Nearly 30 years ago in a galaxy far far away, George Lucas forever altered the cinematic landscape of science fiction with "Star Wars." A memorizing fairytale, and by now legendary intergalactic epic from which all subsequent like-minded endeavors have had to live up to, "Star Wars" was the story of the son of a Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his quest to rid the galaxy of an evil empire and Darth Vader. That Han Solo (Harrison Ford) slowly began to emerge as everyone's favorite heartthrob (particularly in "The Empire Strikes Back") didn't seem to hamper Lucas' initial desire to tell a good story especially since Princess Leila (Carrie Fisher) was actually Luke's sister and therefore definitely 'out' as a love interest for the young and viral Jedi in training. But I digress. With its strident overtones of son eclipsing father in "The Return of the Jedi" Lucas' space saga fully realized the box office potential of trilogies. Buttressed by spellbinding special effects, script scenarios that seemed to improve in leaps and bounds with each new installment, and a near mythological following akin to "Star Trekkies," "Star Wars" became that rarified cinematic sensation; a marketer's wet dream. John William's masterful main title and subsequent scoring forever changed the musical landscape of contemporary movies for the better. One needs only to hear the first few bars of music to find instant connection with a film history steeped in the great composers of Hollywood past.
"Star Wars" also made George Lucas a very, very rich (if conflicted) man, and, gave him a cottage industry to fall back on during his less lucrative career in the late 80s and early 90s. That in recent times fans of the first three films in the series have expressed their overwhelming outrage at the director's need to insert new computer generated footage and "update" his film classics is a bone of contention that has been well documented in print and on the web. Press releases from on high at Lucas Films LTD have used the logic that Star Wars in totem belongs to its creator. Hence, if the creator is dissatisfied with his work he has every right to go back and "fix" what he feels is inadequate.
However, while no one can dispute that it was Lucas' initial genius that created the legacy, it does seem, at least to this reviewer, that Herr Director relinquished his own personal rights as to what is or isn't a good film after he bestowed that greatness onto the collective memory of movie audiences. After re-releasing the trilogy in theaters in the early 1990s, the films went into moratorium so that Lucas could devote his time and effort to producing the last three (actually the first three). Yet, despite his overwhelming advancements in film technology, none of Lucas' subsequent installments have come anywhere close to recapturing the magic of the first trilogy.
And now, at last, audiences get to witness the reason why Star Wars redux pales in comparison to Star Wars proper on DVD. These new hi-def transfers are, in a word, mind-blowing. The images are pristine and exhibit a surreal amount of clarity, depth and fine detail. Film grain is practically non-existent for an image so smooth you'll swear you're in the same galaxy with Luke and Co. Colors are rich, vibrant and bold. Flesh tones are miraculously true to life. Blacks are deep and solid. The enhanced sequences in the film have a much more integrated feel to them than they did in theaters in the 90s. Of the three films, Star Wars exhibits the most improvement in video quality. "Return of the Jedi" in direct comparison seems a tad weak, particularly in the scenes on Endor in which the forest foliage has a decidedly muddy/too grainy feel to it. (Aside: the image is still astounding compared to anything you've likely seen before. Compression artifacts are present but do not distract. There's no hint of edge enhancement or pixelization. The audio for all three films has been cleaned up considerably. Though all three soundtracks are decidedly the product of outdated sound equipment they are remarkably engaging for films of their vintage and will surely NOT disappoint.
This collection comes with an extra disc loaded with bonus footage. There are vintage documentaries, new featurettes and a host of deleted scenes and outtakes to choose from. But if you're like this reviewer, ultimately these are mere icing on the cake. The real treat here is to finally have the Lucas legacy back in everyone's video library. May the force continue to live on!
"Star Wars" also made George Lucas a very, very rich (if conflicted) man, and, gave him a cottage industry to fall back on during his less lucrative career in the late 80s and early 90s. That in recent times fans of the first three films in the series have expressed their overwhelming outrage at the director's need to insert new computer generated footage and "update" his film classics is a bone of contention that has been well documented in print and on the web. Press releases from on high at Lucas Films LTD have used the logic that Star Wars in totem belongs to its creator. Hence, if the creator is dissatisfied with his work he has every right to go back and "fix" what he feels is inadequate.
However, while no one can dispute that it was Lucas' initial genius that created the legacy, it does seem, at least to this reviewer, that Herr Director relinquished his own personal rights as to what is or isn't a good film after he bestowed that greatness onto the collective memory of movie audiences. After re-releasing the trilogy in theaters in the early 1990s, the films went into moratorium so that Lucas could devote his time and effort to producing the last three (actually the first three). Yet, despite his overwhelming advancements in film technology, none of Lucas' subsequent installments have come anywhere close to recapturing the magic of the first trilogy.
And now, at last, audiences get to witness the reason why Star Wars redux pales in comparison to Star Wars proper on DVD. These new hi-def transfers are, in a word, mind-blowing. The images are pristine and exhibit a surreal amount of clarity, depth and fine detail. Film grain is practically non-existent for an image so smooth you'll swear you're in the same galaxy with Luke and Co. Colors are rich, vibrant and bold. Flesh tones are miraculously true to life. Blacks are deep and solid. The enhanced sequences in the film have a much more integrated feel to them than they did in theaters in the 90s. Of the three films, Star Wars exhibits the most improvement in video quality. "Return of the Jedi" in direct comparison seems a tad weak, particularly in the scenes on Endor in which the forest foliage has a decidedly muddy/too grainy feel to it. (Aside: the image is still astounding compared to anything you've likely seen before. Compression artifacts are present but do not distract. There's no hint of edge enhancement or pixelization. The audio for all three films has been cleaned up considerably. Though all three soundtracks are decidedly the product of outdated sound equipment they are remarkably engaging for films of their vintage and will surely NOT disappoint.
This collection comes with an extra disc loaded with bonus footage. There are vintage documentaries, new featurettes and a host of deleted scenes and outtakes to choose from. But if you're like this reviewer, ultimately these are mere icing on the cake. The real treat here is to finally have the Lucas legacy back in everyone's video library. May the force continue to live on!