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Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977 & 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition)
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | The 2007 limited-edition two-disc release of George Lucas's epic space fantasy Star Wars is not only the first time the movie has been officially available by itself on DVD. It marks the first-ever DVD release of Star Wars as it originally played in theaters in 1977. What does that mean exactly? Well, for starters, the initial title crawl proclaims that this is just Star Wars, not Episode IV, A New Hope. Second, the film is without the various "improvements" and enhancements Lucas added for the theatrical rerelease in 1997 as well as the DVD premiere in 2004. So no more critters and droids scurrying around the port of Mos Eisley when Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi first arrive, no meetings between Han Solo and Jabba the Hut and between Luke and Biggs (extraneous scenes that were cut in 1977), no enhanced explosions during the final reel, and--most importantly to some fans--no more of Greedo shooting first in the bar. Instead Han is free to be the scoundrel and not even let Greedo squeeze off a shot. What do you lose by watching the 1977 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here). Digital cleanup for another--Tatooine looks like it's been coated with an additional layer of sand cloud. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Star Wars, however, is not anamorphically enhanced (sometimes referred to as "4:3 letterbox"), so on a widescreen TV it will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference. Yes, it's true that serious home-theater lovers who want spectacular sound and anamorphically enhanced picture can always watch the 2004 version of the movie also included in this set. But chances are good that they already picked up the trilogy edition of all three films, so their decision to buy the 2006 two-disc edition depends on how much they want the original film. The official LucasFilm stance is that this is an individual release of the 2004 version of Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope, and the 1977 version of the film is merely a "bonus feature." Common speculation is that the only reason the original versions are seeing the official light of day at all is to undercut the booming black market for the laserdisc version. Star Wars fans will have to decide for themselves if that's worth the purchase. --David Horiuchi | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| "The Original Trilogy,Once More" | |
| | INTRO:For the first time on DVD in 2006 the "original" films of the Star Wars trilogy were released,fans are finally getting the chance to see the original movies,"IV:A New Hope","V:The Empire Strikes Back" and "VI:Return Of The Jedi" as they were shown in theaters back in 1977,1980 and 1983 respectively.Altought those DVDs are said to be for a limited time only,its almost sure that there is going to be another version or release of those "as seen in theaters movies" in a special edition sometime soon.
ORGINAL,REALLY?:This is said to be the original movies,but still some of the mistakes like the blue rod wich held the Millenium Falcon model,that were present in the original version are not present here,making of them not so original,but i beleve that those are minor changes that don`t affect the movie in any way and doesn`t prevent it of being good.
THE MOVIE ITSELF:1977`s Episode IV:A New Hope is the first movie of the Star Wars series,introducing us to the classic cast of characters that were Luke,Leia,Han,R2,C3PO,Obi-Wan and Chewie as well as the evil Darth Vader,the force,lightsabers and basicly Star Wars itself."A New Hope" is the strong foundation of Star Wars,a great enjoyable movie from beggening to end.While it might seem dated compared to the prequel trilogy in terms off sounds and effects it remains amazing.
TWO DISCS?:It is a very nice option to choose between two versions of the same movie,the original version and the special edition version.That way you can choose wich you want to watch and compare the two releases,but why didn`t they make a box set ainvailable as well as the separate movies,it would have contained the three movies togheter,seems like a no-brainer to me.
ONCE AGAIN:This marks the what?4rth or 5th time the original Star Wars trilogy has been released!Enough is enough!In 1992 it was released on VHS as "the orginal,one last time",then the 1996 "special dedition also on VHS.In 2004 it was once again released this time on DVD with a bonus disc and then the nest year,2005 they released the same set without the bonus disc and in 2006 this "original and special editions" two discs set of "A New Hope","The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return Of The Jedi".S my question i:how many more times must the original Star Wars trilogy be released?Bad news a boxed set of the 6 Star Wars movies in a "special edition" with changes will be released....
OVERRAL:Its great to have those original movies but there still some changes(minus one star),and its another re-re-re-re...-release(minus one star also).
| | Not original. Yep, I said it. | |
| | These are original to a degree but certain things such as original 'mistakes' have been altered, making it not 100% original. For example in the 80's when Star Wars was shown in theatres, and when I used to watch it on the Canadian movie channel ('Superchannel') and even on the 90's VHS boxed set which I have, one thing I always noticed (and looked for on this Limited edition) and that viewers could clearly see was the 'blue' rod that the Millenium Falcon model was mounted on when it entered the Death Star for the first time. Another was that Obi Wan's light saber would almost dissapear completely at certain angles (when he held it directly facing the camera)in his duel with Darth Vader. So, those have been altered for this new Limited edition not making it truely original. But since the 'original version' of Star Wars has not yet been officially released on DVD digitally mastered with THX, I imagine that there will be one more, final set of all 6 flims coming soon either in one gigantic box set, or seperate all in their 'original' form and digitally mastered with THX making Lucas one ungodly rich dude. It's kind of sickening really.
Now waitng for someone to dispute my post and insult me in some way as is typical on the internet in, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
| | Enjoyable, but for the maniacs only | |
| | I am so pleased be finally able to rediscover Star Wars the way I saw it for the first time but I can't felicitate George Lucas for delivering a so poor DVD edition. The least he should have done is restoring the movie properly so it would have looks better than an old VHS tape (after all, he is known to be so obsessive with hi-tech) and add some substantial extras such as archive documentaries, theatrical trailers, and even an introduction where he could have explained why he is so unhappy with this version and wanted to make it disappear (in that context, the presence of the 2004 cut on disk one will have found a reason to be included).
I seriously doubt this is really the last time we will got the chance to own the original versions of the original trilogy on DVD knowing only fools never change their mind and how much money can be made by re-releasing the same movie in many different ways (Lucas is not a fool and he is a tough businessman). So, if you are Star Wars maniac like me you will enjoy these Limited Editions anyway despite their flaws but if you are a "moderated" fan and already got the 2004 Box set you should wait until a definitive DVD edition see the day of light to upgrade.
| | | Of all the Star Wars movies, this is my ultimate favorite. I like this movie because this is where I had my first encounter with Luke, Han, and Yoda. If you are looking to purchase Star Wars movies, you might want to start with the trilogy sets, which often are cheaper than buying each movie separately.
| | WARNING !!! - NOT the Holy Grail after all | |
| | The 1977 theatrical version of Star Wars in this set, which countless have been waiting years for, is an inferior transfer. It is being made from an old 1993 laserdisc master and it's NOT anamorphic/16x9 enhanced, which is completely unacceptable for a DVD in 2006. I certainly expected better from LucasFilm.
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