Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) (Packaging May Vary) [Blu-ray]

Star Wars is an institution of cinema, it's not just a movie (or movies) but is also a culturalphenomenon, a revolutionary franchise, a highlight in Hollywood's history and more. With anexcellent entertaining story, endearing characters (at least in the first three), spectacular andrevolutionary special effects, epic action sequences and the best score ever, this saga is trulyunique and amazing.While the first three films are all classics and modern masterpieces, the prequel trilogy issomewhat of a mixed bag that does not achieve the heights of its predecessors but they are not asbad as many have claimed and they are still enjoyable in its own right.This BD set is one of the most, if not the most anticipated release in the HD format. When it wasfirst announced, many sentiments circulated around the net: joy, anger, anxiousness, etc. StarWars is such powerful that we, the people have strong reactions towards it. Of course, with a newrelease, there is also new controversy. First the bad news: the films presented here are new"Special Editions" that are "closer to the vision George Lucas have for his films". I really don'tmind when directors go back to their previous work and do some changes as long as they give asthe option to choose the new version or the original release that everyone likes. George Lucas hasnever give us such option and that's what bothers me the most. I wouldn't mind the specialeditions if the original were also included (completely restored of course) and we were given theoption to choose. With Star Wars that has never been the case but, as mad as I may be, I havelearned to live with the pain and live with the changes that can be very subtle or very obnoxious andstupid.I should warn you that if you absolutely don't tolerate the changes then don't buy this set. If you,like me, have learned to tolerate them or don't care about them then this set is veryrecommended.I will review each film, their picture and sound quality and some of the changes that have beenmade.Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005)Ep. I: The Phantom Menace (1999)After Ep VI was released in 1983, the world has lived happily without a new Star Wars film for 16years. But when George Lucas announced that he was going to release a new Star Wars film thatwas going to be the first of a new trilogy, the world jumped with joy. Ep. I was one of the mostanticipated movies ever and the excitement was visible everywhere. When it was finally released,Ep I was not proclaimed as an instant classic like the previous film and many people feltdisappointed with what they saw on the screen. To be fair, the first three films were sacred goodsand Ep I had to reach impossibly high standards. But, that it's no excuse to deliver a film that wasa mixed bag from beginning to end. The picture has a lot of problems, the main one been the actors. Idon't know what George saw in Jake Lloyd but he is not a good Anakin Skywalker. He is one of themain detractions of the film, which is bad because he is the main character and if you don't likehim, then the whole movie is hard to follow. The other big detraction and this may be the biggestone is the inclusion of the creature Jar Jar Binks. Many people have complained about the Ewokson Ep VI but the whole group of them are not as annoying as this creature. Jar Jar is such a badcharacter that comes close to ruining the whole film. Natalie Portman is an amazing actress but hereshe seems a little out of focus and uncomfortable. The best characters and performances are fromLiam Neeson and Ewan McGregor as the two jedi knights that save the day. Other problem is thatsome sequences are too long like the pod race which begins very good but then drags a lot andultimately becomes boring. The plot is too political and lacks the excitement that the previous filmshad and overall, you never feel connected to the characters. On the positive side, the visuals areamazing with spectacular special effects, the action sequences are exciting, the lightsaber fights arefun much more dynamic and of course John Williams score is always of great help to all the films.TPM has a lot of issues but ultimately is still watchable and sometimes, it is genuinely fun.Recommended.Movie: 3 stars.Ep II: Attack of the Clones (2002)After the lukewarm response to Ep. I, Ep. II was supposed to be a return to form for the franchiseand while is definitely an improvement over the previous film, it still has some troubles, mainlyone which can be summed up in two words: Hayden Christensen. How can you enjoy a movie when youabsolutely hate the main character? That's the main problem I have with this film, I can't standAnakin Skywalker. While the action sequences are better, the battles are bigger and moreinteresting and is great to see Yoda in action, Anakin is a real pain in the a**. Again, EwanMcGregor is the best character in the movie and you root for him instead of Hayden. But, noteverything is Hayden's fault. A lot of blame goes to Lucas who wrote the character as a stupid,stubborn, whiner. Natalie Portman is good but when she is with Hayden, their lack of chemistry isvery palpable. The love scenes are very ridiculous and you just can't help but laugh sometimes.What this movie does right, aside from the battles and special effects is that gives us more stellarperformances from supporting characters like Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker,Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson and of course there is no more Jar Jar. It's also great to seethe jedi order in its splendor, fighting as a strong group. And of course Williams score is as alwaysexcellent.Ultimately, AOTC is fun to watch despite its problems and is better than Ep I. Recommended.Movie: 3.5 stars.Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)Now this is a return to form for the franchise. Ep III, which is easily the best of the prequel trilogy, provides a satisfying conclusion to the saga and I can easily say that is a great film. The story is much darker and the action sequences are great. The battles between Anakin and Obi-Wan and between Yoda and The Emperor are simply amazing. Surprisingly, Anakin is not asannoying as it was on the previous film and he fares better here. For a movie that you know whatwill happen, Ep. III is a fun ride and almost equal to Ep. VI. Highly Recommended.Movie: 4.5 stars.Original Trilogy (1977-1983)Star Wars (also called-Ep. IV: A New Hope 1977)Countless of things have been said about the original SW so I won't delve to much in it. Suffice tosay is that while no movie is perfect, this one comes pretty darn close. It's a classic withunforgettable characters, a great story and special effects that are still spectacular to watch untilthis day. A masterpiece.Movie: 5 starsEp. V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)My favorite SW film and one of the best movies ever made, TESB is as perfect as the first film andeven better. Darker, with great performances, a wonderful twist and an unforgettable villain, thismovie is perfection 100%. Very Highly Recommended.Movie: 5 starsEp. VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)While this is the weakest film of the OT, is still a great film that gives a great conclusion to a greattrilogy. The main problem it seems to be the Ewoks but I don't find them that annoying (againwatch Ep I and we'll talk about who is really annoying). Ep VI is lighter than V but is also full ofthrills like the triple final battle, one in Endor, the other in outer space and the most important oneinside the Death Star. Ep. VI provides a perfect completion for a perfect trilogy. Very HighlyRecommended.Movie: 4.75 starsVideo & AudioEp I is the worst looking movie in the whole set. Much blame goes to DNR that makes the picturelook weird. Faces are sometimes soft, night scenes are sometimes crushed but overall is not abad transfer. In fact, it has never looked better but it could have looked better if a better effortwas given.PQ: 3.5Attack of the clones look much better but still has some problems again with softness and somecolors are not well reproduced. But, overall is a godd transfer and I'm sure it will satisfy everyone.PQ: 4Revenge of the Sith is completely demo quality. Is as perfect as anything you will see. Aspectacular transfer.PQ: 5The original trilogy looks uniformly excellent. I was surprise that they did not eliminate all thegrain in the film like in Ep. I and there is a layer of it throughout the three films. Skin tones arewarm, colors are well reproduced and detail and contrast are spectacular. You will marvel at howgood the movies look. Some DNR is apparent in some scenes but overall the three movies havestellar transfers. I'm very happy with the results.PQ: 4.5Sound is spectacular in all six films. The 6.1 DTD-HD MA in the whole saga is dynamic, strong,clear and completely amazing. There is no sign of damage or hiss. This is a stellar mix for all thefilms.AQ: 5Changes:This edition has some new changes in the films:The best one and the only one that feels appropriate is the replacement of puppet Yoda for a CGIone in Ep. I. Is far more pleasing than in the original release.The other changes unfortunately are again done in the OT. Fortunately two of them are not veryannoying. The first one is is Ep. IV where Obi-Wan's screams in the desert was changed andenhanced. The other is Ep. VI and now the Ewoks blink. Both changes are hardly noticeable.Unfortunately, the most annoying change, also happens in Ep. VI and now Darth Vader screams"Nooo!" before throwing the Emperor down the Death Star. This change is very stupid because theoriginal scene was perfect but you know what they say "this comes close to George's vision..."As for the previous changes, they are still there but now Han and Greedo shoot at the same time.At least now, this is closer to the vision we had of the scene. But for me, the most awful changewas the replacement of Sebastian Shaw for Hayden Christensen at the end of Ep. VI andunfortunately he is still there ruining the end of the movie. Thanks a lot George.Bonus FeaturesThis set comes with so many bonus material that you will have to see it for days. Everything isgreat and interesting.First, on discs I to VI, you have two audio commentaries, one from the previous DVD releases anda new one that is a compilation of archival interviews.On disc VII you have the archives for Ep. I-III where you will find interviews, model collections andconcept galleries for each film. Most important, you have 22 deleted scenes, 6 for Ep. I, 5 for Ep.II and 11 for Ep. III. This is the highlight of the disc and they should not be missed.On Disc VIII you have the Archives for Ep. IV-VI again with interviews, sculptures, models,concept galleries and 23 amazing deleted scenes, 8 for Ep. IV, 10 for Ep. V and 5 for Ep. VI. Theyare a must-see for everyone.On Disc 9 you have a variety of documentaries including three making of documentaries for the OTfilms, a documentary about the changes done in 1997 for the films re-release, a homage to troop501, a documentary about the SW creatures and a very fun one with all the parodies of SW.The bonus material is excellent and is clear that Lucasfilm put a very strong package. The onlydownside is that none of the DVDs bonus material has been ported over, including the excellent'Empire of Dreams' documentary. Still, this new material, particularly the deleted scenes, isamazing and will be a great treat to everyone.Closing ThoughtsThe Star Wars saga is one of the most legendary pieces of filmmaking ever made. While not all thefilms are perfect, overall the 6 films provide top-notch entertainment and deserve to be seen. Thisset is almost perfect with spectacular picture quality (most of the time), superb audio and plenty ofexcellent bonus material. The only downside are, as always, the changes done to the films and theexclusion of the DVD bonus material. Maybe some day we will see a definitive Star Wars set withthe inclusion of the originals but until then, this set comes very highly recommended!!!

