One of Fox's most prolific cash cows, the 'Star Wars' Trilogy, is now available in yet another incarnation. This being individual releases of the three films in the CLV format with the THX approved transfers previously available only in CAV and packaged together in the Definitive Collection box set. I'm not sure why anyone would want anything less than all three films, as they are really one story told in three parts, but I suppose individual releases allows one to spread the purchases over a period of time if necessary. Since I'm certain anyone with even a passing interest has seen these films (most likely many times), and even these transfers have been available for some time, I will offer a few comments on what is unique to these discs.
Obviously, the CLV format allows one to enjoy the movies with fewer interruptions and no doubt this will be the attaction for most considering these discs. For cosmetics, Fox has packaged each movie in a high quality gate-fold jacket sporting all new artwork. All three jackets are similarly formatted though each is thematically unique, even to having different color schemes. Taken together, there is no doubt this is a set.
All three films are spread to three sides in CLV and are copiously chapter encoded. 'Star Wars' has 39, 'Empire Strikes Back' has 50 and 'Return Of The Jedi' has 54. A nice little bonus that Fox added in is a short interview with George Lucas following each film. These interviews are new and are conducted by Leonard Maltin. Each interview relates to the film it follows and in the interview following 'Return Of The Jedi' Lucas makes some mention of the next three 'Star Wars' films that are currently in preproduction.
Since the main reason for these discs is the convenience of fewer side and disc changes, some mention should be made of the side breaks, particularly in the case of 'Star Wars'. Both the side and platter break in 'Star Wars' have been changed from the older CLV release and much to the better. The first break now occurs just as Luke and Obi-Wan are about to enter the cantina. Side 2 now opens with the Cantina Band playing. The platter break occurs following the Millenium Falcon's escape from the Death Star and the ensuing battle. The last thing we hear on side two is Tarkin talking to Vader and we find out that the Falcon was allowed to escape so they could be tracked. Both of these breaks are intelligently placed and work quite well. As best I can remember, the breaks on 'Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return Of The Jedi' are the same. In 'Empire Strikes Back', the first break is when Luke lands in the swamp on Dagobah and the second is when he leaves and we hear Yoda say "there is another". In 'Return Of The Jedi', the first is when Han and Lando say goodbye on the hanger deck and the second is when Luke and Vader cross lightsabers in front of the Emperor.
All in all, these new discs are very nice and will take their rightful place among my favorite and most watched discs. Fox has done an admirable job repackaging something that has been done so many times before. Even the retail price, though still a bit high at $59.95, is still $10 less than the original letterboxed CLV discs. Whether you are the collector that has to have the "newest and the bestest" or a laser novice adding these classic films to your library for the first time, you will find these discs a worthwhile addition to any collection.
(And, no, Fox didn't pay me a dime for this review...but they should have <G>.)
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