Prequel Trilogy DVD Set?

[Joetheeskimo]

So they've released the Star Wars Trilogy DVD Set -- is there any word if they're going to release a Prequel Trilogy DVD Set?

 

 

Or.........THE ENTIRE SAGA DVD SET?!

 

It seems most people dislike the prequel trilogy, but I love every minute of it. Well, except for TPM, I suppose.

 

P.S. If this has been asked before, lock this thread.

[Pho3nix]

Yeah i'm pretty sure they will release something like "The Ultimate Star Wars" DVD with all 6 movies + bonus features.

[Joetheeskimo]

'The Original Cut' means no added stuff, but will it include cut scenes like those where Luke is talking to Biggs Darklighter? Or is 'The Original Cut' just the original, 1977 theatrical release (finished product)?

[Kurgan]

Chase, do you have a source on that? I thought that was just a rumor debunked long ago (the Biggs scenes people claim to remember were never actually shown in theaters, but the deleted scenes can be seen on the "behind the magic" cd-roms, which I own, and were featured in a vintage photos-from-the-movie story book released for the movie). The only "Biggs scene" that was reinserted into the movie was the scene of Luke and Red Leader with him that was added in the 1997 special edition (and edited to include a guy walking past to cover up Red Leader talking about knowing Luke's father).

[Kurgan]

Also, there's been no official word of any Prequel trilogy or "ultimate" star wars boxed set. Those are for now wishful thinking by fans, since they've speculated from day one that there would be such a thing someday.

 

As for which version of Star Wars (1977) will come to DVD in this next release, I'm guessing it's "A New Hope" since that's the version that was prepared for home video in 1993 (the original article on SW.com mentioned the sources being from this year, so I figured it's just a LaserDisc dump of the THX "Enhanced" Trilogy to DVD, and the fact that it won't be anamorphic seems to further strengthen that understanding). The article initially mentioned the opening crawl without "Episode IV: A New Hope" (which was added in 1981, not 1980, iirc, remember the original Star Wars was released MANY TIMES in theaters, much more than any of the other movies in the series). Then they edited it out, then they added it back. So who knows.

 

A few fan edits of Star Wars on DVD have a menu option that let's you view the movie with each version of the opening crawl (since no home version in widescreen was released with the original opening crawl... that is, only a full frame version was released on video with the pre-ANH crawl... it had to be fan re-created, but it looks marvelous, you can see part of the original opening crawl in the "Empire of Dreams" special).

 

OriginalTrilogy.com is a great source of information. Anyway, I'm just curious, because I thought the Biggs rumor had finally been cleared up definitively...

[Kurgan]

It was stated in the original StarWars.com article that it was like this:

 

Disc 1: 2004 Edition of movie

Disc 2 (BONUS DISC): "Theatrical" Edition of movie

 

The "extras" ARE the Theatrical Edition of the film. You'll have to buy all three packs to get the entire "trilogy" as there is no "boxed set" of the Original Original Trilogy. The Prequel Trilogy box set is just wishful thinking right now.

 

The article said these were from "masters" from circa 1993, which fans have considered to be either the "THX Enhanced" series that was released for LaserDisc or else the "cleaned up" masters that were used to create the Special Editions of 1997 (before the CG elements and extra scenes were added and tinkered with).

 

Since neither the THX Enhanced edition or the pre-Special Edition (or the Special Edition) masters contained the pre-ANH crawl, it's been speculated that it will be a "reconstructed" crawl (much like the fan made dvd's that include a crawl created by a fan on a computer), but who knows, maybe they'll actually clean up the crawl that was shown in the Empire of Dreams special and use that?

 

The 1997 editions have never appeared officially and DVD and seemingly never will.

 

So the "Special Edition" we're getting with the 2006 set is just the 2004 editions once again (the third time they've been released now).

 

The idea that "no enhancements" are being made to the "theatrical" (1993) editions is hinted in the fact that they'll only be Dolby 2.0 (but that's fine, most fans agree, since in 1977-1983 they didn't use Dolby 5.0, but then there was a 6 channel stereo version of ROTJ shown in theaters, iirc), and it will only be "non-anamorphic widescreen" meaning if you have a widescreen TV you'll have to use the "zoom" function to blow it up to take up the whole screen area... it won't scale automatically to preserve detail. If you have a regular screen, you won't notice any difference.

 

A few fans have criticized this information since this is being sold as the "theatrical versions" but it seems that we're actually not getting the Star Wars classic trilogy "as it was shown in theaters" but rather "as it was released on home video in the 1990's."

 

Still, when it comes out you know there will be reviews and previews, so you can make your decision then.