After waiting several months, the Blu-ray edition of Star Wars is here. I promised that I would not write any kind of review until I had seen all six pictures of the series at least once.Episode IVisuals & audio: Both greatly superior to the DVD. A grossly over-exposed scene of the city on the DVD was corrected here and the landscaping and architecture are breath-taking. Audio is very good. Sound of explosions have real bass fundementals unlike the DVD. I'll have more to say about the music later.Story and acting: Probably the weakest of the six in both respects. Neeson and McGregor are always good as you would expect. Natalie Portman is irritating in this one. She mumbles and whines through her dialog and nobody seemed to be there to correct her. I realize that she is supposed to be hiding the fact that she is actually the Queen but at least she could have spoken distinctly. Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker was a big mistake -- a cute little boy who runs around saying "yippee!"and his characterization is not convincing. A much better choice, for that part would have been young Daniel Logan who played Boba Fett in Episode II; he had the demeanor and appearance far more consistent with the character he would ultimately become and he was still young enough for the part at that time. Every time I see him in Episode II I think, there's the kid who should have played Anakin. The pod race is a little long but for some reason the sound effects are less irritating here than with the DVD.Special effect are marvelous and what you would hope for with Lucas' technology by this time.Episode IIVisuals & audio: Some of the night scenes in this are really dark -- probably more like the original film was. I made it a point to watch all of these films in a totally dark room. The DVD probably had compressed contrast to make it more suitable for its time. Audio is very good -- the music and sound effects in the entire series never override the dialog which is clear and understandable at all times. The sibilance components of the dialog are always clear providing better intelligibility.Story and acting. Portman improved slightly, but the romance scenes are unendurable. Hayden Christensen is awful here, reciting his dialog without conviction and putting stresses on the wrong words. Lucas is to blame for a lot of this: He wrote the story and directed the films. He should not have allowed these sort of things to get away from him.Special effects are great-- the car chase at the beginning and the monster battles and rescue at the end are unbelieveable and look splendid here. The monster battle at the stadium was, supposedly, a tribute to Ray Harryhausen, the master of stop-action animation.Episode IIIVisuals & audio: Looks wonderful but is not that much of an improvement over the DVD. DVD mastering had come a long way by the time this picture was released although the DTS sound of the Blu-ray cannot be matched by the DVD. The scenes of cityscape and futuristic architecture in this episode and Episode II simply cannot be believed and are especially striking with the resolution of Blu-ray.Story and acting: Natalie Portman had improved greatly, bringing real humanity to her character. I can say the same but to a slightly lesser degree for Christensen. Obviously a lot of coaching went on between films. The story is very good and neatly ties into episode IV which follows.Episode IVI watched the series in this order because I wanted to see how bad this episode was going to look compared with episode III. Not a bit of it!Visuals & audio: The restoration of this film is nothing short of a miracle in picture and sound. John Williams composed some his most ravishingly beautiful music for this film. Like the opera cycle "The Ring of the Nibelungs" by Richard Wagner (sort of his "Star Wars"), Williams composed specific themes or leitmotifs to pertain to his characters: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader and even Han Solo have their own musical themes which are recalled in the orchestra when they are the center of attention. At 40:48 when Luke sees his dead parents and burned home, the horns (French horns as most people incorrectly call them) sound a theme that is one of the main themes Williams uses in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The film does not seem old at all having rich detail and wonderful sound quality. However, I was a little irked to discover that the average volume level of this episode is a full 8 to 10 decibels higher than episode III. That's a lot and it means you cannot use the same volume setting for all the films in this series and get the same effect, which I find rather irritating. The entire episode, including the dialog, is at a higher average volume level than the preceding episode and the reason why this would be necessary or overlooked eludes me.Story and acting: Luke Skywalker is portrayed by Mark Hamill initially as a young man with no sense of purpose