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Star Wars Trilogy DVD - IGN Review

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10 PAGES http://dvd.ign.com/articles/545/545786p1.html

The scores:

The Movie
The best ancient hero movie set in space ever. 9

The Video
Looks far, far better than it has any right to. 9

The Audio
Sounds excellent, especially for its age, tends toward the front channels. 9

The Extras
Outstanding documentary, but where are the deleted scenes? 9

Overall Score 9

I really wish I could afford this set right now, but with so many must-have video games coming out this set will have to wait a while, unfortunately.


More Star Wars Trilogy DVD coverage on DVDTALK.com http://www.dvdtalk.com/features/003211.html
 

evil ways

Member
Wasn't the bonus disc supposed to include an exclusive look at the Episode III video game, besides the Battlefront demo?
 

Shazapp

Member
Screaming_Gremlin said:
Crap, I haven't seen the SE of Star Wars in so long I forgot how terrible Jabba looked.

The DVDs won't remind you. Apparently, he's been "fixed" for the DVD.
 
I gotta admit, the stupid changes in Part 1 (and Star Wars IS part 1, I don't give a rat's ass about episode 1, never have, never fucking will!) have been fixed, but then again, nothing should have been tampered with in the first place.
 

ManaByte

Member
Shazapp said:
The DVDs won't remind you. Apparently, he's been "fixed" for the DVD.

4-05-1997.jpg
4-05-2004.jpg


4-06-1997.jpg
4-06-2004.jpg


4-07-1997.jpg
4-07-2004.jpg
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
So which is the new and improved one? Honestly, as someone who's seen Star Wars only once, and who isn't a big big fan, I can't see which is supposed to be better..
 

Tritroid

Member
gofreak said:
So which is the new and improved one? Honestly, as someone who's seen Star Wars only once, and who isn't a big big fan, I can't see which is supposed to be better..
Obviously the shots with the Jabba on Slim Fast with enormous cat eyes is the older SE version.
 

Willco

Hollywood Square
I can't tell which version is better either. I thought Jabba would've been slimmer and younger back then versus Return of the Jedi. I don't know. Also, Jabba looks more like the fake rubbery aliens from ANH in the '97 SE and now he does kind of stand out as too clean looking. They should just take him out altogether!
 

Tritroid

Member
Willco said:
I can't tell which version is better either. I thought Jabba would've been slimmer and younger back then versus Return of the Jedi. I don't know. Also, Jabba looks more like the fake rubbery aliens from ANH in the '97 SE and now he does kind of stand out as too clean looking. They should just take him out altogether!
I think the newer model is better, mainly because his colors have been fixed this time around and match the colors of the RotJ puppet. There's also a 'shimmer' on his tail in the first shot that makes him look more slimy than the horrible SE version.
 

Willco

Hollywood Square
Here's a thought. How about making an actual puppet of Jabba, like the one from ROTJ (but more mobile), and superimpose the puppet on the footage with CG hijinks thrown in. It might take more work, but it'd look more believable and seamless with the whole series.
 

Tritroid

Member
Willco said:
Here's a thought. How about making an actual puppet of Jabba, like the one from ROTJ (but more mobile), and superimpose the puppet on the footage with CG hijinks thrown in. It might take more work, but it'd look more believable and seamless with the whole series.
I dunno, that might be a little too difficult for such a minor scene. Plus there's also the problem of Han walking behind Jabba, which they tried to fix in the SE version by having him step on his tail (I assume it's the same in the DVD). If they were using a puppet + CG, that would probably be almost impossible to pull off.
 
The Extras
Outstanding documentary, but where are the deleted scenes? 9

According to the Digital Bits review, there's a whole treasure trove of deleted scenes and other material in Lucas' vaults, but it's being held back for the expected 2007 Star Wars Super Spectacular Special Extended Collector's Edition Mega-Box Set.
 

teiresias

Member
Of course, the real question on everyone's mind is will this topple "The Passion" as the best selling live-action DVD?

