| This three-disc edition of George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogy is basically the same set as the previous edition minus the bonus fourth disc. That means you get the three original films--A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983)--in their brilliant-looking and -sounding DVD glory. That means you also get both the changes that were made for the 1997 special-edition versions as well as the revisions that were made for the films' DVD debut, including Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) being added to a scene in Jedi, Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replacing Clive Revill with slightly revised lines in Empire, and Temuera Morrison re-recording Boba Fett's minimal dialogue, plus some other small details. The discs don't qualify as bare-bones because they do include the commentary tracks recorded by Lucas, Ben Burtt (sound design), Dennis Muren (visual effects), and Carrie Fisher (Leia), plus Irvin Kershner added for The Empire Strikes Back. But what you lose is the fourth disc's 150-minute documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, the three substantial featurettes ("The Characters of Star Wars," "The Birth of the Lightsaber," and "The Force Is with Them: The Legacy of Star Wars"), the Xbox sampler, the no-longer-exciting Episode III preview, and other odds and ends. Star Wars aficionados will certainly stick with the four-disc set, but casual fans might be satisfied with this lower-priced version. --David Horiuchi |
