Star Wars Trilogy (A New Hope / The Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi) (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc)

Item as described

I just got my Blu Rays of episodes 4-6 and started my weekend by watching Empire Strikes Back. Firstly, my system: Mitsubishi 1080p projector on a 120" screen. Denon receiver with Dolby Tru HD and DTS HD Atlantic Technology Speakers 5.1 PS3 Picture quality: Amazing! No graininess with great color balance. Original aspect ratio. I've seen the DVDs (including the issue that contains the original theatrical release - that was not in anamorphic wide screen, but original!), the laser discs (both new release and the mega box set that has each movie spanning 3 discs!) and of course the VHS versions that were originally pan and scan. Of course, the Blu Ray's picture quality cannot be matched by previous technologies. I don't know how else to describe the picture, except that it looks like it was filmed using recent technologies, not 35 mm film stock from the 1970s. If you see some other Blu Ray transfers from the '70s and '80s, you'll notice a significant deterioration and graininess that's typical of the low quality film stock from those decades. Take a look, for example, at the Blu Ray transfer of Ghostbusters and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about! This experience, however, was just awesome. Sound quality: The people that invented THX were, of course, going to do an awesome job and they did not disappoint. These movies are presented in DTS HD - which I feel sounds better than Dolby Tru HD (that's not included). Dolby Digital and DTS standard audio tracks are also on the disks, but why have a Blu Ray player if you can't enjoy the HD audio!?! I think the sound outdid the picture quality! There was a perfect sound emersion with excellent use of the surround channels. Not just gimmicky noises that most other movies employ, this experience really made you feel like you were in the middle of all the action. If you have a well calibrated 5.1 setup, pay close attention to the rainy sequence with Luke and Yoda in Empire; rain is coming down all around you! Simply beautiful! During the asteroid sequence, the surround channels are used with extreme precision; as ships come from the background or fade into the background, you feel it. The .1 aspect? The sub woofers are perfectly balanced throughout the movie. Again, never a gimmicky use of this most important channel. The subs rumble with great precision, just like the surrounds. The battle on Hoth was simply perfect with regard to the use of surrounds and sub. I never had to adjust the volume to adjust from dialog to action sequences - that was the whole point of Lucas' original mission with THX balancing. You should hear the dialog when it's time to hear it and the action sounds shouldn't overpower the rest of the movie. I often find myself lowering volume during crazy action sequences and raising the volume to hear dialog in lesser quality sound mixes...even from modern productions. Not with this movie, the balance was just perfect. This will become a new reference standard for testing sound systems! Regarding Lucas meddling with the originals? I don't really care. Mostly because I think Empire Strikes Back is the best one of all 6 and he really didn't mess with this one much! There are some CGI flight sequences that don't take anything away from the movie, in fact, I think they add to it. Thank you George!!! Star Wars, of course has crazy meddling, with Jaba and new creatures...just too distracting. And I never really liked Return of the Jedi - I thought it was very cheesy with the Ewoks. So if you're like me and want to relive the best movie ever (in my opinion), then these Blu Rays can't be beat. Worth every penny, even if it's just to watch Empire Strikes Back. Beware though, this box set only includes the 3 movies and no bonuses material. The movies do have audio commentary, but no other special features. I'm ok with that - I think you can enjoy "the making of" stuff only so many times before it gets boring.