Oh, and IMO, the set is ruined by the replacement of the "ghost Anakin" with "teenage Anakin" from the prequels in the last scene of ROTJ, that's just ridiculous IMO.
 

aparisi2274

Member
teiresias said:
Of course, the real question on everyone's mind is will this topple "The Passion" as the best selling live-action DVD?

Oh, and IMO, the set is ruined by the replacement of the "ghost Anakin" with "teenage Anakin" from the prequels in the last scene of ROTJ, that's just ridiculous IMO.

It may be ridiculous, but it makes sense.

When Yoda died in ESB, he looked the way he looked at the end of ROTJ. When Obi-Wan died, he looked the way he did at the end of ROTJ, but when Anakin dies, and is re-born as vader, he dies looking like the teeniebopper at the end of the new ROTJ, and not the old guy that Lucas had in their originally. I mean I think it looks weird, but it fits together nicely in a timeline sense of things.
 

Boogie

Member
aparisi2274 said:
It may be ridiculous, but it makes sense.

When Yoda died in ESB, he looked the way he looked at the end of ROTJ. When Obi-Wan died, he looked the way he did at the end of ROTJ, but when Anakin dies, and is re-born as vader, he dies looking like the teeniebopper at the end of the new ROTJ, and not the old guy that Lucas had in their originally. I mean I think it looks weird, but it fits together nicely in a timeline sense of things.

You mean that it makes sense according to the plot that Lucas is making for Ep III. Again, we don't give a damn because he's changing the originals to fit with the prequels. I think it's stupid and unnecessary to have Anakin actually die in Ep. III, and be "reborn", because it just seems like an excuse for the change to ROTJ to "make sense."
 

evil ways

Member
aparisi2274 said:
It may be ridiculous, but it makes sense.

When Yoda died in ESB, he looked the way he looked at the end of ROTJ. When Obi-Wan died, he looked the way he did at the end of ROTJ, but when Anakin dies, and is re-born as vader, he dies looking like the teeniebopper at the end of the new ROTJ, and not the old guy that Lucas had in their originally. I mean I think it looks weird, but it fits together nicely in a timeline sense of things.

So if Anakin's dead in Episode III, whaty the hell is Luke trying to save in RotJ? He's dead, what difference does it make, right? What about the feelings and the memories Vader obviously has about his past, his name, his son?

See how it doesn't make sense. It's just some bullshit nonsense Lucas added at the last minute just to make everything "fit" according to him.

Instead of making the prequels fit with the already great original trilogy he's doing the opposite, which is bringing over unnecesary garbage from the sub par prequels.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Boogie said:
I think it's stupid and unnecessary to have Anakin actually die in Ep. III, and be "reborn", because it just seems like an excuse for the change to ROTJ to "make sense."

Uh.. what? Anakin has to die that's a key point/motivation for what goes on for that point forward. Color me confused.
 
evil ways said:
So if Anakin's dead in Episode III, whaty the hell is Luke trying to save in RotJ? He's dead, what difference does it make, right? What about the feelings and the memories Vader obviously has about his past, his name, his son?

See how it doesn't make sense. It's just some bullshit nonsense Lucas added at the last minute just to make everything "fit" according to him.

Instead of making the prequels fit with the already great original trilogy he's doing the opposite, which is bringing over unnecesary garbage from the sub par prequels.

Uh, he's freeing Anakin's soul. It's trapped because Vader as taken it over, plus he gets him to kill the Emporer, and restore balance in the galaxy.

PS, I'm not a fan of the change, but it makes sense, if he's making the films a 6 movie saga. It won't ruin the films for me, but i will wince everytime I see creepy Hayden smile like that.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
VistraNorrez said:
but i will wince everytime I see creepy Hayden smile like that.
Yeah, I mean, I understand that change given Episode 3's events, but I wish Hayden looked better. He looks more creepy than anything else. He still has that little mischevious/evil smirk going on. It doesn't look right considering the gentle and peaceful looks that Obi-Wan and Yoda are giving off.
 

