DVD Reviews

Star Wars: The Complete Saga - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Sep 19, 2011, 14:01 GMT

Star Wars: The Complete Blu-ray Saga will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films utilizing the highest possible picture and audio presentation. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace(32 Years Before Episode IV) Stranded on the desert planet Tatooine after rescuing young Queen Amidala from the impending invasion of Naboo, Jedi apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Jedi Master discover nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker, a young slave unusually strong in the ...more

Have you ever heard of burnout?  I may have it when it comes to Star Wars.  I dearly love the original trilogy, but changes and tinkering have put a bit of a damper on this release for me.  I don’t give Lucas mad, blind vitriolic rants as with the Interwebs, but he’s diminishing the films.  You know you’re gonna buy it anyway though. 

I’m going to put on my grouchy old man pants, borrowed them from George.  When I heard that Star Wars was coming to Blu-ray I did the happy dance.  I held a bit of a new hope that the original cuts might sneak out, but I knew that was a slim possibility.  I still have the originals on laserdisc, but the player is under the bed gathering dust. 

My building burnout prevented me from buying those sets that included it on DVD, although I heard those transfers were in pretty rough shape and given no love.  What I wasn’t expecting was more tinkering with the films, but that’s what has happened from the lame “Noooooooo” to other minor changes.

Re-doing Yoda to match the CGI version in Phantom Menace may be met with approval, but more changes weren’t expected beyond whatever was already done.  I guess I can stop complaining about those because Lucas can do whatever he wants and has been known to do so.  So I guess I will and switch into good cop mode. 

Whatever has been done to them they’ve also been made to look fantastic on Blu-ray and they’ve added some fabulous special features.  You have several ways to buy. 

If you choose to get either of the trilogies on their own you’ll get the movies and two commentaries as well as the re-mastered discs.  If you spring for the “complete saga” discs you’ll get the goodies outlined below.  This includes some stuff that has never made it out of the Lucasfilm vaults. 

However, some of the stuff that appeared on the other releases doesn’t make their way here – so hold on to your old sets.  Even if you’re irked over the changes you know you want this set… and probably snuck into town incognito and bought it anyway.
   
Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Jedis Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) must protect Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) from an insidious plot. The duo stumble upon Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a child who may have a greater power than anyone knows.

Disc One – Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace features include:

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman,  John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

Episode II: Attack of the Clones: Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) continues his training with Obi-Wan (McGregor) and begins to flame a secret romance with Padmé Amidala (Portman) if he can control the demons that are growing within him. Meanwhile the sinister Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) is hatching an assassination plot.

Disc Two – Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones features include:

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: Anakin and Padme are married, but Anakin’s plans for happiness darken when the robotic General Grievous leads an army against the Republic, but the forces behind Grievous only bring Anakin closer to the Dark Side.

Disc Three – Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith features include:

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

Episode IV: A New Hope: When Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is captured by Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) farm boy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) finds himself drawn into intrigue with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and elderly Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness).  However, the Empire has a new battle station that the rebels will need to destroy if they expect to win the war. 

Disc Four – Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope features include:

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Luke travels to a desolate planet to train with Jedi master Yoda (Frank Oz) while the Rebels continue to chip away at the Empire.  Meanwhile, Han and Leia begin to grow closer but secrets are also revealed that may destroy Luke. 

Disc Five – Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back features include:

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi: The Empire is attempting to resurrect the Death Star and the Rebels have to destroy it before it can become fully operational with the help of forest creatures called Ewoks.  Now Luke must face his secrets and come to terms with them.

Disc Six – Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi features include:

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

Disc Seven – Bonus Features:

NEW! Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more

Disc Eight - Bonus Features include:

NEW! Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV-VI including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more

Disc Nine – The Star Wars Documentaries:

NEW! Star Warriors  (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures...these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later  (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
NEW! Star Wars Spoofs  (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
The Making of Star Wars  (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars  movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by  C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX  (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi  (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams.
Anatomy of a Dewback  (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
Star Wars Tech  (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.

Again, I can’t help but be a little disappointed that three spirits didn’t appear to Lucas in his sleep and convince him to release the original films.  However, what he has provided looks fantastic and has a plethora of special features.

It’s all that’s available, even with some of the more questionable changes, and is well worth the money if you’re going to spend it. 

Visit the DVD database for more information.