Many Sci Fi buffs tend to treat the Star Wars trilogy like it was the second coming. It was a ground breaking effort on the part of George Lucas but not exactly a world shaking revolution. These films put to death the theory that all science fiction films must be "B" grade. They were big budget, hi tech, well directed films with some excellent performances. Star Wars launched the successful careers of so many people that they are impossible to list. The first film, "Star Wars", takes us through Luke Skywalker's discovery of his destiny. He finds an old Jedi Knight, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, who takes it on himself to train Luke in the ways of the force. Unfortunately Ben and Luke get drafted by Princess Leia in an attempt to save her and oppose the evil emperor and his second in command, Lord Darth Vader. They are aided by a smuggler/pilot, Han Solo and his copilot Chewbacca in the fastest ship in the cosmos, the Millennium Falcon. Some heavy duty action is had by all when Leia is rescued, (losing Ben in the process) and the emperor's death star is destroyed with only moments to spare before the rebel base was to be obliterated. The second film, "The Empire Strikes Back", disappointed me at the time because of its open ended finish. I have since forgiven it for this. As with the first film, the second starts by skipping some of the intervening background material. So, we are left to catch up to the plot by ourselves. We find Luke Han and Leia in a new rebel base on a frozen planet. During an isolated scene where Luke is captured by a snow beast we find that his Jedi powers have developed a little more and that the friendship between he and Han has grown even stronger. But not to the point where their rivalry over Leia has abated. The empire locates the rebel base and they all have to turn tail and run. Yes, we discover that the destruction of the death star at the end of the last film was nowhere near the end of the empire. Everyone bugs out in an orderly fashion except Luke who heads off to find a new master, by following the instructions of the now spectral Obi-Wan. Han, Chewy and Leia find that the Falcon is in need of repair and have to limp to the nearest port of call. Luke finds the memorable Jedi Master Yoda, and starts his training. Meanwhile the falcon's crew is in trouble after Han's friend, Lando Calrissian, involuntarily betrays them to Darth Vader, resulting in Han being frozen in carbonite. So it's Luke to the rescue. The problem is that this was Darth's plan all along. Thus we get to see Luke, fencing with Darth. Luke loses his hand but gains a Father. Both against his will. The final film, "Return of the Jedi", was excellent, except for the ridiculously cutesy Ewoks. We have to do another leap forward to catch the plot which has moved to the point where all of Han's friends are involved in an attempt at his rescue. Han has been sold, as a wall decoration, to Jaba the Hut, a type of Mafia boss in the shape of a giant, fat, salamanda. Luke arrives and impresses the hell out of everyone with his new Jedi powers. With a little help he saves everyone and the movie moves on. The empire is building another death star and the rebels have a plan to destroy it. Of course Han, Luke, Leia, etc. are all critical to the success of this plan. They must land on a tropical moon to disable the force field that protects the half built deathstar. In the process, Luke is voluntarily captured and tries to turn Darth, his Father, away from evil. We get to see another great dual between the two of them. This time the emperor is on the side lines cheering them on whilst trying to turn Luke to the dark side of the force. Luke is made of sterner stuff than that though. Meanwhile the rest of the gang have run into the improbable Ewoks. Fuzzy, teddy bear like people who seem unable to walk without waddling. Strangely they turn out to be useful allies, in the capacity of scouts, diversions and pesky warriors. The force field is eventually brought down and the rebels attack only to find that the death star is not nonfunctional after all. If it wasn't for Darth Vader turning against the emperor at the last minute, in order to save Luke, all would have been lost. Many people have been awaiting more movies in the series. A number of good follow up books have been written, Timothy Zahn's efforts are especially good. However, Lucus has decided to go back in time and produce some prequels. We will see a young version of Obi-Wan as the hero. It should be good.

These three beginning original Star Wars Movies have been reedited and remastered to provide better viewing entertainment than the previous originals. They include DTS sound for English, using Dolby Digital for other languages. The DTS sound is amazing, and far out performs the originals. The only issues I had was the common dynamic sound being much louder than voice dialogs. I found myself constantly having to turn the volume down to reduce loud bass sound effects and volume up to hear voice dialogs. (Probably in an effort to make neighbors also want to watch a Movie, just like the loudness wars with commericials. :-/) I also found the reedited version to include the later Episodes' details to be essential for following a transparent story line between all six episodes or all six Movies. The only anomaly was the scene of the computer generated Jabba the Hutt talking with Han Solo while walking within STAR WARS V. Some shadowing or displacement can be seen between real and computer generated video, but over all I still enjoyed the scene. Jabba the Hutt looked much more real, with a lot more detail. Additional scenes were also added, providing more background details or better explanations to viewers, further enhancing the story line. Since I use Linux, I had an issue with MPlayer properly decrypting the Blu-ray Movies. I was able to play and view the Movies using MPlayer, but video started displaying artifacts. I troubleshooted this to be a result of improper decryption, and had nothing to do with processing power or other hardware issues. Sadly, I needed to use "makemkvcon backup --decrypt disc:/mnt/dvd-udf/ tmp/movie" in order to be able to playback the Movie properly and thankfully without any loss of quality as I use a computer HDMI linked (sometimes optical S/PDIF) Yamaha receiver sound system. A waste of disk space and a waste of energy required for processor and bus power. As they say, be thankful for what you have, even if it's inadequate. Blu-ray developers really need to work on this, and remember the innocent are suppose to be sold a product or service, and not leached or swindled for enhancing their own private agenda. All in all, I really enjoyed these Movies and have always enjoyed the director's usage of orchestra music and good talented actors, as well as outgoing special and computer generated effects. About the only piece of drama I can truly enjoy in life!

