Breather

My comment had nothing to do with the other poster talking about being annoyed with the prequels. I have not a problem in the world with the numbering system for the films or the packaging.

georgec

1995 THX VHS release (fullscreen ) - stored in a trunk in my bedroom in my parents' house
1997 Special Edition VHS (fullscreen ) - same as above
2004 OT DVD set (widescreen)

When I was ~14 or so I began to realize it's silly to not have widescreen versions and see everything that was intended. I'll have to pick up widescreen bootlegs sometime, but at least I have a veresion of the unaltered OT in some capacity.

davidh777

1. VHS set
2. WS VHS set with Phantom Menace teaser
3. Phantom Menace VHS with limited-edition cel
4. Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Return of the Jedi individual DVDs
5. Original trilogy four-DVD set
6. Three individual two-disc OT DVDs with original versions as "bonus features"
7. Two Clone Wars microseries DVDs
8. Terrible Clone Wars movie on BD
9. Two seasons of Clone Wars on BD

No laserdisc, and no OT BD yet...

MBoyd

Personally that's not bad. Now you'd be stupid if you'd bought Phantom Menace on VHS and the 2000 OT release on VHS. no real offense to anyone who bought these.

I have never owned Star Wars on VHS. Never owned more than 10 VHS tapes. Oh I think I had them taped off cable though. And I was always frustrated with them.

What a beautiful Christmas 1990 was when I got an LD player and purchased

1) the original Letterbox LD release.

Next was

2) the 1995 LD "For The Last Time" release

3) the SE LD Boxset in 1997. That was my second internet purchase ever.

4)

5) the 2004 DVD Boxset

6) the 2006 releases with the not so coveted "bonus feature" disc

And some people might say I was stupid for buying that last one . . . I actually do feel a little dirty for doing it.

What I won't ever buy . . . Star Wars in 3D

Travis McClain

I still have The Phantom Menace Widescreen Collector's Edition VHS. The format may be obsolete, but I still feel it was nicely produced set. The package was beautiful, the included book was nice and I like the little film cel strip. I even still have the lightsaber key chain from Suncoast.

I can't tell: were you a snob, or just too cheap to buy the damn VHS releases?

TerryW

I never bought Star Wars on VHS. I had copies taped from cable to tide me over.

I first bought the laserdisc faces discs:


Then the definitive collection laserdisc boxed set:


Then then SE laserdisc boxed set:

E Unit

^^ the second picture came before the other two, but I know you said in order in which you bought them. I have all of these as well. But I never got the laserdiscs that had the theatrical covers though.

tylergfoster

I think I owned the series at least twice on VHS. Definitely this:



But perhaps this too:



Then I bought the DVDs in 2004, and rebought the LEs. I also bought one of those pirate sets from eBay at one point for $50 and some guy I knew stole them from me.

As for the prequels, I probably owned The Phantom Menace on VHS, and I know I owned the entire prequel trilogy on DVD at least twice -- I sold them because I thought I wouldn't want to watch them, but I was wrong.

Doctorossi

Ok. What was it about, then? The other poster was the only reason I made the comment you corrected.

MBoyd

Probably both. When Phantom Menace was released I was already balls deep into DVD. Thought it was nuts he didn't release it on the format.

As far VHS, I rented plenty in my time. Paramount did experimental sell thrus with Temple Of Doom, Star Trek IV and Top Gun around the time I first got a VCR. I bought them. Watched the hell out of them. Got drop out on the tape. Pissed me off. Started reading some video magazines learned about LD. Rented Innerspace on VHS and saw the disclaimer at the start where it was going to be shown widescreen as it was shown in the theaters. Suddenly it all started making sense in my head. That's why the words are cut off in Star Wars. So a couple of years later in 1990 I saw a TV playing a letterboxed LD of Star Wars in the mall and I knew that's definitely what I needed. So I was sort of ahead of the curve maybe for OAR. Never bought more than 50 LDs though.

Breather

About? You mentioned it was '78. I remembered that it was actually '81 so I posted it. Something wrong with that?

mcnabb

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but George Lucas daughter (Katie Lucas) tweeted:

@KRLgrrl Katie Lucas
Fun fact: I helped pick out the box art for the blu ray! YOU'RE WELCOME.

@KRLgrrl Katie Lucas
haters gonna hate. And then haters are going to buy the bluray set and keep complaining.


Wow, she is picking out the cover-art, and getting into the internet mudslinging about the PT and SE!

Disc-Flipper

I agree! Star Wars covers ought to be dark, outer-spacey, glittery, with glowing lightsaber blades and colorful characters, like much of the original artwork. I didn't mind how they did the DVD artwork by trying to recreate the poster compositions with photos; even though they got some of the details wrong.

I don't like the complete saga artwork, and the fact it's the version we need to buy if we want any of the extras. I don't think of Star Wars as Tattooine all bright and sunny colors with that little b*stard Anakin/Jake and a rear-end view of Luke the true hero. For a $90 box representing the entire Star Wars Saga, more needs to be shown.

