Rating: 
Summary: Lets hope they do these DVD's right!
Review: The only thing Im worried about is that Lucas is going to bring the original Star Wars trilogy to DVD without removing the horrible 'ghost matts' from around the ships that shows up during alot of the space battle scenes. It really ruins the look of the movie, and is very distracting. Its pretty noticable in all 3 films, original and special editions, especially during the assault on the 2nd Deathstar by the rebel fleet in ROTJ. Big squares around all the ships that doesnt match the rest of space in the background. Uggg!!!! With all the digital technology around nowadays, they MUST be able to fix it. It would surely be worth the effort right? Universal didnt clean up the matt problem on the Battlestar Galactica DVDs, and look how much that pissed people off. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: The "New Coke" of the Movie world.
Review: I liked the special edition movies, but the idea that they are now the only version of the movies irritates me. It is much like the "new" coke that came out. suddenly the one we liked, grew up with, took part ownership of and grafted into our conciousness cannot be found. a "special edition" and a "classic edition" HAS to be the way to go. if you look at the official website, they dont even make the distinction. the orginal does not exist, this is episode 4,5,and 6. I fully expect that if the "classic" and "special" editions were available, the classic would outsell the special handily. But more importantly, if you are in charge of this at lucas film, i.e. named george lucas, there will be a very high number of people who will buy both(...).
Rating: 
Summary: DISTURBING SPACE OPERA
Review: Star Wars tells the sad and tragic tale of Luke Skywalker and his unrequited love. Luke, (Mark Hamill before he hit it big as the voice of the the joker in the animated Batman series), falls out with his uncle and aunt over the fact that they will not let him join the reballion against the evil empire. Later, when Luke's aunt and uncle are burnt to a crisp by the empire's henchmen the stormtroopers, Luke is set free to follow his dreams to join the reballion. Obi-wan Kenobi, (the late great Alec Guiness), convincing him to help a princess whom Luke has taken a fancy too, ("who is she, she's beautiful"). Now I have to admit, falling in love with a hologram is a little strange, but I guess it could happen. Here is where things get really sick. Throughout the trilogy, Luke's feelings grow for the Princess, (played by a ravishing Carrie Fisher), they even share a passionate kiss in the sequal the Empire Strikes back, but as we the viewer finally get to part three we find out she is his sister! Talk about a shock, I was hoping Luke would win Leia's heart, then Kapow!! Obi-wan tells Luke she is his sister. How did that all happen? To make matters worse, when Lukey tells sister she says, "I know, somehow I've always known". She knew she was frenching her brother? Now George Lucas is responsible for making the superb "Howard the Duck", so I might give him the benefit of the doubt, but basing a whole series of movies on this disturbing premise is not that responsible, especially for a movie made for children. Now I enjoyed the antics of that english robot, and his buddy the round thing was a scream as well, but that C3B9 guy was obviously a rip-off of the tin man from "wizard of oz", on that subject so was that Tobacco guy, can anyone say cowardly lion? (...) In summing up, watch these films on dvd, the wider the screen, the bigger the jabba, and remember not to take things so seriously!!
Rating:
Summary: I will get over it!
Review: So much talk about Lucas adding a little CGI enhancement to the original films. Get over it! Yes, the claim that a historical monument has in some ways been defaced is valid, but who cares. I have longed to own these films on DVD for years! I had almost decided to compromise on one of those pirated versions created in some 3rd world country. The quality is reputed to be very bad. I already own the movies in original VHS form. The whole point of owning these DVD's is to enjoy the special effects in these movies in digital (all be it not original LOWER quality) . (...) It would have been incredibly easy to offer all 3 movies in the same set in two versions. The original uncut version and the enhanced versions could have easily been packaged together. There are many box sets out there on the market today that offer both original and enhanced version. But the reality is this is not the choice we will be given. Life isn't always fair. I will choose to own these DVD's, not because they are, as one reviewer waxed poetic "Like the Mona Lisa", but because a progressive scan DVD in combination with digital surround sound on a 57 inch TV ROCKS! Even though I saw these movies in the theaters in the 70's and 80' Like a galaxy far far away it has been many years ago. Most of us probably won't notice much of what George has changed anyway.
Rating:
Summary: 3 stars, just for the audacity.
Review: FINALLY, Lucas and Fox are putting the trilogy to DVD! But wait, if the reviews are true, then my excitement quickly turns to trepidation. The Lucas people may be inventing brand new horrors for this "extra-special" edition. Forget the "purist" argument. I can understand the feeling that a project is never really finished, just abandoned. My argument is more one of ethics - just because you can doesn't mean you should. I'm sure this path was paved with good intentions. But Lucas and Co. have seemingly lost all ability to appreciate the aesthetic value of flaws, as they continue to "improve" and polish these films into glossy soulless caricatures. If higher cinematic quality was really the ambition, they'd re-write the cheesy dialogue. But see, it's those gritty, sometimes silly, qualities of the original films that endeared them to us.