Very good image quality.

Back in 2004, this disc was included as the only "bonus" extra in the Original Trilogy's first DVD release. Sadly, that release was not only a tampered with set (modified even more than the 1997 Special Editions), but it was poorly restored, featuring odd colors and sound gaffes on the English and Spanish tracks of A New Hope. The 2004 box set was also packaged in a rather flimsy cardboard case that was easily damaged, leaving piles of dented and wrinkled cases on store shelves. Despite these flaws, the highlight of the set for most was the "Bonus Materials" disc, which became a sought after item after it was nixed for inclusion in subsequent sets (the 2005 "Limited Edition" rehash and the 2006 2 disc sets). For folks who wisely waited, now you can avoid any of the awful box sets and buy this disc seperately. To long-time fans, this set contains some things of interest including the longer version of the "Empire of Dreams" documentary, which, despite including many "revisionist" statements by Lucas and his crew, is quite informative. It spends most of its time on the events leading up to the success of the first movie, and speeds quickly through the rest of the trilogy and the phenomenon that would become the Star Wars franchise to the present day. The other docos are interesting as well. The disc features extensive picture galleries and nearly every trailer of the three original films ever released (though the quality varies widely). It's great to see these unaltered. The menus are pretty and show us some effects inconsistent with the 2004 versions, indicating that more care was taken with this release or else a very different team handled it than handled the "restoration" of the special editions mark II. The rest of the material is rather dated now, and may be of lesser interest to Original Trilogy fans: An Xbox only demo of "Star Wars Battlefront" a mediocre "Battlefield 1942" imitator. If you've already played the game on some other format, this version actually features some things that were cut from the final version of the game on Xbox and PC: the Bothan Spy and the Imperial Officer class (these two were modified and added in the sequel, SWBF2). This is a one level demo, the Battle of Endor, one of the better scenarios out of the video game. There's also a trailer for the aforementioned game. Needless to say this game fell far short of my expectations. There's a promotional teaser for Episode III, full of gushing and showing us the creation of the "new and improved" Vader helmet and Hayden Christiansen trying it on. I once avoided seeing this for fear of spoilers, but it turned out to just be mostly green/blue screen stuff and fluff. There's a promotional video for the "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" Xbox game, showing early gameplay and more fluff. I never played this game but apparently it was largely overhyped, and while decent by console standards of the day, hasn't held up well over time, much like the "Enter the Matrix" game. And finally there's a hidden "blooper reel" done in the same style as the hidden blooper reels for the Prequel dvd's. Not hilarious by any stretch, but as entertaining as blooper reels tend to be. It's nice to see more vintage Star Wars footage, at any rate. I'd recommend this, and give it 4 stars rather than 5 only because so much space is wasted on extras that nobody cares about now, which could have been better served with more vintage Original Trilogy material, like say, deleted scenes or vintage interviews (say with the late Peter Cushing or Sir Alec Guinness).

What a great deal and even better than expected

Discs were in great shape & all played as expected! Would buy from again - great experience.

Nice set of this classic trilogy.

