will illuminate if you're on the right
track). Then press "3" and wait for the pause.
Finally, press "8".
Look also for additional outtake clips
during the credits of The Characters
of Star Wars featurette, and funny
lightsaber spoof clips during the
credits of The Birth of the
Lightsaber featurette. You don't have to do anything
to access them other than watch the featurettes. |
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