Boogie

Member
DarienA said:
Uh.. what? Anakin has to die that's a key point/motivation for what goes on for that point forward. Color me confused.

Why does he have to die? Because of what Obi-Wan said in the Original Trilogy? I figured it was pretty clear that since it was only the truth "from a certain point of view", that he wasn't speaking literally. And the "he's more machine now than man, twisted and evil" doesn't suggest that he had to die, merely that most of his body is machine now, but not that his actual body is dead.

I really don't see why Anakin has to die according to the story in the OT, but if there's something I'm missing, let me know.
 

Tritroid

Member
Technically I don't buy the "Anakin actually dies" bullshit either. And I'm as big a SW fan as any.

It seems to me like a cheap way for Lucas to better tie in the two trilogies. And including Hayden at the very end seemed like the only way for him to do it. But that still doesn't work right, because that would have been Luke's first time seeing his father as a young man, and he probably wouldn't know who the flying fuck he was. Having the older Anakin appear just seemed to fit more since Luke had just seen him mere hours before and he was easily recognizable.
 
Here are the now infamous words to which you guys are referring.

BEN
You father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be
Anakin Skywalker
and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your
father was destroyed. So what I have told you was true... from a
certain point of view.

LUKE (turning away, derisive)
A certain point of view!

BEN
Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend
greatly on our own
point of view.

Luke is unresponsive. Ben studies him in silence for a moment.

BEN
I don't blame you for being angry. If I was wrong in what I did, it
certainly wouldn't have been for the first time. You see, what happened
to your father was my fault.

Ben pauses sadly.

BEN
Anakin was a good friend.

Luke turns with interest at this. As Ben speaks, Luke settles on a
stump, mesmerized. Artoo comes over to offer his comforting presence.

BEN
When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot. But I was
amazed how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to
train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well
as Yoda. I was wrong. My pride has had terrible consequences for the
galaxy.

Luke is entranced.

LUKE
There's still good in him.

BEN
I also thought he could be turned back to the good side. It couldn't be
done. He is more machine now than man. Twisted and evil.

Interesting to note is that Ben here claims he first knew Anakin as a great pilot. Hmmm, must have meant great pilot of pod racers. He also states that he thought he could turn Vader back to the good side....also interesting. Is this dialogue changed any on the new DVDs?
 

Tritroid

Member
BEN
I don't blame you for being angry. If I was wrong in what I did, it
certainly wouldn't have been for the first time. You see, what happened
to your father was my fault.


^That portion isn't in the original scene. Neither is the part about him thinking he could turn him back to the good side.

Where did you find this?
 

teiresias

Member
I don't agree with the "Anakin has to die" thing either. IMO, what it seems Lucas is doing is making Vader almost like an Anakin "clone" (not literally of course) that has very little knowledge of his previous life.

What always struck me about Vader, and made his redemption much more powerful, was the fact that he knows his past, knows how things happened, and is fully aware of his actions and how he came to be what he was. It's like Lucas wants to make Vader a completely alternate personality separate from Anakin, which dillutes the character in my view.

Of course, the films don't discuss the major plot hole introduced by Lucas. Why does Vader have the same strength in the force even after he's "more machine than man." Obviously, since he's more machine he has less organic material to hold midiclorians and thus his power in the force should decline.

*Yes, I completely disregard and deny the existance of any of that midiclorian crap*

^That portion isn't in the original scene. Neither is the part about him thinking he could turn him back to the good side.

Possibly one of the scripts that you used to be able to purchase, or maybe one of the shooting scripts. Dialogue trimming at the editing stages isn't a strange thing to happen in film.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
I have now confused myself... so let me back up a bit, because I have no idea what I was saying in my previous post.... where did it come out that Anakin dies in Ep III?
 