So, is this extra-special edition the product of Lucas' ego running wildly out of control like an ADHD kid on a sugar-bender? Or is it the production company's marketing strategy to release endless "new" versions over the years, thus bleeding the maximum cash from the devoted? Perhaps a synergy between the two? Only time will tell. Regardless, in this age of deluxe multi-disc packaging, would it have been so hard to release both versions and make the public happy (c'mon Fox, you did it with the Alien series)? I only wish Lucas, ILM, and Fox would use their collective cash and creativity to make better "new" Star Wars films, rather than waste it on the repeated resurrection and digital thrashing of our old beloved dead-horse.
Rating: 
Summary: The Empire Bites Back
Review: Thank God Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all dead or Lucas would have them rewriting the gospels with ridiculous special effects. Why can't I have the Star Wars I grew up with? And why couldn't Lucas at least do what Spielberg did with ET and include BOTH versions in the box? Oh wait, that's next Christmas' multimillion dollar release for George so he can make still more money on the only successful thing he ever created. (Except maybe American Graffiti). I will wait until the Classic Star Wars is released on DVD - meanwhile I am keeping my tapes and my VCR. I wouldn't touch this version with a 10 foot light saber.
Rating:
Summary: Words from a Jedi
Review: I liked that GL restored and cleaned up the classic trilogy. What I HATED was the added Jabba... COME ON!!!! that looked incredibly FAKE and horrible, I liked that overlarge, slimy, fat and evil Jabba of ROTJ... that CGI Jabba was an INSULT to the original crimelord. What was wrong about Han frying Greedo?? The alien was giving two choices to Han: to turn him to Jabba to collect the reward or give him money to forget he saw him. (...) It's annoying that George doesn't want to please his fans with the one thing we've been asking for YEARS... having BOTH versions in the DVD. I mean Steve Spielberg did that with E.T. I'm buying it because I want to have those movies on DVD, but I buy them under protest .
Rating:
Summary: A MUST HAVE FOR ALL REBELS
Review: Whether you're 30 years old or just turning to 6, you would be a fool not to buy this piece of Sci-fi history. George Lucas practically puts you in the film with the extreme high depth images. You can practically feel the emotion that was there 30+ years ago when Lucas first gave us Episode 4: A New Hope. I think my favorite one was Empire Strikes Back when you saw Luke and Han in the snow and Luke was using the Tauntaun for shelter. I pity the poor man that actually has to do that in the future. But that's just me. I cannot recommend enough that you buy this DVD set except to say that at the very least, you are saving $27.
Rating:
Summary: Why does it have to be special edition?!
Review: The original Star Wars, NOT the special edition, is the true art form and authentic Star Wars experience. As spectacular as the 3 films are with or without revisions, the special edition series adds unessessary footage that may help along the plot, but its still murdering what Star Wars is supposed to be.
However, they still are the best Star Wars films ever made. I will buy this only because its the only set offered, but I beg Lucas to bring back the original films and put them onto DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Boycott with a tear
Review: I am a 29 year old lifelong Star Wars fan. I consider the original films to be as much a part of my personality as the lessons I learned in school or the values I learned from my parents. I cannot conceive of myself or my consciousness apart from the influence of the FIRST trilogy. I've seen them all coutless times, quote lines appropriate to any situation, and I still will drop everything else to watch them when they show up on TV. So needless to say, I was completely thrilled to see them in the theatres back in the 90s. I even tolerated the SE changes, just so long as I could still obtain copies of the originals. How sad I am to hear that the DVD editions, my chance to own these films in a permanent format that I can share with my children and grandchildren, will only be available in the SE versions. How wrong, corrupt, and thoroughly inhuman. Now...here's why. It has been said that the SE versions represent the fulfillment of "the artist's definitive vision" and that Lucas, as the artist, has every right to complete the vision he wanted to but didn't have the budget or technology to do so 1977-83. Thus case closed, apparently. Well, not so. I for one take a different view of art. I think that when great art is released into the public arena, and goes on to prove itself so influential that it becomes a sort of cultural signpost, its form in fact transcends the "artist's vision" and becomes a kind of common property, part of our collective consciousness, and part of us all. To then permanently change it decades later is to do a kind of violence to us all. So, for instance, take "remastering", a common technological alteration to lots of classic records. This can be a good thing. The Beatles records (an appropriate cultural analogy, I think) have all been remastered for CD. They sound better, enhance the nuances of the music, and take little, if anything away. Remastering does not substantially change the art, which I why I can accept some doctored up special effects, and maybe some "restored footage" here or there in the Star Wars films. But THIS, this travesty, this attempt to permanently eliminate the original versions in favor of the sanitized, kid-friendly, "definitive" versions....well, that would be like Paul re-releasing all the Beatles albums in 2004, with new vocals and overdubs added, dropping some of the offensive songs, calling them the "definitive" versions, and making the originals unavailable. Would he have that right? Or does that art belong to all of us? I would call that just what I call THIS: a crime, corrupt and inhuman. Thanks but no thanks, George.
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