Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Ok, this set has been out for quite sometime now and I have read some of the reviews. Everyone is not going to be happy about it, so I might as well get that in right up front. Having been very fortunate enough to have seen the "original trilogy" in the theater in the summers of '77, '80, '83, respectively I must confess that I love those three the most. I am sure the kids that saw I-III for the first time and had not seen the later SW movies, must think those were their trilogy. That's all fine and dandy. Having loved SW all my life, and still do, I am one of those fans that had bought virtually every set that came out, whether it was the VHS widescreen editions from 1992 in a box set, or the 1995 Laserdisc THX certified Widescreen versions (which by the way IS THE BEST VERSIONS OF THE UNALTERED YOU ARE GOING TO GET, for an official release). When I saw the 1997 Special Editions that Lucas wanted to do, I thought, ok, he's going to finally put the Jabba the Hutt scene back in IV, now that we have all seen Jurassic Park, the technology for film has finally caught up so it could be believable. If anyone thought a fat man in a caveman bearskin rug would make a memorable character as a crime boss in SW, you have another thing coming. He did not look intimidating whatsoever. I was able to view the VHS documentary of what Lucas wanted to do in each IV, V, and VI. I thought his changes would add to each movie. Now, mind you, some tinkering went on behind the scenes still exclusively for this Blu-ray release set. Here's what I think, and again, I was 10 when I saw IV: A New Hope in the theater so I believe I have been a SW fan longer than most of you have been. Most of you long time fans, like me, have complained about the added CGI effects or changes to the original trilogy. Ok, that's fair enough. IV ~ , if ANY OF YOU have an original VHS copy of it with the RED letters Star Wars on side, I beg you to go back and watch THAT on todays widescreen LED TVs and tell me what you think. You will NOT be impressed. No DVD of the original theatrical version ever came out until about 2004 with the "Limited Edition" sets. That set has the Special and Theatrical Versions, however, the Theatrical versions are not cleaned up, no THX, and ALL mistakes, I mean ALL are in it. Glitches, film dirt, the boxes clearly visible around ships, Darth Vader's metal lightsaber, you name it. But, at least it is on DVD. This set has clearly cleaned up and I mean cleaned up many errors that were visible in IV. So, to the extent of the cleanup, yes, excellent job. Now, the added or changed scenes for this set in IV were good for me, with the exception of Han Solo and Greedo scene. It is ok now with them virtually shooting at each other at the same time. I would have preferred it left alone like in the original. Han Solo had a gun pointed at him, what else is he supposed to do, sit there and wait for it to go off? No, we all know HE shot Greedo under the table before Greedo could squeeze the trigger. Obi-Wan Kenobi scaring off the Sand People, to me it is better. Again, not everyone is going to like it, just stating how I feel about it. Creatures being added and so forth coming into Mos Eisley was nice whereas Lucas could not do it in 1977, but wanted to. The technology was NOT there to do most things he originally thought of doing. He wanted the spaceport to be big and expansive. He shot on the island of FIGI, I believe, and could not get that. The orange "blob" under Luke's landspeeder is finally gone as well when they enter Mos Eisley. Jabba's scene with Han Solo and Chewbacca. Jabba is completely redone even from the lame 1997 version. Much better and looks more in line with Episode 1. When Han and "the gang" are taking off from the docking bay, we get to actually see the Falcon lifting off with the troopers shooting their weapons at it and then get to see the Falcon fly off in a more normal way as opposed to the stiff and tight liftoff we had since 1977. That's the motion control cameras at the time. I never liked the X-Wings taking off from Yavin IV to go fight the Death Star. You couldn't see them, just little white blips like shooting stars all going at the same speed at the same time? A definite improvement there. The lightsabers in the duel between Vader and Obi-Wan. Better and more vibrant than ever before. The "Metal" lightsaber was FINALLY covered up with RED! Thank you! (It's the scene where DV comes toward the hanger door as Han says "Blast the door kid!" just before they