 

If you haven't purchased Star Wars on DVD yet, I'd hold off until this version comes out. Get it, and then go on ebay or amazon and buy a stand alone copy of "Star Wars: Bonus Materials" DVD (that includes "Empire of Dreams" and such). <--- I have seen some copies alone, normally you have to buy the 2004 four disc set to get this. Then you'll have "everything" for the classic trilogy on DVD officially released, without having to "double dip" anything.

[HertogJan]

No prequel trilogy DVD set? I want it!! I have the 2004 OT set and I really like it, but I want the prequels too! Don't tell me I've waited buying the prequel DVDs for nothing :-S

[Joetheeskimo]

Actually, Kurgan, I already have the latest OT boxed set. That's why I was hoping for a prequel trilogy DVD set, do I could have the whole saga on DVD.

[grrrrrrrrrr7]

Just buy the movies individually. Why does it need to be boxed?

 

I concur, whats with all this talk a bout a boxed set? who cares??????

[Joetheeskimo]

Isn't a boxed set cheaper? Each DVD is around $20, but I bought the OT boxed set (4 DVD's) for $40...

[Kurgan]

A good point that many forget.

 

Each Prequel DVD is a two disc set. The "Original Trilogy" was a four disc set (3 movies + 1 bonus disc).

 

The new "Limited Edition" Original Original Trilogy movies will each be a two disc set, but minus the bonus disc.

 

So there will by the end of the year be a total of 13 Official Star Wars discs out there (I don't consider "The Stars of Star Wars" or similar specials to be official and I'm not counting the Ewoks/Droids or Clone Wars animated discs or the Ewok Adventures of course). 9 movie discs and 4 "extras" discs.

 

As far as a boxed set is concerned, yes, there really is nothing to be gained by waiting for a "boxed set" of all the movies, since the content would be identical as before. They'd just be a in bigger cardboard case. So I guess they might look nice on your mantlepiece having two big long boxes (of 3 movies each) or one giant long box containing all 6).

 

But for now, you'll have to create your own, or buy one from another fan.

 

I really am not a collector of DVD boxes. I only care about the movie discs themselves with the content I can watch.

 

As of now there is no benefit in waiting, though if you had yet to purchase a Star Wars DVD, this is great for you, because the 2006 limited edition set will be all you "need" (and then just order the "Bonus Disc 4" off of ebay or amazon and you've got all the content from all the previous sets released since 2004). The prequels haven't changed since they were originally released on DVD in 2001, 2002, and 2005 respectively.

[Joetheeskimo]

I think you're reading into my post too much. I'm not actually dying to get a BOXED SET as opposed to buying the things individually. I just figured since there's an OT boxed set, I figured there might be a prequel trilogy set, and sooner or later there's gotta be an entire sage boxed set, because no series as popular as Star Wars has ever not been boxed.

[Kurgan]

More than 13:

TPM - 2 discs

AOTC - 2 discs

ROTS - 2 discs

OT sex set - 4

 

That's 10.

 

2006 fall release - 6

 

Yes, but 3 of those discs are just duplicates of the 2004 release (minus the bonus disc).

 

So that's only 3 new discs.

 

10 + 3 = 13.

 

If you skipped the 2004 four disc set and buy the Limited Edition 2006 set, you're only missing out on the Bonus Disc (which you can order seperately from Amazon or ebay).

 

If you skipped the 2005 re-release of the OT Boxed set, you're missing out on NOTHING. In fact you're getting MORE, since you're getting 3 discs in the Limited Edition set you can't get any other way (officially).

 

(not including the 3-pack of the OT or the 2-pack of TPM and AOTC)

So 16 discs.

 

I only included discs that are actually new content, not duplicates of the same stuff. If you bought every possible release you'd end up with duplicates and it'd be silly.

 

After all, there are actually two releases of each Prequel DVD set, a "Full Frame" (pan 'n' scan) and "Widscreen" (anamorphic/letterbox) version. Ditto with the OT Boxed sets.

 

 

I can understand not counting DVDs such as "The Stars of Star Wars", "Starwoids", "Star Wait", or "Hardware Wars" because they're not considered 'official' Star Wars.(THey're nice to have though) But I can understand there being some debate with Ewoks, Droids, and he 2 Clone Wars DVDs. They're not the movies but they do have a tie in to Lucasfilm and are official Star Wars releases whereas 'Starwoids', etc., aren't. You can count it how you like but as far as the official, mainstream movies go there's going to be ~16 official discs by the end of the year.

 

Right, I should say "canon movies." There's only 6 canon movies (plus 3 "original versions" of half of them). I just had to say that about "Star Wars DVDs" because technically everything sold with the star wars logo on it is "Star Wars."