ManaByte

Member
Lucky Forward said:
According to the Digital Bits review, there's a whole treasure trove of deleted scenes and other material in Lucas' vaults, but it's being held back for the expected 2007 Star Wars Super Spectacular Special Extended Collector's Edition Mega-Box Set.

Lucasfilm specifically said at the press event that this DVD set is the set for THIS FORMAT. They may do a box set of all 6 on DVD, but it'll contain the same special features. They will do a ultra mega set on the next DVD format.
 

ManaByte

Member
DarienA said:
I have now confused myself... so let me back up a bit, because I have no idea what I was saying in my previous post.... where did it come out that Anakin dies in Ep III?

Lucas explains it in the commentary track on the ROTJ DVD.
 

evil ways

Member
DarienA said:
I have now confused myself... so let me back up a bit, because I have no idea what I was saying in my previous post.... where did it come out that Anakin dies in Ep III?

That's the excuse that's being thrown around to explain the inclusion of young Anakin into Return of the Jedi. That in Episode III Anakin dies, and in Return of the Jedi his spirit is still young and retains the appearance of when he died.

It's still a bunch of bullshit though, cause if Darth Vader is not Anakin Skywalker, and Anakin is dead as they claim, why does he refer to Luke as "My son" and remember Obi Wan, his true name, certain details like that. Not no mention from Luke and Anakin/Vader's own mouth:

- "Luke, help me take this mask off"
- "But you'll die"
- "Nothing can stop that now"

How can someone who's already dead, die again?
 

Tritroid

Member
Well hopefully his explanation will somehow tie in why Qui-Gon didn't turn into a force ghost. That part of TPM made no sense to me.
 

SKluck

Banned
Um, well the explanation I've heard is that the soul/spirit doesn't age during the dark side. I can understand him dying and coming back to life in Ep 3, but if he died, why doesn't he appear to Luke like Obi Wan?

Anyways, anyone watch Lucas on the Charlie Rose show last night on PBS? It was completely lame, and was just a bunch of cocksucking for an hour or so. No interesting questions or ANY questions at all about star wars, 7-9, or any of that. They mainly talked about Lucas' "genius" and "artistic ability to tell stories".
 

ManaByte

Member
evil ways said:
That's the excuse that's being thrown around to explain the inclusion of young Anakin into Return of the Jedi. That in Episode III Anakin dies, and in Return of the Jedi his spirit is still young and retains the appearance of when he died.

It's still a bunch of bullshit though, cause if Darth Vader is not Anakin Skywalker, and Anakin is dead as they claim, why does he refer to Luke as "My son" and remember Obi Wan, his true name, certain details like that. Not no mention from Luke and Anakin/Vader's own mouth:

- "Luke, help me take this mask off"
- "But you'll die"
- "Nothing can stop that now"

How can someone who's already dead, die again?

EPISODE III SPOILER. IF YOU HIGHLIGHT THE TEXT IT'S YOUR OWN GODDAMNED FUCKING FAULT
After Anakin's swim in the lava, and after the Duel (where he loses his remaining limbs), he's taken by Sidious into a "recovery room" where he dies. Sidious uses some Dark Side power to revive him and keep him alive until he can throw him into the Vader suit.

That's how it worked in Lucas' first draft of the script. Some people are saying that it may have changed slightly in the final shooting version.
 

Tritroid

Member
Speaking of 7, 8, and 9: This guy I was talking to on IRC (GAF server, #ign64) pasted something about a recent audio recording of Hamill talking about how he had talked with Lucas about making Eps. 7, 8, and 9, involving the story, when they would take place, and when they would be made.

Anybody heard about this?
 

border

Member
I'm a few pages in.....when do they stop waxing philosophical and trying to justify the existence of the "Superior Editions" (lol) and actually start reviewing the DVDs?
 
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