make their daring getaway aboard the Millennium Falcon.) That has bothered me for decades. The trash compactor creature was touched up, nice. The added scenes with Luke's friend Biggs Darklighter in the X-Wing hanger before the Death Star Battle were good. Added fight scenes during the Battle of the Death Star were really good and the explosion was nice with the added blast ring. The visible "boxes" around ships in previous editions have all but vanished, with the slightest hint of them when Han Solo and Luke are fighting off the 4 Tie Fighters fleeing from the Death Star. It looks fantastic on an Ultra 4K! V ~ The "meteor explosion" that Luke sees on Hoth is more intense in sound now as opposed to the weak sound before in previous editions. The scene with the Wampa Ice Creature added more suspense in the cave when Luke was hanging upside down. The entire Hoth Battle sequence has been cleaned up, especially with the AT-AT's and Rebel Snowspeeders. Before you could clearly see the landscape through the metal of the ships. The large boxes around the ships, diminished greatly and almost invisible. Yoda has been left alone and looks as he did in the original release if not better by Blu-ray standards of detail. The asteroid belt looks really good now in high definition as opposed to the previous format releases. The Emperor scene aboard The Executioner with Darth Vader is just wonderful as he looks like he did in "Revenge of the Sith". Before in previous editions, he looked like an old man with a fat right eye. Didn't look intimidating to me then at all. Well done with added dialog. Bespin looks fantastic and never better! This is what a Cloud City is supposed to look like, at least Bespin! The original was limited and could not show you the outside of the city and what it looked like. The lightsaber duel between DV and Luke was fantastic and looked awesome in every hi definition detail! The added scene of Darth Vader flying back to the Executioner was good! VI ~ The added effects to the Sarlacc Pitt monster were good as before there was just tentacles coming out. Han Solo's dialog is changed a bit when he shoots the tentacle to free Lando Calrissian from the grip of the Sarlacc. Before, he says "Trust me" now "It's alright I can see a lot better" and some rope has been added to his legs when hanging upside down from the skiff as before there was just his feet there with Chewbacca holding them. Not really believable. lol Inside Jabba's palace we see an added creature walking, a dug. Same species as Sebulba. Originally, Lucas wanted a bigger and better dance number to entertain Jabba. With 1983 technology at his hands to do this and no CGI, he couldn't really do much and had to rely heavily on animatronics whereas the creature just stood there and moved a bit up and down near the mic. This dance number carried over from the 1997 version looks good and adds a little happiness to the otherwise doom and gloom of Jabba's Palace. Yoda is left alone and intact as he was in original theatrical debut. The Ewoks now can blink. Again, in 1983, he couldn't accomplish this and was left with creatures that had their eyes open 24/7. It didn't bother me, because it only happens a few times, mostly when you are focusing in on what Princess Leia has to say. Now, the scene where DV is about to pick up the Emperor and throw him into the energy shaft. It works for me either way. In the original he does not say anything and just picks up the Emperor, to his disgust. In this set edition, a deep NO! is added before he picks up the Emperor. Well, to me, Anakin is basically letting his emotions get control of him much like that of the scene in "Revenge of the Sith" where the Emperor tells him about his love Padme, "It seems in your anger, you killed her." He is basically outraged that yet again the Emperor is killing another member of his family and has to yell it out. The ending has a lot of fans angry, and perhaps for good reason, but I think there was a reason why it was changed, good or bad. Instead of an older Anakin Skywalker "spirit" like in the original theatrical release, we see the spirit of Anakin Skywalker and what he looked like BEFORE turning to the dark side. In an effort to capture some of the prequel fans to the original trilogy and a sense of continuity on what he looked like before being burned, I think this is the reason Hayden Christiansen appeared next to Yoda and Obi-wan Kenobi. Personally, I would have left it alone as he was redeemed by Luke Skywalker when he died in the older form. Therefore, there was no