[HertogJan]

I don't need a box, even though it DOES looks better on my mantlepiece. But I do want the extra bonus materials that the OT trilogy box contained - DVD #4. I haven't seen the prequel DVD's yet, so I dunno if there's a lot of bonus material on the 2nd disc or something. But still, I'd love to see an 'Empire of dreams'-like movie about the prequels...

[Kurgan]

Well to be honest, the material on any one of the Prequel bonus discs utterly puts the Original Trilogy one to shame. In fact, much of the stuff on the OT one wasn't even about the OT! (The video game commercials and the Episode III teaser fluff).

 

Missing out on the Prequel bonus discs would be missing a lot.

 

Like I said, I've seen the Bonus disc by itself for sale on amazon, and ebay. So you don't need to buy the four disc set or wait for a big set to hypothetically come out in the future to buy it.

 

There's a fan selling custom made (and quite cool) boxes for DVD's (just empty boxes to put your keep cases inside), but unfortunately the Star Wars one (which is HUGE and large enough to fit all the official DVD's released thus far inside, iirc) is quite expensive, approaching 100$ but I don't remember the exact figure. Considering that the official "giant empty box" you could buy from New Line to put all your EE LotR sets inside was less than a few dollars, that seems excessive.

 

Then you realize it's just one guy doing it out of his home, and it makes more sense. But still!

 

Making your own would probably be the cheapest solution. Buy the discs piecemeal and get Kinkos or Copyworks to do it for $15 or whatever it would cost. You can download artwork virtually ready to go as well and just tell them what you want.

 

I wonder how many people will sell their old sets in time for the new one?

[Joetheeskimo]

Oh, ok, makes sense I guess.

 

The bonus stuff on the prequel DVDs really does put the OT DVD bonus material to shame. With a series that's been waiting this long with that many people wanting and waiting for it to come to DVD, and with a series as big as Star Wars, one would think there would be crap loads of absolutely kick @$$ material. (i.e. the f***ing lost scenes with Biggs/Anchorhead, that droid scene, and the rough cut of the cantina scene where Han has a woman by his side) I do have laserdisc versions of the trilogy on DVDs I've burned myself. I should buy some dual layer DVDs and make my own custom DVDs with all the special features I want. That is if these new DVDs that are coming out soon completely suck.

 

Yeah, that's what makes me annoyed at the ol' SW team. You'd think they'd want to release stuff like that to milk every cent...

[Kurgan]

The thing is, the amount of bonus content ALREADY OUT THERE (but technically "out of print") for the OT is huge. Hours of video of behind the scenes stuff, several deleted scenes, interviews, specials, gags, etc.

 

Empire of Dreams was cool for what it was (a 3.5 HOUR special mostly about the first movie and the phenomenon it spawned, with a much shorter covering of the two sequels) and perhaps longer than any of the specials on the prequel discs, but in terms of sheer volume... pick any of the prequels DVD's (AOTC had less than TPM, I forget how ROTS compared to the two), they blow the OT bonus disc away in terms of extras.

 

Yes, it helps that they made web docs and stuff of these prequels as they were making them. But it's not as if bonus content for the original trilogy doesn't exist.

 

What MIGHT be a reason why it didn't appear is because it isn't "Revised." It shows the painstaking hard work that went into the models, it mentions the old scenes before they were "special editionized." They show that Lucas did NOT plan "all along" to make several of the changes he claimed were always part of his original vision (some things, actually were closer to his original vision, such as the original Death Star battle, on story boards looks more like the special edition than the 1977 version, and the original view of the Sarlacc, or at least one of the concept sketches, looks more like the "Little Shop of Horrors" version from the special edition than what we saw in 1983). You also have embarrassing quotes from Lucas where he bad mouths the use of special effects to tell a story and stuff like that.

 

I know it sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory, but perhaps Lucas doesn't want to be reminded (and remind his fans) of how he and others viewed the movies as they were being made and when the first achieved success and fame.

 

But anyway, who knows. Sure, some people don't want to see grainy footage from the late 70's and early 80's with bad haircuts and people talking about how awesome it is to see models explode and puppets flail around. But a lot of fans DO want to see that, and want to have all their Star Wars content in one convenient digital archive.

 

Honestly, for extras, "Star Wars: Behind the Magic, CD-ROM" and "Star Wars: Making Magic" are much better in terms of overall bonus content than the Bonus SW DVD.

[Joetheeskimo]

I actually have "Behind the Magic" though I don't know where it is know, simply because my now-adult older brother bought it when we were very young. If I ever find it I shall have a look at it....it came with our "Yoda Stories" CD by LucasArts...

