Star Wars, Finally on DVD
09.23.06 By Collin DavidIt’s only taken years upon years of whining and frothing, but it’s our blessing that nerd voices are shrill and grating. We did it, guys. We got the original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD. Let’s pause for a moment of thankful silence. Follow that up with a raucous moment of cheer. And maybe after that, a moment of Doritos and Fresca, or whatever it is that we keep down here in the basement of our parents’ houses besides fansubbed anime videos and a high-speed internet connection which is mostly used to ‘research’ images of Lucy Lawless.
Getting the original theatrical editions of Star Wars on DVD is a big deal, mostly because George Lucas, mighty overlord of all things Wars, pretty much said ‘up yours, you ain’t gettin’ it’ to the collective of fans. He’d re-edited his films a few years back, added in a few lost scenes, added a mess of new digital effects, and sent them back into theaters, and then again for another DVD release. That’s all well and good. The artist has every right to desecrate and re-realize his own artworks, but why wouldn’t he let us take home the versions of his films that we fell in love with? You don’t give a kid a puppy, take it back, replace its head with a coffeemaker and its legs with fine Omaha steaks and give it back to the kid expecting him to be placated, much less thrilled. Sure, it’s still fundamentally a puppy, but it’s not one you can play frisbee with without shattering its glass, coffee-filled head.
Lucas treated these original films as ‘visually limited’, and his remastered re-releases as what he meant to do in the first place. Another scene with Jabba the Hutt, more big monstery things, more blaster blastiness. However, last week saw the release of these original, unmodified films on DVD, but as nothing more than afterthoughts on the ‘bonus disc’ of a 2-DVD set for each film. The three mini-collections weren’t advertised as ‘the original theatrical cut’, but instead advertised as ‘Star Wars, and oh yeah, that old Star Wars too, but why would you want THAT, you geek?’. It was flippant, and there’s already been complaints that the prints aren’t as clean as they could be, and that the sound isn’t re-mastered and super-hi-fi and that the discs weren’t pressed in an anti-gravity environment on the outer rings of Saturn, but you know what? I’m happy. I can watch Star Wars again. Previously, only VHS and LaserDisc editions of the original films existed.
I don’t need ultra hi-def imagery, and I probably couldn’t tell the difference if I tried. I don’t have supremely acute vision, and honestly, my TV goes all blurry anytime the collected image on the screen has too much yellow or orange in it. I’m not fancy. I don’t wear a monocle to bed or use the phrase ‘m’lady’. I often forget to shave and my shoes have holes in them, and I don’t need my Star Wars to be completely indistinguishable from reality. Reality is challenging enough without probe droids. I have no complaints about these cuts.
I found myself watching A New Hope and being able to name the model number of every droid that was captured in the belly of the Jawas’ Sandcrawler, and every patron of the Mos Eisley Cantina. From Gonk Droid to Dr. Evazan, Momaw Nadon to Garindan, shutting down all of the garbage smashers on the detention level and knowing that the Sandpeople are easily frightened but would return in greater numbers… I could probably watch these endlessly and never get bored. Even if they ARE treated as bonus material in addition to the remastered editions, don’t have fancy packaging and barely any bonus materials. There are other sets for that. It’s presented in desirable widescreen format, and the sound, for you audiophiles, it presented in Dolby 2.0, as opposed to the Dolby 5.1 of the remasters (presented on the first discs, along with creator commentary). There’s about a million behind-the-scenes featurettes on other releases.
Lucasfilm has released these ‘for a limited time’ only, without really specifying an actual time period. There’s no telling how long these will be available, but at about 18 bucks each and presumably epic wait for the next release to occur, I’d snap these up if you have any love for Star Wars in you at all. And if you don’t, I find myself genuinely concerned for your soul. I suggest a trip to the swamps of Dagobah or the forest moon of Endor. Or Best Buy, where they have an exclusive set of all 3 films collected into a collectible tin.
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Article Tags: DVD, George Lucas, Lucasfilm, Star Wars Trilogy================
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