Legacy Blu-ray Box Set Review (from 2011): 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga'
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| (C) 2011 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) |
The Lucasfilm Limited/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
team has, over the past 10 years, released the six live-action Star Wars Episodes which make
up"The Tragedy of Darth Vader" on DVD several times; the Prequels
initially as individual 2-disc sets (2001-2005) and the Original Trilogy (or
Classic Trilogy, if you prefer) originally presented in a four-disc box set
(2004).
These initial DVD releases have been followed by two more re-releases, the first being the 2006 Special Limited Edition re-issues of the Classic Trilogy which include the "transfer from laserdisc" theatrical versions of Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) because fans weren't thrilled that they had only the 2004 "for DVD" versions of the 1997 Special Edition re-edits. Two years later, Lucasfilm re-issued both trilogies in separately-sold box sets with slimmer DVD cases.
For the 2011 Blu-ray release of the movies set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas has authorized a first-time ever box set, Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which presents all six films in one collectible package, which also includes three bonus discs with making-of featurettes, interviews, documentaries and even a selection of Star Wars spoofs.
What is in the box set? Well, unfortunately for many fans, Star Wars: The Complete Saga doesn't include the original versions of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi either. Instead, the set includes the "official" versions from the Classic Trilogy 2004-2008 DVDs, with several additional tweaks added for the 2011 Blu-ray editions.
(Note: All six Episodes of the saga received digital fixes, not just the '77-'83 movies. Some are very noticeable, including an all-digital rendition of Yoda which replaces that garish-looking dark-green puppet in The Phantom Menace, while some, mostly involving sound edits or added off-screen dialogue, are fairly subtle. Additionally, some glaring visual goofs spotted in the DVD releases have been either partially or completely corrected.)
To be honest, I am one of those rare Star Wars fans who aren't upset that Lucas did not offer the original 1977, 1980 and 1983 versions of the Original Trilogy with the Blu-ray set. I have those already on DVD and though I am fond of them, I prefer the updated versions.
As is often the case with Blu-ray reissues of movies already available on DVD, Star Wars: The Complete Saga offers viewers a mix of the old and the new.
For instance, the original 2001-2005 (from both Trilogies) DVDs' audio commentary tracks have been retained, but the menu design is different, more foreign language tracks and subtitle options have been added, and new audio commentary tracks - edited from archival interviews featured in "making of" specials and other sources - can be heard while watching each Episode.
The Bonus Features:
This, dear reader, is the only source of disappointment about the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set, albeit one that I will eventually will learn to live with.
To be sure, the complete "carryover" of extra features from the DVD version to Blu-ray would have made the set a bit more unwieldy and even more expensive, and I have seen a few Blu-ray versions of movies I own on DVD that don't duplicate all the extra features from the older format. The Blu-ray edition of Superman: The Movie, for instance, eschews at least one featurette found in the DVD's extra features section, and Terminator 2: The Skynet Edition doesn't include a Windows Media Player-only version of the original 1991 theatrical version that comes with Artisan's 2003 T2: Extreme DVD.
For me, Star Wars: The Complete Saga's only major weak point is the selection of documentaries on Bonus Disc 3, which has quite a few good bits (The Making of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX and A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later are my favorites), but also includes a few less-than-riveting ones.
While I am not knocking 2007's Star Wars Tech, a documentary which delves into the sci-fi aspects of the saga and its comparisons to modern Earthbound technology and aired on cable's History Channel, I would have preferred to have seen that same year's Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, which is an examination into how George Lucas borrowed from mythology and Earth history to create a story with themes that are relevant and universally appealing.
My Recommendation: If you own a high-definition TV and a Blu-ray player, you probably think that the Star Wars movies will look and sound better on Blu-ray than in any other home viewing format. And guess what? You'd be right. The digitally-remastered audio and video elements give home viewers clearer sound and sharper images than previous formats can, although the "old" DVDs still look nice when played on a Blu-ray player with an HDMI cable.