which is what I assume Lucas wanted him to be. But is does bother me to hear him say, "But it's a whole nother year." This being said on a planet far, far away? Princess Leia Organa: Carrie Fisher is OK here but her British accent keeps coming and going. Harrison Ford and particularly Alec Guinness bring a huge amount to this film. Even at Guinness' advanced age, his dialog rolls out of him effortlessly and totally believably. The special effects were groundbreaking for this time even though Lucas was operating on a strict budget. The final battle scene, no matter how many times you have watched it is still a nail biter. This was of course the first film originally released in 1977 that we all came to know and love.Changes/alterations: I don't have any qualms over the little additions Lucas put into this film. They enrich it a bit. We get an elevation view and other details of the architecture of the Mos Eisley Spaceport which I regard as a real improvement in helping dispel the impression that it is simply a movie set. The CG of Jabba the Hutt was a good idea -- at least we now know what he looked like. Han Solo walking behind him and stepping on his rear quarter is quite funny if you catch it.Jabba in this episode seems quite friendly toward Han Solo in this scene. In most of Jabba's other scenes he is a crazed Caligula-like dictator. I'm not sure most people will even catch some of these modifications, except for those who have made a life study of these movies.Episode VVisuals and audio: Here I noticed quite a difference in clarity between the scenes shot on set which are crystal clear and the multiple element space battle scene which look a little soft in focus compared to any of the other films. This episode contains some of Williams' most majestic music, showing off the wonderful brass section of the The London Symphony, certainly one of the world's finest orchestras. Who ever decided on that orchestra certainly made the right move. It brings a great deal to these films. So far I haven't seen any reviews mentioning the music or the great orchestral playing of it. It's nice to see they at least got a credit, considering what they contributed to these films.Story and acting: Probably the best of the lot in most respects. Hamill, Fisher and Ford have enriched their characters greatly. The story is probably the most powerful of the six.Changes/Alterations: These appear to be limited to the few inserts made in the "Cloud City" scenes, which, again, I think improve on the original film, the the teeth gnashing and moaning of the devotees to the original versions notwithstanding. If there were any other additions, I missed them.Episode VIVisuals and audio: Both superb. The most complex space battle scenes ever done up to that time do not have the soft focus problems of Episode V and look absolutely wonderful. The speeder chase through the forest is stunning and beautifully accomplished and looks great on a large screen TV.Story and acting: Again, the principals in the cast are at the top of their game with the story leading to a smashing finale of the entire tale. The Ewoks were put in, I think, mainly for the kids to appreciate, but it's cute and well-done.Changes/alterations: The rework of the ending, celebrating the victory over the Empire, is a great improvement visually and musically over the original, which looked and sounded like a Disney kiddie picture. Oh, yes. I guess there was a change to the musical number in Jabba's den to update it a little.When I got to the end of this episode and saw the credits start to roll, I unexpectedly felt a chill running up the back of my neck. Maybe it was just the music, but I think there was something else.I am not going to give any rating of the best and the worst of these films as we all have our own opinions on that.A word about the "book" container. I think it's fine, using less shelf space. Removing the discs is easy by slightly bending the page downward thus lifting the leading edge of the disc. Then the disc can be easily pushed out by its center hole. The paper-based material, being much softer than the polycarbonate plastic of the discs, is unlikely ever to scratch them. A word of warning though. I would make it a point not leave the book lying open, especially at a page where the disc has been removed. If a foreign particle falls into the disc storage area it could end up scratching the disc. The repolishing devices that can be used to refurbish DVDs and CDs are not usable with BDs, the thickness of the plastic of the playing side being much less. If you scratch a Blu-ray to the point it mistracks, I think you're out of luck.Amazon's pricing policy: I think I was treated more than fairly in this regard. I pre-ordered the set months ago. Then Amazon reduced the price by $10 and I was given notification that my original price would be reduced accordingly. The set arrived promptly with free shipping and in perfect condition. A great addition to my Blu-ray collection.