need for a younger spirit of Anakin. Just my thoughts. The ending of the cities and planets were very good with joyous occasion and fireworks that an Empire or "Emperor" was no more. I - III All look great and sound great as they were in the theatrical versions. Episode I does have the extended pod race in it and adds to the movie. Nice. Yoda is CGI now as opposed to the puppet we were all forced to see in I. He is more in line now with II and III. Too bad Jar Jar wasn't edited here and there in I so we could see less of that character, who for me, was annoying. Disc 2 Special Features "Archives IV - VI" Episode IV ~ *Tatooine* Deleted Scenes: ~Luke, after seeing the battle raging below with his binoculars, heads to Tosche Station to see his friends, notably Biggs Darklighter, who tells him he is secretly joining the Rebellion cause and not waiting for the Empire to "draft" him into service. Luke tells him of his struggles to join Academy also. Other members are seen at the station, one who is a woman and has a notable attitude towards Luke for some reason throwing him back his binoculars instead of handing it to him. ~Old Woman telling Luke to slow down while on landspeeder, No audio. ~Extended scene of Aunt Beru pouring her "blue milk" in kitchen before heading to dining area ~Luke and C-3PO search for R2-D2 in landspeeder talking about the droid and the search. ~Cantina "Rough Cut" in black and white. Shows more footage of Han Solo and his gal at the table before Luke and Ben join him there to discuss ship transport. Shows entire dialog of Han and Greedo, of which some did not make it to final cut in film. Han shoots first, of course, while having gun pointed at him. Does not show Han below table taking his gun out of holster. Shows more of the creatures in the Cantina, a few got deleted for good reason. One looks like the "Fly" character from the original movie "The Fly". Very similar, but not exact. ~Stormtrooper search in Mos Eisley alley with two characters before troopers arrive. Interviews: ~Overview with Dennis Muren, Ralph McQuarrie, Ben Burt ~Mark Hamill interview ~Anthony Daniels interview The Collection (ships detail, clothing, etc.) Concept Art Gallery *Yavin* ~Overview with D. Muren talking about Death Star ~Deleted Scene in which Luke and Biggs see each other in the hangar, the commander comes to talk to them and stating to Luke that he knew his father when he was younger, hopes he can handle the ship. (Most of this scene was put back in the movie). ~The Collection (detail in ships, clothing, etc.) ~Concept Art Gallery *Aboard the Death Star* Interviews: ~Overview with Dennis Muren and Ben Burt ~A younger Carrie Fisher Interview ~Deleted Scene in which Darth Vader and an Imperial Officer talking about the Droids, mind control probe, Princess Leia and Governor Tarkin wasting time. ~The Collection ~Concept Art Gallery Episode V ~ *Hoth* Interviews: ~Overview ~George Lucas on editing The Empire Strikes Back ~Irvin Kershner interview Deleted/Extended Scenes: Han and Leia extended scene in hallway when Han tells Leia he has to go, the first half made it to the movie, the second half, no. The second half starts when he tells Leia, "I can arrange that, you could use a good kiss"...he comes back to Leia... Luke's recovery in Bacta from being out in the Ice (black and white, some audio). Luke and Leia kinship before knowing they were brother and sister. Luke basically tells Leia that he really likes her and attempts to kiss her but is interrupted by the droids. Wampa Ice Creatures getting loose on Echo Base in hallways and the security forces battling with them. Some effects, but no lasers. (This was probably deemed to slow pace of movie down, so it was deleted. Great to see though because they really were nasty creatures.) Plus, we get to see C-3PO removing part of that warning sticker on one of the doors or "holding cells" containing an Ice Creature. When the Empire eventually enters Echo Base, they stop at the door, open it, and a large arm of a creature comes out to take one of the snowtroopers. Darth Vader comes and is warned not to enter by the other troopers, he is seen leaving down the hallway. (No audio here.) The Fate of General Veers during the Battle of Hoth with the AT-AT's: General Veers and his crew are destroyed right after shooting the Shield Generator at Echo Base by "Hobbie" and his Snowspeeder by crashing it into the AT-AT head where the crew are. (A Kamakaze move by the Rebels). Black and white, no audio, some drawings where used where the film was not completed, but the