 

By the way, you guys keep mentioning "Empire of Dreams" and it sounds really interesting. I've never seen it. What is it?

[Kurgan]

Empire of Dreams is a documentary on the bonus disc of the OT DVD box set. It's an ok documentary IMO.

 

I have the behind the magic cd too. It's a neat thing to have if you're a star wars fan but it's sort of useless with the various online star wars databases. Plus a lot of info on the CD is outdated or needs to be updated.

 

It's true the Star Wars Databank pretty much fulfills one of the purposes of BTM, but of course it wasn't around when the disc came out.

 

A lot of the "official" backstory and stuff has been revised of course, but BTM provides a nice snapshot of what that was like in 1998, before the release of TPM (though some TPM material was included as a "bonus preview"). Info such as Darth Vader being the sole Dark Lord of the Sith (there was no "rule of two" it was a rule of ONE, with Vader as it).

 

Likewise the backstory stuff may be outdated, but the behind the scenes movie material is still valid.

 

Empire of Dreams is good, no doubt, I'm just saying the quantity of behind the scenes material is much much larger than the bonus disc, which barely scratches the surface, and doesn't compare in quantity to the prequel bonus discs.

[Great Scott!]

I know they put TPM and AOTC in a box set but I don't think they ever put all 3 prequel movies in a box set.

I've seen pictures of this set online, but never ONCE in any store ever (even ones with huge DVD sections like Best Buy and Suncoast) anywhere... could've really used it when I wanted to get both movies, but then my dad only let me get one and I never got the other for like six or seven months.

[Kurgan]

Okay, well now according to two (usually reliable sites that often post rumors), Digitalbits here (see the update for 8/24/06), there IS an "ultimate star wars boxed set" coming out sometime (presumably in 2007 in time for the 30th anniversary), and here are some details:

 

 

1) Modified Phantom Menace (presumably that means CG Yoda at the very least)

2) "Original Trilogy Modified once again"

 

They also HOPE that the "original cuts" are being released again, but I'm cynical.

 

Personally I have no interest in buying Episode I a second time, and making Yoda CG wouldn't improve the movie at all for me. I also wouldn't buy Episodes II or III again (especially if the extras discs were stripped out).

 

The trouble with Star Wars sets these days is that "limited edition" often means "new packaging" (take the 2005 set for example) and even "features removed."

 

"Special Editon" means more tweaks and changes, which can only further distract me from the original experience (not that Lucas doesn't have a right to milk it for all its worth like so many other franchises who double or triple dip their movies).

 

I just don't think it'll be worth the cash, unless you've never bought Star Wars on DVD before...

 

My collection is complete and I was planning to buy the Limited Edition 2006 set to show my appreciation for the release of the 1993 cuts at least (even if Lucas seems to have released them only grudgingly, and without any features, perhaps to prove some point to himself that the Special Editions are better... remember how previously he said over and over that they "don't exist for me anymore" and how people were mistaken to "fall in love with unfinished projects").

[Kurgan]

Okay, so NO "Prequel Trilogy DVD box set" that we know of. Just an "entire saga ultimate set" coming out May 2007.

 

And SW.com makes it sound like this is the "one and only" time that the "theatrical versions" of the Classic Trilogy are coming to DVD (promises, promises!). So presumably the "Ultimate Saga Box Set" (or whatever they decide to call it) coming out in 9 months will only contain further tweaked versions of the classic trilogy, tweaked Episode I and no idea about Episode II and III. They theorize a "bonus disc" of Original Trilogy extras like deleted scenes, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Of course now LucasFilm could always get around their "promise" by releasing the "original original trilogy" on next generation format like BluRay/HD-DVD, but that's pure speculation at this point.

 

Currently their story is Sept 12-Dec 31st 2006 will be our "last chance" to own the "unaltered" Original Trilogy on DVD format.

 

Right now I'd say there is no reason to wait, just buy the version you like best (you get them both in this new set). If you want to wait, there will surely be some copies on ebay when you want them (though who knows about the price, they may be cheap or they may be expensive, but I doubt they would be that much more than the suggested retail price).

 

Don't bother wasting your money on a new set of modified movies hoping that you'll like whatever changes he has in store. He will never be satisfied with these movies, and will keep tinkering with them as long as he has life, breath and the money to do so. If you're really curious, you can always rent them from Blockbuster or Netflix to give 'em the "once over" and see Greedo fall on his own blaster, Amidala's ghost hugging Hayden at the end of ROTJ while the Ewoks dance to N'Sync with dj M.C. Binks or whatever else he plans to do to these movies yet...