Star Wars Ready for Blu-ray Release
George Lucas’ epic space odyssey Star Wars is about to make its debut on Blu-ray for the first time, and fanatics couldn’t be more eager to pluck down $140 for the set that includes both the original and prequel trilogies.Lucas has become notorious for re-releasing his lightsaber-wielding series numerous times with various amounts of changes and additions to the original material throughout the years. Some changes have led many fans to scoff at the fact that they may never see Star Wars: A New Hope the way they remembered it as kids – you know, as plain-old Star Wars. Few would even charge Lucas with ruining his own property with the added special effects/images to the original films.
Fans will most undoubtedly usher in the Star Wars’ Blu-ray era with open arms and wallets, regardless of which side of the fence they reside on regarding Lucas’ mad-professor skills with the editing tools at Industrial Light Magic. As for what changes Lucas has up his sleeve for the new Blu-ray editions, fans will most-likely be pleased with what has been revealed.
For starters, no changes have been made that affect the story this time around (i.e. Greedo shooting at Han Solo first at the Mos Eisley Cantina in the special edition). It appears each modification this time around is to address technical gaffs in the prequel series or in the subsequent editions of the original trilogy.
Take, for instance, the lack of vibrancy seen in the lightsabers once the original trilogy was transferred to DVD. For whatever reason, the glow-swords-of-awesomeness lacked the original flare and were out-right dull. That will not be the case in the new release; Lucas has brought back the lightsabers’ traditional vibrant colors and white-glowing core.
Other tweaks to the Blu-ray editions include digitally replacing the “younger” Yoda Muppet used in The Phantom Menace with a more recognizable, age-appropriate CGI version. Additionally, The Empire Strikes Back scene in which viewers mistakenly see the puppeteer bar controlling the Wompa’s arm as it strikes Luke Skywalker has been digitally corrected for the first time in 30 years.
Besides the digital corrections, Star Wars: The Complete Saga will contain over 40 hours of bonus material to surely whet the appetite of any member of Star Wars fandom. There are two discs in the set dedicated to deleted and alternative scenes. The crème de la crème of the Blu-ray collection may very well be the disc dedicated to making-of documentaries and spoofs of the galactic saga from other shows and movies.
The Blu-ray set (Full Trailer) is scheduled for release on September 16.