whole scene is intact.) ~The Collection (vehicles, clothing, etc.) ~Concept Art Gallery *Dagobah* Interviews: ~Overview ~George Lucas on "The Force" Deleted Scene: Luke and Yoda in training. Yoda tests Luke by holding floating silver bar in which Luke cuts it to pieces. Effect never completed, but scenes are there in black and white. (No Audio) ~The Collection ~Concept Art Gallery *Pursued by the Imperial Fleet* Overview with Dennis Muren Deleted/Ext. scenes: Hiding in the Asteroid Belt. The Falcon remains hiding while crew try to repair her. "Outside" the asteroid, imperial bombers try to "stir something up" as Han says. Alternate Han and Leia kiss scene before C-3PO interrupts with good news on the ship. ~ The Collection ~ Concept Art Gallery *Cloud City* Overview Deleted Scenes: Lobot's capture, Leia tends to Luke aboard Falcon while leaving Cloud City. Some of this made it to the movie, but not all. (Interesting enough, but the scene where Han and Leia are talking about C-3PO and each other in "their room" is not on here. There is more dialog that was cut from the final edition of the movie. Director Irvin Kershner narrowed it down to the scene we all see in the movie.) ~ The Collection ~ Concept Art Gallery Episode VI ~ *Tatooine* Overview with Dennis Muren, Phil Tippet. They talk about Jabba's palace, The Sarlacc Pitt and working in Yuma, AZ. where it was shot. Deleted/Ext. Scenes: Vader's Arrival on Death Star, reaching out to Luke Skywalker in his chamber, Luke being shown in cave near Jabba's palace, perfecting his green lightsaber, C-3PO outside saying how wretched the place was, then being joined by R2-D2 going to Jabba's palace. All sound and effects are here and almost made it to the final cut of the movie. Also shows Falcon and X-Wing in background near where Luke was. (My guess is that George opted to reveal Luke's new lightsaber during the Sarlacc Pitt skirmish.) Tatooine Sandstorm. It is all here except for the final audio redub by the actors. The big fans are clearly heard to stir up the dust. This scene was cut to opt for the ships leaving orbit and splitting up in space as seen in the movie now, then communicating as to what is going to happen. *Endor* Interviews: ~ Overview with Dennis Muren ~ Interview with Harrison Ford Deleted/Ext. Scene: Han Solo and Rebels engage stormtroopers inside the Shield Bunker. Audio and some effects are there, but no lasers. A hilarious moment in which Han reacts to being called "Rebel Scum" by one of the imperial officers after being captured inside. ~ The Collectioni ~ Concept Art Gallery *Death Star II Space Battle* (lots of stuff here!) Overview with Bill George Deleted/Extended scenes: ~ JerJerod'sConflict : He is telling Vader he may not enter Emperor's chamber, 2 Royal Guards in back of him raise their weapons to Vader, Vader uses "force crush maneuver" on JerJerrod, but he tells Vader it is the Emperor's wish to not be disturbed. Vader relinquishes grip and tells JerJerrod, "I will await his convenience." (I always wondered why the Royal Guards did nothing to Vader when he entered the Emperor's chamber unannounced and then the Emperor saying "I told you to remain on the Command Ship.") ~ Emperor voicing command to JerJerrod to destroy the Endor Moon should the shield generator be destroyed by the rebels. JerJerrod states there are many soldiers on the moon, Emperor states back "YOU WILL DESTROY IT!" ~ Deflector Shield is down, lost all contact with station on Endor, commence rotation of main batteries ~ Rebels moving in on unfinished portion of Death Star. Rebels enter Superstructure. ~ Moon target in range, commence firing. ~ Battle of Endor: The lost Rebels. Several female pilots are scene in fighters acting out, but only one made it to the movie and her voice was dubbed over by a male voice. (her voice probably was not suited in the scene, Heavy accent. It should also be noted David Prowse's voice was dubbed over as well for James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, so it's no surprise if you see this footage. A pilot resembling that of the character Nien Nunb is also scene in a fighter. A Mon Calamari soldier is here as well with hilarious dialog for fun. ~The "Falcon"rebels on board the Millenium Falcon during the Battle in Space above Endor. They are seen doing various tasks as well as the gunners aboard during the battle. ~ General Madine and some rebel support staff are shown in place of the Mon Calamari on board the Home One ship just in case the creatures did not look as good on screen. There was a plan for them to