丁寧に届けてくださってありがとうございました

Selbstverständlich kann man/frau bei der STAR WARS -TRILOGIE viel Negatives sehen, wenn man/frau will. Aber das ist eben bei vielen Dingen so: sie stehen für etwas, was schön war oder ist, oder sie erinnern an etwas, das nervt oder provoziert oder ärgert, weil man/frau vielleicht inzwischen irgendwie "reifer" und so richtig "erwachsen" geworden ist. Aber vielleicht sollte man/frau sich eine gewisse Naivität bewahren, um auch die Jüngeren verstehen zu können oder? Und was hilft da mehr als STAR WARS, Naivität in Reinkultur und zwar absolut nicht ironisch gemeint!!! STAR WARS hat weder die filosofische Tiefe und vor allem Authentizität von 2001 von Kubrick, auch nicht die poetisch-melancholische Wirkung von LAUTLOS IM WELTRAUM, auch nicht die bedrückende Enge und Düsterkeit von ALIEN (bis auf den ziemlich ironischen TEIL 4). Aber die genannten Filme oder Serien haben eben nicht das, was STAR WARS hat: Lebensfreude, Humor, Tempo, grenzenlosen Optimismus, reine Freundschaft, naive Liebe, kindliche Fantasie ohne irgendwelche Fesseln. STAR WARS ist zauberhaft, faszinierend gradlinig, lebensbejahend, liebesbejahend, strahlend, einfach eine Erholung bei all den angestrengt tiefschürfenden Erzeugnissen, die jedes Problem aufplustern, bis man/frau die Schnauze voll hat von so viel negativer Energie. Die Rollen sind klar verteilt: hier der naive Held, der zum Krieger für das Gute mutiert, sein Freund, der das Gute in sich erst im Laufe der Geschichte entdeckt aber vom Anfang an begeistert mit seiner grenzenlosen Energie und seinem strahlenden Optimismus (HARRISON FORD), die Heldin, die eher schmächtig und feingliedrig ist aber zäh und mutig und sooo bezaubernd, dann der väterliche Meister, der sich für das Gute opfert, die DROIDEN, die die Geschichte für Kinder (und für Kind-Gebliebene)auflockern, dem gegenüber DARTH VADER als schwarzer SAMURAI zwischen den Welten, der wie ein Vampir anderen Menschen die Lebenskraft aussaugen kann. Das IMPERIUM als Symbol für eine totalitäre Macht, die Rebellen als Symbol für das Gute, das unermüdlich für die Freiheit kämpft. Die Aussage ist naiv aber wohltuend. Und die Tricks sind auch heute noch genial! Natürlich ist die ganze Filosofie übernommen! Die Macht, die JEDI-RITTER, na ja, heute gucke ich mir das an und weiß, dass Lucas das einfach aus fernöstlichen Filosofien übernommen hat, natürlich hat er alles auf ein Minimun reduziert,aber wen stört's? Ist nicht MATRIX viel schlimmer? Wo MATRIX einfach nur heuchelt, gibt sich STAR WARS gar nicht erst den Anschein, die ganzen Details nicht übernommen zu haben. Samurais, Shaolin-Mönche, Kung-Fu-Filosofie (auf kindlichem Niveau), Cowboys (FORD!!!, Tarzan (EWOKs!!!) und und und. Und wenn schon! Es ist einfach frech gemacht, perfekt inszeniert, absolut nicht prätentiös sondern gut gemeint, und vor allem unterhaltsam. DAS IMPERIUM SCHLÄGT ZURÜCK ist inhaltlich und künstlerisch zwar den andern Teilen überlegen, ist durchweg genial, aber dafür sind sowohl EPISODE IV als auch EPISODE VI (RÜCKKEHR DER JEDI-RITTER) strahlend und voller Energie, actionreich, rasant, nicht eine Sekunde langweilig. Die Änderungen von Lucas akzeptiere ich, da es sich um sein Werk handelt und er eben dieses Recht zugestanden bekommen muss. Gestört haben mich diese Änderungen jedenfalls nicht. Vor allem in EPISODE IV fand ich die Szene mit Jabba und HARRISON FORD gelungen und