World Famous Comics: Star Wars - Episode IV, A New Hope (Special Edition)
Star Wars - Episode IV, A New Hope (Special Edition)
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness Directed By: George Lucas Average Rating: Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: VHS Tape Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, THX, NTSC Label: 20th Century Fox Number of Items: 1 Release Date: August 26, 1997 Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 1977
Amazon.com essential video: Was George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogy, the most anticipated DVD release ever, worth the wait? You bet. It's a must-have for any home theater, looking great, sounding great, and supplemented by generous bonus features.
The Movies
The Star Wars Trilogy had the rare distinction of becoming a cultural phenomenon, a defining event for its generation. On its surface, George Lucas's story is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one can count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by its basic struggle of good vs. evil "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," its dazzling special effects, and a mythology of Jedi knights, the Force, and droids. Over the course of three films--A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983)--Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join the Rebel alliance in a galactic war against the Empire, the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), and eventually the all-powerful Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Empire is generally considered the best of the films and Jedi the most uneven, but all three are vastly superior to the more technologically impressive prequels that followed, Episode I, The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II, Attack of the Clones (2002).
How Are the Picture and Sound?
Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side.
In a word, spectacular. Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side. And at the climactic scene of A New Hope, see if the Dolby 5.1 EX sound doesn't knock you back in your chair. Other audio options are Dolby 2.0 Surround in English, Spanish, and French. (Sorry, DTS fans, but previous Star Wars DVDs didn't have DTS either.) There have been a few quibbles with the audio on A New Hope, however. A few seconds of Peter Cushing's dialogue ("Then name the system!") are distorted, and the music (but not the sound effects) is reversed in the rear channels. For example, in the final scene, the brass is in the front right channel but the back left channel (from the viewer's perspective), and the strings are in the left front and back right. The result feels like the instruments are crossing through the viewer.
What's Been Changed? The rumors are true: Lucas made more changes to the films for their DVD debut. Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) has been added to a scene in Jedi, Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replaces Clive Revill with slightly revised lines in Empire, Temuera Morrison has rerecorded Boba Fett's minimal dialogue, and some other small details have been altered. Yes, these changes mean that the Star Wars films are no longer the ones you saw 20 years ago, but these brief changes hardly affect the films, and they do make sense in the overall continuity of the two trilogies. It's not like a digitized Ewan McGregor has replaced Alec Guiness's scenes, and the infamous changes made for the 1997 special-edition versions were much more intrusive (of course, those are in the DVD versions as well).
How Are the Bonus Features?
Toplining is Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, a 150-minute documentary incorporating not only the usual making-of nuts and bolts but also the political workings of the movie studios and the difficulties Lucas had getting his vision to the screen (for example, after resigning from the Directors' Guild, he lost his first choice for director of Jedi: Steven Spielberg). It's a little adulatory, but it has plenty to interest any fan. The three substantial featurettes are "The Characters of Star Wars" (19 min.), which discusses the development of the characters we all know and love, "The Birth of the Lightsaber" (15 min.), about the creation and evolution of a Jedi's ultimate weapon, and "The Force Is with Them: The Legacy of Star Wars" (15 min.), in which filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron talk about how they and the industry were affected by the films and Lucas's technological developments in visual effects, sound, and computer animation.
The bonus features are excellent and along the same lines as those created for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Each film has a commentary track, recorded by Lucas, Ben Burtt (sound design), Dennis Muren (visual effects), and Carrie Fisher, with Irvin Kershner joining in on the film he directed, The Empire Strikes Back. Recorded separately and skillfully edited together (with supertitles to identify who is speaking), the tracks lack the energy of group commentaries, but they're enjoyable and informative, with a nice mix of overall vision (Lucas), technical details (Burtt, Muren, Kershner), and actor's perspective (Fisher). Interestingly, they discuss some of the 1997 changes (Mos Eisley creatures, the new Jabba the Hutt scene) but not those made for the DVDs.
There's also a sampler of the Xbox game Star Wars: Battlefront, which lets the player reenact classic film scenarios (blast Ewoks in the battle of Endor!); trailers and TV spots from the films' many releases; and a nine-minute preview of the last film in the series, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith (here identified by an earlier working title, The Return of Darth Vader). Small extra touches include anamorphic widescreen motion menus with dialogue, original poster artwork on the discs, and a whopping 50 chapter stops for each film.