be replaced with human rebels. ~The Collection ~Concept Art Gallery The spoofs disc was fantastic and a lot of fun to watch and included the following: ~ Spoofs from Saturday Night Live ~ Yoda and Darth Vader's "Tom Tom" session Voice Over (hilarious) ~ Yoda doing the funky dance with troopers looking on in background ~ Darth Vader being a Jerk to an imperial officer (Empire), while in the private chamber aboard the Executioner ~ Candid Camera, 1977, The host of the show talks to a young boy about what Star Wars was actually about getting HIS version of it. ~ A few Spike TV commericals, one featuring an Ewok, the other featuring a Darth Vader using the Force during playing a round of golf. ~ Fast LEGO Star Wars summary, (Well done!, covering IV, V, VI) ~ TV shows, According To Jim, That 70's Show, Family Guy ~ Snippet from "The Donny and Marie Show", 1977 ~ Star Wars Gangsta Rap Special Edition, 2008 ~ Darth Vader feels Blue, 2007 ~ Toy Story 2 spoof ~ Darth Vader and Heidi Klum Target Commercial ~ AT-AT Day afternoon ~ Comedy snippet featuring Eddie Izzard ~ Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me ~ Volkswagen Commercial featuring small boy dressed up as Darth Vader trying to use "The Force" on virtually everything to his disgust, then when Dad comes home, he gets a little "help" from a "remote". ~ FANBOYS snippet ~ SPACEBALLS snippet ~ CLERKS snippet ~ "Troopers" film, 1997 (quite good, well done) ~ Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Star Wars scene, 2011 ~ Spike Commercial featuring several "Tusken Raiders" at the office., 2008 ~ "Chad Vader" as a store shift leader getting his crew to take him seriously., 2006 ~ Late Night with Conan O'Brien ~ Star Wars according to a 3 year old girl. (Well done and hilarious as to what SHE thinks Star Wars IS.), 2008 ~ Just Shoot ME snippet ~ The Muppet Show snippet featuring Luke Skywalker in Bespin clothes (Empire Strikes Back), 1980 ~ French and Saunders snippet ~ 30 Rock snippet ~ MTV Movie Awards, 2005 ~ The Colbert Report, 2006 ~ Robot Chicken snippets from show ~ Hot Shots part DEUX film, snippet 1993 ~ The Daily Show, 2006 ~ Boba Fett Spike TV Commercial ~ Buffy The Vampire Slayer snippet, 2004 ~ The Simpsons, 1998 ~ How I Met Your Mother snippet ~ The Saga Begins song video from Weird Al Yankovic, 1999 Documentaries as follows: (Not all here, of course, so keep what you have already if you want more than this has.) ~ A Conversation with the Masters (ESB 30 Years Later) ~ Star Wars Tech ~ Star Warriors ~ Anatomy of a Dewback ~ Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (taken from vintage film) ~ The Empire Strikes Back, SPFX (taken from vintage film) ~ The Making of Star Wars (1977, taken from vintage film) (I also have the VHS on the making of the 1997 editions explaining in detail what went on when cleanup took place on IV, V, VI. The documentary called "From Star Wars To Jedi" that came out in 1983. It's narrated by Mark Hamill and is very good. It was never released on DVD or Blu-ray.) The Artwork on set was decent and I really liked the guide that came with it also in sleeve. **** UPDATE ON ANOTHER BOX SET (OCT 2015): Another reissue of this boxset is out now, same 9 discs, only has a black box with a full fledged Darth Vader on cover and the discs are housed in the typical Blu-ray plastic case that would hold 9. I don't have it as I have this (Beige), so I can't say whether or not the guide came with it. **** BLURAY STEELBOOK EDITIONS: There are 6 "limited edition" cases out. These covers have the "bad guys" on each one, with the exception of II, whereas, Yoda, is on that one and each one has a "scene" inside the case respective of that movie. Most of the original artwork for the poster is on the backs of each case. They only house the single disc Blu-ray that is in this "Beige Set" I have reviewed. All in all, a great set of the first 6 SW movies. I have to say that although the UNALTERED originals are not in this set, it does not detract me from giving this a 5 star rating. Like I said earlier in my review, I have been a long time fan since 1977 and these movies have never looked better or sounded better. Sound is DTS HD 6.1. But, many of you still want the original unaltered versions of IV-VI. You CAN get them, but not on Blu-ray as of this writing. Look for the 1995 LASERDISC THX WIDESCREEN VERSIONS of IV-VI. Those are about as close as you are going to get of the originals cleaned up with fabulous sound. Perhaps in the future after VII - IX are released we may yet have these original versions on Blu-ray.