I don't mind the trilogy packaging, but what fan collector would consider buying the movies only without the cool extras? Fox should've done a website where people could vote on which proposed packaging they preferred, as Warner Brothers did with the Looney Tunes sets.

Hopefully some retailer can come up with some cool alternate packaging so we won't have the sunny desert packaging sticking out on our shelves. Maybe another country will have better packaging in region free... It's as bad as the bland Star Trek movie sets with the grayscale images of the cast on each slim case.

Travis McClain

"Ought to be" is debatable. There have been lots of simplified works over the years as posters, covers (video, books, comics, etc.) that were terrific. It's not that the individual boxes are busy that I mind. It's the fact I find those specific compositions boring. They look like something that a rabid fan would have concocted for a tribute website to me.

I would have loved it if they'd simply gone back and re-used some of the original movie poster art. I enjoyed Star Wars art much more before it got down to choosing exclusively between computer-made collages and head shot collages by Drew Struzan. The original movies had all kinds of posters by several different artists. Lots of great stuff that apparently will never again grace the home video releases of these movies.

Strongly disagree. Years before even the Special Editions were released, I thought it was obvious that the real story of the entire thing was about Anakin Skywalker. Luke Skywalker is our point-of-view character and protagonist, sure, but each film is essentially about: What really happened to Anakin before Luke was born, and could he be redeemed?

This thread alone is full of fans adamant that they hate the prequels so much they won't buy that box. Of course, those are often the same fans declaring they will only buy the OT if it includes the original theatrical cuts, because if they don't resist then the terrorists win. Or something.

DVD Josh

No, what they'll do is buy the complete saga, then sell the prequel discs individually on eBay.

kstublen

I get that the story is really about Anakin and his redemption now, but it was all about Luke at the start and choosing the kid as the focal point of the cover is just one more in a long string of insults from George Lucas to fans of the Original Trilogy. It's as though he's saying, "Here, let me remind you that it's all about the updated versions and prequels, because I don't care about the original versions everyone grew to love."

That said, I do like the simplicity of the cover. I still might end up canceling my preorder though; not sure if I really care at this point to have it on Blu-ray if it doesn't include the originals. I'm fine with Lucas updating his own movies, I just wish he would at least give us the option.

EDIT: Given that it is going to be a lenticular cover, I actually wouldn't be surprised if one image is Anakin walking toward us and Luke walking away from us, then when you shift the image it's Luke walking toward us and Anakin walking away from us.

mcnabb

Are you serious? Before the PT, the Original Trilogy was about Luke, and the whole Vader redemption was just a side-story in Return of the Jedi. Luke is the main character in all 3 movies, and that is the way it was before the PT. If you seriously watched Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi and got out of it, "What really happened to Anakin before Luke was born, and could he be redeemed." Then you are more of a revisionist then Lucas is!

Now hopefully I am misinterpreting your statement and you are talking about the whole 'Anakin redemption angle' after you saw the PT? Now I am not saying people didn't wonder what happened before Episode IV, but the story was never written that way, as Lucas was writing this stuff on the fly, hence why Darth Vader has about 15-20 minutes of screentime in Star Wars.

Xander

I have mixed feelings about the cover art, but it's not going to stop me from owning the whole saga on Blu-ray.

Hmmm....let me take count here:

1. 1990-ish VHS version
2. 1995 THX VHS version
3. 1997 special edition VHS version
4. 2000 Malaysian bootleg DVD version
5. 2004 complete saga DVD version
6. 2011 complete saga Blu-ray version

That's not so bad, right?

Blu-ray-collect

I don't feel so bad about how many times I've given my money to Lucas. Lots have spent more. However, I do have to confess to buying an LD import of "The Phantom Menace". Okay, I bought 2, and kept one in the shrinkwrap thinking it might be worth something someday. That, I feel really dumb about. At the time, no one knew if SW would ever be put out on DVD. I should have known Lucas' greed would prevail.

pinata242

Well, if that doesn't sum up the Lucas Family mindset, I don't know what will. Looks like hoping for a sensible-and-in-touch heir to take over his Empire is a pipe dream. Lame.

PopcornTreeCt

It's true though. Look at this thread, it's the most active in this forum! For so many people that claim to be disappointed... they are still going to buy it anyway.

Jumpman

PopcornTree, you beat me too it.

I was going to say the exact same thing...

Anubis2005X

The whole "Star Wars is all about Anakin's redemption" is pretty much BS. Don't drink the kool-aid of Lucas. Who even really cares about Anakin? He was an ass...

leem6453

Jumpman you beat me to it. You are post number 1138! Lucky devil.

Jumpman

Hot damn!

And the Lucas BS is Lucas re-structuring the Saga with the addition of the Prequels. Yes, at a time, it was about Luke Skywalker. Now, it's about the Skywalker Family with Anakin as the figure head.

If you don't watch the Prequels and only watch the Originals, it's about Luke. When watched together, not so much anymore...and that's okay.