"The Force Is Strong with This One" The Star Wars Trilogy is an outstanding DVD set that lives up to the anticipation. There will always be resentment that the original versions of the films are not available as well, but George Lucas maintains that these are the versions he always wanted to make. If fans are able to put this debate aside, they can enjoy the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han for years to come. --David Horiuchi
Amazon.com: Again? Yes. Even though no other movie has been released as many times on video as Star Wars (except for its sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), George Lucas and the folks at 20th Century Fox have actually released a slightly different film this time. This video followed the mega-successful 20th-anniversary theatrical rerelease, in which Lucas personally remastered the image and sound quality of his baby. Other revisions are more obvious, if hardly radical. Lucas enhanced several special effects with updated computer technology--most noticeable are the explosions and removal of matte lines during the Death Star battle finale. And the creatures that populate Mos Eisley's spaceport--though meticulous--are aesthetically superior improvements. The inclusion of extra scenes (originally outtakes), however, is not an improvement. Both the meeting between Jabba the Hutt and Han Solo, and Luke talking with his childhood pal Biggs, do nothing to enhance character development or theme, and serve only as distractions that preoccupy the waiting viewer. And, really couldn't Lucas find something better to do with his time than mess around with a national treasure? As for the video, this boasts both visual and sound enhancements. But since Star Wars has been available with these tweaks numerous times before, the decision whether to purchase this latest new version depends on how badly you want to see Lucas's cosmetic surgery. --Dave McCoy
Must Own Box Set What can I say about this set that hasen't already been said. If you are a fan of the movies and don't own episodes 4-6 then I highly recommend buying this. The bonus 4th disc is a very nice touch. I found this set alot cheaper at a local retail store for around $40.
Don't Be Afraid of the CGI I've wanted to add this title to my DVD collection for a while, but hesitated when I saw the controversy about the changes. Still, at $25 for the set, I thought I'd take a chance.
Personally, I think the CGI is great. It looks crisp on an HD screen, and not grainy like all movies would be from this period. It breathes new life into a good, but old movie.
I even wish they would have taken it a step further and updated some of the lo-res computer graphics in the movie. They look like Pong.
The puppets seem kind of campy looking today, and maybe they could have done a little something with those too.
I guess there's no way to cover up some of the stupid dialogue between Han and Lea, but that's another matter.
I do agree with others that both versions should be available, but I'm guessing that would be expensive. The whole "Greedo shot first" thing is pretty bad, and completely changes Han's character, but whatever.
The changes make the two trilogies fit together better, and make modern viewing a little bit nicer.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing" -Darth Vader
When? When can I find a boxed set of Star Wars movies containing all six movies? Anyone know? P.S. Try the Adventures With Boys book series!
Overrated, but overall, still great The elements in the Star Wars films are not exactly original. Close to all the ideas are borrowed from different genres spanning from Japanese Samurai films, old Sci-Fi films/serials, Westerns, etc. Then there is the simplistic moral system of the Jedi. There really isn't much genius there. The genius comes from Lucas' knack for innovation of these cliche elements and innovation in general. The genius comes from even thinking of merging all these genres. Without Star Wars, I don't think there would be Shanghai Noon, Big Trouble in Little China, etc. Sure, the creativity is shallow, but it's fun.
I'll now go on to review the individual films.
"A New Hope" sets everything up. There's not much character development. It's basically a deliciously shallow popcorn film. It leaves you wanting more...
"Empire Strikes Back" is when the story really gets interesting. Luke's force powers are getting stronger and more inner conflict arises. Han is winning over Leia, Luke's future looks a little shaky, and he discover's an awful truth. There's much more swordfighting and it's the best of the series (many will agree).
"Return of the Jedi" shows Luke a full Jedi. You're still not quite sure which way he'll turn. He discovers something that makes him change his mind about Leia, but he's still conflicted. With all the power he's obtained, the weight of responsibility is tremendous. Emperor Palpatine doesn't help much either. There's a fun speedbike race that to this day still looks good. This one comes in close 2nd with Empire.
All 9 Episodes In The Chronicles Have Now Been Released A lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but here is the list for the complete Star Wars chronicles- all 9 episodes we've been promised for ages- all now available on dvd:
1. The Phantom Menace (1999)- Episode One
2. Attack Of The Clones (2002)- Episode Two
3. Revenge Of The Sith (2005)- Episode Three
4. A New Hope (1977)- Episode Four
5. The Star Wars Holiday Special (aka Life Day Celebration)- (Nov.1978) - Episode Five (Face it, it has the same real characters from Star Wars- Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Chewbacca, R2D2, C3PO, etc., and it has a plot (a silly one) and is not a cheap cartoon, therefore, it is considered part of the continuing saga.)
6. The Empire Strikes Back - (1980) - Episode Six
7. Return Of The Jedi (1983) - Episode Seven
8. Ewoks Adventure: Caravan of Courage (1984) - Episode Eight
9. Ewoks Adventure: The Battle For Endor (1985) - Episode Nine (These 2 Ewoks movies are available on a 2-on-1 dvd. If these Ewoks played such a huge part in the Return Of The Jedi movie, then why can't these 2 movies be considered episodes 8 and 9? They are the same Ewoks, not a cheap cartoon, and deserve to be part of the continuing saga.)
Since George Lucas has now declared there will not be anymore Star Wars episodes/movies (perhaps a tv series in the future), I have declared the above 9 episodes to now be the complete Star Wars chronicles- and it cannot and will not ever be changed.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
