Product Description

For the first time ever and for a limited time only, the enhanced versions of the Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi will be available individually on DVD. Plus, these 2-Disc DVD's will feature a bonus disc that includes, for the first time ever on DVD, the original films as seen in theaters in 1977, 1980 and 1983.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2108 in DVD
• Brand: Twentieth Century Fox
• Released on: 2006-09-12
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .30 pounds
• Running time: 134 minutes

Amazon.com
The 2006 limited-edition two-disc release of Return of the Jedi is not only the first time the movie has been officially available by itself on DVD. It marks the first-ever DVD release of Jedi as it originally played in theaters in 1983. What does that mean exactly? The film is without the various "improvements" and enhancements George Lucas added for the theatrical rerelease in 1997 as well as the DVD premiere in 2004. So Sebastian Shaw reclaims his spot as the man behind Darth Vader's mask, and we don't see the otherworldly celebration (including the Gungans) at the end of the movie.

What do you lose by watching the 1983 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Jedi, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

Yes, it's true that serious home-theater lovers who want spectacular sound and anamorphically enhanced picture can always watch the 2004 version of the movie also included in this set. But chances are good that they already picked up the trilogy edition of all three films, so their decision to buy the 2006 two-disc edition depends on how much they want the original film. The official LucasFilm stance is that this is an individual release of the 2004 version of Return of the Jedi, and the 1983 version of the film is merely a "bonus feature." Common speculation is that the only reason the original versions are seeing the official light of day at all is to undercut the booming black market for the laserdisc version. Star Wars fans will have to decide for themselves if that's worth the purchase. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

100+ Words on a truly great movie!
Not to get into the whole "Clerks" which movie was better argument here, but I always liked "Return of The Jedi" better then "Empire Strikes Back". The reason I love "Jedi" is that within this film you get everything that you saw in the first two within one movie. The amazing opening act at Jabba's palace and the skiff battle. Luke becoming a Jedi master on Degobah. Then the amazing third act. Luke and Vader's final battle, the battle on Endor with Han, Leia, Chewie, and the Ewoks against the storm troopers. And of course in my opinion the greatest space battle of the Star Wars saga. I remember when I was a little kid, watching that space battle and how I was amazed by it. That was one of the first great movie experiences for me as a movie lover. "Return of the Jedi" is everything you could ever want in a Star Wars movie, but beyond that everything you could want in a truly great movie.

2 stars for comedy value
I've been watching the SW movies again lately out of nostalgia. I don't think I;ve seen any of them since I was 10, except the 7-hour long toy commercial known as the Prequel Trilogy. This one, ROTJ, sucks. Terrible acting, horrible dialogue, plot full of gaping holes, cheesy effects, all of that. Cool when I was a kid, worthless now. I did get several laughs out of it, especially during the climactic battle, during which the "writers" spontaneously invent new rules for the force:

- If a jedi slices off your hand, it will mess up your whole program, a mortral wound (exception, if the jedi doing the slicing is a bad guy, no problem, you get a robot hand and you're good to go)

- If a jedi is firing lightning at you from his fingertips, he is 100% vulnerable to the secret jedi attack of... Grabbing A Dude From Behind and Hoisting Him In The Air (an arcane jedi technique I'm sure Luke spent hours perfecting with yoda)

- Luke employs a heretofore unknown jedi art... Jedi Hide And Seek!!!!

By the way, they seem to have grafted a musical number onto the jabba's palace portion of the movie, so bad that I would have rather had film of George Lucas dragging his nails across a chalkboard for three minutes. It would have been more enjoyable and less out-of-place.

A great ending to a great trilogy!
So what about the Ewoks, it's always been for kids. And this is the weakest of the three, only cause the rest are so great! See it.