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Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (40 - 42 of 272 Reviews)

AWESOME and worth every penny!!!
I purchased the Star Wars Trilogy for my husband. He is an avid Star Wars fan and sincerely enjoys well-made films in general. I knew this was something on his "wish list" and, as I suspected, he loves it! If you have any person in your life who loves Star Wars, this is the perfect gift for them!

Classic sci-fi series changed the way we see movies
We can say what we want about George Lucas and his short-comings with his Star Wars films. We can moan and groan over the fact that the man is a perfectionist who can't just leave a film alone. So, he hasn't heard the expression, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Or if he has, he's certainly not paying attention to it. We can also get upset that he likes to play down to his audiences.

However, we sometimes forget that this is Star Wars. It's easy to not enjoy his latest films because they did not create the stir in cinema history like his first film which literally changed the way we see movies today. Jaws may have been the first summer blockbuster hit, but Star Wars blew the doors off. No film like it had ever been made up until that time. Yes, there were television shows such as Star Trek and Space 1999 that tried to jumpstart science fiction. In many ways, they succeeded. But there was something infinitely more magical about Star Wars. The story is simple, while the special effects, especially for 1977, would transport the viewers to a time and place never conceived of before.

First of all, these DVDs look great! The restoration is beautifully done. The colors have never been more vivid and alive. Nor have the sounds. They look better now than ever before.

Star Wars

Despite George Lucas's changing the title, I still think of Star Wars as the original. To my mind, it is still the best entry second only to the Empire Strikes Back. And, yep, George directed this one, which embodies his best work. Perhaps it is because he didn't have the technology to bury the story and dialogue that we find a good story and decent dialogue.

Even by today's standards, the opening sequence still looks fantastic as the Star Destroyer chases down the Rebel Blockade Runner with a monstrous on-board battle to follow.

Alec Guiness is still wonderful as the ever-wise sage, Obi-Wan Kenobi who leads our young band of heroes on a daring rescue attempt of Princess Leia on board the dreaded Death Star.

I still remember the wonderful fantasy of romping around on a huge space station blasting stormtroopers. Lucas plays right into the dreams of every hot-blooded American boy. Cowboys quickly seemed superfluous by comparison to having a laser gun!

The final battle still holds up and is still George Lucas's best space battle out of all the films he's done. It's more personal and gripping as Luke Skywalker attempts to destroy the Death Star with Darth Vader about to blow him to bits. The is especially true as his shipmates are destroyed one by one.

The performances are great too. Harrison Ford as the sarcastic Han Solo reminds you of his more likeable character to follow, Indiana Jones. Mark Hamill also turns in his best performance of the trilogy. Carrie Fisher is great, but her best performance would actually be in the next film. And, as always, there's the loveable droids, C-3PO and R2-D2 (Lucas's favorite character).

Most of the additional scenes are good. I still don't like Han Solo chasing stormtroopers around a corner to find himself facing 100 of them. They're just standing there! I find this unlikely, especially when he's chased back by the same small squad that he chased to begin with. I found the original version of him running into a dead end more humorous and effective.

Empire Strikes Back

Still the best entry in both the original trilogy and overall. Empire Strikes Back is one of the best science fiction films ever made. George Lucas hands over the directing to Irving Kushner. Aside from Episode 3, this is the darkest of the films with Darth Vader, obsessed with finding Luke Skywalker, chasing Han Solo and the Millenium Falcon all over the galaxy.

The shift from the hot desert of Tatooine to the ice planet of Hoth is an effective move, especially the climactic battle in the snow that sends the rebel forces running for their lives.

Finally, we are introduced to one of the best characters, not only in Star Wars, but cinema history: Yoda. Frank Oz provides a charm to Yoda as Luke, at first, does not know who he is. Yoda may stand only 2 feet tall, but his wisdom is colossal as Luke quickly realizes when Yoda forces him to confront his fears.

Let the Han vs. Leia begin! The banter between these two characters is simply classic! Right from the get-go, these two, unwilling to share their true feelings, find themselves locked in a one-liner combat. "I'd just as soon kiss a wookie," snaps Leia. "I can arrange that! You could use a good kiss!" Han fires back.

Everything from the asteroid field to Han's fate in the carbon freezing chamber in Cloud City is perfect. But nothing prepares you for the dreaded secret as Luke Skywalker chooses to face Darth Vader. The sad part is that new viewers will never have this surprise because obviously Luke is Anakin's son. But, as a viewer back in 1980, it was simply haunting to hear Vader say, "No, Luke. I am your father." I still remember the hush that fell over the audience once those words were uttered.

Empire Strikes Back is as close to perfect as any Star Wars film has come. It balances adventure, romance, spiritual depth, and humor all in one.

Return of the Jedi

Probably few films have ever held as much anticipation as this one did. Empire Strikes Back left us with a major cliff-hanger. What would happen to Han Solo? What about Luke's Jedi training that he neglected? Who is this mysterious "other" that Yoda refers to?

Unfortunately, Return of the Jedi is one of the weakest entries into the Star Wars saga, if not the weakest.

First of all, nearly half the film is spent on Han Solo's rescue. We find that Luke has suddenly acquired his Jedi Powers. We don't know exactly how much time has elapsed since the end of the Empire Strikes Back. But, the rescue of Han isn't the meat of the story. The plot and the attempt to finally destroy the evil Empire is where the focus really belongs, and only an hour and 15 minutes or so, simply isn't long enough to do this.

Revenge of the Sith was far more effective because the entire film was based on the fall of the Republic and Anakin Skywalker. Lucas also used 2 hours and 40 minutes to do it.

Another weak entry is the Ewoks. To my mind, only Jar Jar was worse. A little too cutsy, and entirely unbelieveable that little teddy-bears with spears could out-fight AT-STs and a legion of stormtroopers. I understand that their objective was to provide a diversion, but even this is not very credible. It would have been far more effective had George been able to go with his original intentions of a planet of wookies.

George Lucas has said that he loves to show 3-4 things going on simultaneously. But, he isn't very good at it. Instead, he sacrifices a lot of story by constantly jumping between Luke and Vader, the battle on Endor, and the battle in space. He may have been more successful, had he made the film longer so that he could devote the necessary time to each to make them even more compelling.

Another problem I had was with Han Solo. Even Harrison Ford had to practically be begged to come back as he was very dissatisfied with Han Solo. Han goes from a confident sarcastic character to a love-lorne milksop! All he can think about is Leia and it becomes very old, very fast.

Even though Return of the Jedi is the weakest entry, I still feel the original trilogy is the best. More attention was paid to the characters and story.

There are enough extras and bonus features to keep the most avid fan busy. The commentaries are fun to listen to.

Even after all these years, you still can't go wrong with Star Wars. And Star Wars still set the tone for all sci-fi films to follow. My only hope is that George will leave well-enough alone. Most of his additional footages are fine. It will be interesting in 10-15 years to find out what changes he has in mind for the new trilogy.

Enjoy the best sci-fi trilogy ever made. Somehow, you never get tired of watching them!



THE ultimate movie series
"Star Wars: A New Hope" is the best movie of all time, in my opinion. Even though the special effects are a little outdated, it still rocks, even to this very day. Despite the changes (which I don't think are so bad [heck, we never would have seen the scene with Han Solo and Jabba if not for the changes]), it started the entire phenomenon. As for "The Empire Strikes Back", it revealed a truth unimaginable at the time. That scene between Vader and Luke set up "Revenge of the Sith" to be a great movie. And even though "Return of the Jedi" has an ending a little anti-climactic compared to the prequels, it is still such a great ending to the entire series. All in all, the best movie trilogy of all time.

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