Yes, that 800-lb. gorilla, that video goliath, the mother of all DVD releases, the Star Wars trilogy at last makes its way to a Blockbuster and Best Buy near you today.
Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox are so excited about this box set they even invited the press to watch clips from the films, interview members of the original cast and crew, and take home the DVDs at a special home-theater preview event a few weeks back. (You read that right. PR people take notice, we love goody bags.)
At Hollywood’s Silent Movie Theater, a marketing suit ushered our small group of journos into a small room upstairs at that was set up like a living room out of That ’70s Show, only with a high-tech flat-screen TV and THX surround sound straight out of 2010 that probably cost 10 times that.
This bunch was either really pooped or just trying to hide their enthusiasm, because it took the Lucasfilm guy about 15 minutes to warm everyone up and elicit a lackluster clap or two. Once the clips (one from each of the films) started playing, though, the group was rapt, staring at the unbelievably clean, crystal-clear, brilliantly colored movies that looked as though they’d just been made. In fact, the suit informed us, they’d spent years meticulously picking off some 100 million specks of dirt off the 1997 films–often 100,000 per frame. No joke.
Downstairs in the main theater, we got a glimpse at some of the extras, the highlight of which is the documentary Empire of Dreams by filmmaker Kevin Burns. At 2-1/2 hours, this chronicle of massive proportions includes interviews with the cast, crew, Lucas and other noteworthy directors, footage from the set, alternate scenes, even old black-and-white video of Kurt Russell and Cindy Williams auditioning for the roles of Han Solo and Princess Leia. There are also a few mini-docs on here. Let no stone be overturned–one of them is a 15-minute account detailing the development of the lightsaber. One thing suspiciously missing? A gag reel. This is vaguely unexplained by Mr. Marketing Suit.
So what’s new? Like, really new? Purists may squawk at George Lucas‘ changes, but most of them are so subtle only fans of the highest order will notice and most improve the films tremendously.
After all this, have we seen the last of the Star Wars saga? Somehow we have a feeling ol’ George will one day trot out his team to further tinker with our favorite trilogy. Who can say–in any case, one of the most important extras in this set is the preview of Episode III, “The Return of Darth Vader,” which offers up a good look at Anakin’s evil transformation.