passend. Und zu der Bildqualität und auch der Tonqualität kann ich nur sagen: GENIAL!!! Ich gucke hin und staune! Super! Wenn alle sich so viel Mühe geben würden, hätten wir keinen Grund mehr, uns zu beschweren und das Geld wäre immer gut angelegt. INDIANA JONES war schon ein Hammer, aber STAR WARS gehört unbedingt in jede Sammlung! Wenn sich die Kids schon nicht die Zeit nehmen, einige schöne Gedanken aus fernöstlichen Filosofien zu lesen, dann bekommen sie sie eben hier serviert. Wer STAR WARS eben diese filosofische Einfalt vorwirft, ist ein unverbesserlicher Negativ-Seher. STAR WARS ist POP-KULTUR hoch Tausend und wirkt positiv. Auch das Böse entpuppt sich als Opfer, Vater und Sohn lieben sich doch in letzter Konsequenz, die Liebe siegt, das Gute gewinnt: Ich finde solche Filme tröstlich. Denn das Drumherum (Special Effects, Kameraführung, Kulissen) ist WELTKLASSE!!! Lucas ist sicher ein großes Kind und hoffnungslos optimistisch in diesem Werk, aber ihm das vorzuwerfen, ist zu leicht. Soll man/frau sich immer das Düstere der Welt reinziehen? Da suche ich mir aber bitteschön andere Medien und ganz bestimmt nicht diese Art von Filmen. Ich genieße es einfach, STAR WARS zu sehen und mich wieder so wie ein Kind zu fühlen wie damals, als ich ungläubig das erste Mal im Kino diese sensationellen Special Effects bestaunte. Ich erinnere mich an die Eingangssequenz von EPISODE IV mit dem nicht enden wollenden Raumschiff, dann dieser unglaubliche Sound! Und dann dieses Feuerwerk an guter Laune, Abenteurlust, Humor, perfekten Tricks noch und nöcher und am Ende siegt das Gute. Schön! Mein Tipp: Kaufen und genießen! Und wer STAR WARS nicht mag, soll es eben bleiben lassen! Und wer meint, er wäre der Purist unter den Puristen und müsste Lucas abstrafen mit seiner Kritik, der sollte sich mal überlegen, wer eigentlich das Ganze erdacht und umgesetzt hat... Ich bin einfach nur froh, dass STAR WARS endlich in dieser überragenden Qualität vorliegt! Endlich muss man/frau sich nicht mehr mit der miserablen VHS-Video-Qualität herumärgern! Verglichen mit so vielen pseudo-intellektuellen Science-Fiction-Filmen heutiger Machart ist STAR WARS eine Offenbarung! Zückt die Laserschwerter und auf in den Kampf für das Kind in uns! Und vor allem danke ich Lucas ausdrücklich dafür, dass endlich, endlich diese wunderbaren Erinnerungen in einer solch superben Bild-und Tonqualität vorliegen und dann mit den unfassbar vielen Extras! Ein Hammer! Vor allem DAS IMPERIUM SCHLÄGT ZURÜCK war auf VIDEO eine einzige Katastrophe, schon vergessen? Man konnte vor allem in den dunklen Passagen oft kaum etwas erkennen. Und jetzt? Brillant restauriert! Diese TRILOGIE ist und bleibt ein absoluter Hammer! Wenn ich bedenke, wie miserabel ALIENS (Teil 2) auf DVD aufbereitet wurde, bin ich froh, dass LUCAS und SPIELBERG (INDIANA JONES, UNHEIMLICHE BEGEGNUNG DER DRITTEN ART und eben STAR WARS) sich so viel Mühe gegeben haben! Diese TRILOGIE ist ein MUSS!!! Und jeder, der diese Filme liebt, wird begeistert sein, garantiert! Die Kinofassungen werden irgendwann schon nachgeschoben, ich kann warten. KAUFEN, KAUFEN, KAUFEN!!!

Partners fav movie he loved it

Un consejo , que traigan mas idiomas , y subs como en los discos de region a que traen un buen de idiomas. Solo lo compre para la colecion . Solo mas versiones de las mismas pelis. Debieron de sacar un steelbook gordo para poner todas los blu y dvd juntos .