Sure, the fact that Lucas's team of digital artists has - again - tweaked both Trilogies and not included the older versions may still rankle some diehard fans, but to me, Star Wars: The Complete Saga is, despite its few shortcomings, really worth buying.
These initial DVD releases have been followed by two more re-releases, the first being the 2006 Special Limited Edition re-issues of the Classic Trilogy which include the "transfer from laserdisc" theatrical versions of Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) because fans weren't thrilled that they had only the 2004 "for DVD" versions of the 1997 Special Edition re-edits. Two years later, Lucasfilm re-issued both trilogies in separately-sold box sets with slimmer DVD cases.
For the 2011 Blu-ray release of the movies set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas has authorized a first-time ever box set, Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which presents all six films in one collectible package, which also includes three bonus discs with making-of featurettes, interviews, documentaries and even a selection of Star Wars spoofs.
What is in the box set? Well, unfortunately for many fans, Star Wars: The Complete Saga doesn't include the original versions of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi either. Instead, the set includes the "official" versions from the Classic Trilogy 2004-2008 DVDs, with several additional tweaks added for the 2011 Blu-ray editions.
(Note: All six Episodes of the saga received digital fixes, not just the '77-'83 movies. Some are very noticeable, including an all-digital rendition of Yoda which replaces that garish-looking dark-green puppet in The Phantom Menace, while some, mostly involving sound edits or added off-screen dialogue, are fairly subtle. Additionally, some glaring visual goofs spotted in the DVD releases have been either partially or completely corrected.)
To be honest, I am one of those rare Star Wars fans who aren't upset that Lucas did not offer the original 1977, 1980 and 1983 versions of the Original Trilogy with the Blu-ray set. I have those already on DVD and though I am fond of them, I prefer the updated versions.
As is often the case with Blu-ray reissues of movies already available on DVD, Star Wars: The Complete Saga offers viewers a mix of the old and the new.
For instance, the original 2001-2005 (from both Trilogies) DVDs' audio commentary tracks have been retained, but the menu design is different, more foreign language tracks and subtitle options have been added, and new audio commentary tracks - edited from archival interviews featured in "making of" specials and other sources - can be heard while watching each Episode.
The Bonus Features:
This, dear reader, is the only source of disappointment about the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set, albeit one that I will eventually will learn to live with.
To be sure, the complete "carryover" of extra features from the DVD version to Blu-ray would have made the set a bit more unwieldy and even more expensive, and I have seen a few Blu-ray versions of movies I own on DVD that don't duplicate all the extra features from the older format. The Blu-ray edition of Superman: The Movie, for instance, eschews at least one featurette found in the DVD's extra features section, and Terminator 2: The Skynet Edition doesn't include a Windows Media Player-only version of the original 1991 theatrical version that comes with Artisan's 2003 T2: Extreme DVD.
For me, Star Wars: The Complete Saga's only major weak point is the selection of documentaries on Bonus Disc 3, which has quite a few good bits (The Making of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX and A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later are my favorites), but also includes a few less-than-riveting ones.
While I am not knocking 2007's Star Wars Tech, a documentary which delves into the sci-fi aspects of the saga and its comparisons to modern Earthbound technology and aired on cable's History Channel, I would have preferred to have seen that same year's Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, which is an examination into how George Lucas borrowed from mythology and Earth history to create a story with themes that are relevant and universally appealing.
My Recommendation: If you own a high-definition TV and a Blu-ray player, you probably think that the Star Wars movies will look and sound better on Blu-ray than in any other home viewing format. And guess what? You'd be right. The digitally-remastered audio and video elements give home viewers clearer sound and sharper images than previous formats can, although the "old" DVDs still look nice when played on a Blu-ray player with an HDMI cable.
Sure, the fact that Lucas's team of digital artists has - again - tweaked both Trilogies and not included the older versions may still rankle some diehard fans, but to me, Star Wars: The Complete Saga is, despite its few shortcomings, really worth buying.
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