Whoops. For the last few days, Lucasfilm had a teaser site which indicated an announcement of the details of their upcoming Blu-ray sets for the "Star Wars" films would be hitting today at 6am US-PST. The details were released, but the site obviously underestimated the interest factor for the sets as within a few minutes it crashed, the teaser site redirecting to foxmovies.com.
Still, before the announcement went tits-up, the key information was collected so lets get right to the important stuff. First, these are unsurprisingly only the special edition versions of the original saga so you'll get to see Greedo shoot first in high-def. The 2004 DVD box-set made further changes from the first 'Special Editions' in 1997 - best bet is the 2004 version is what will be used (though we won't know until the first reviews come in). All the films are in 1080p and with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound.
As previously reported there are three versions available - a 3-disc 'Prequel Trilogy' set, a 3-disc 'Original Trilogy' set, and a 9-disc 'Complete Saga' set. The latter includes both the aforementioned 3-disc sets combined with another three discs of special features. Here's the breakdown of the 9-disc set:
Disc 1: Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
Disc 2: Star Wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
Disc 3: Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
Disc 4: Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
Disc 5: Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
Disc 6: Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
Disc 7: Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III
Deleted, extended and alternate scenes
Prop, maquette and costume turnarounds
Matte paintings and concept art
Supplementary interviews with cast and crew
Flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives
Additional Content
Disc 8: Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV-VI
Deleted, extended and alternate scenes
Prop, maquette and costume turnarounds
Matte paintings and concept art
Supplementary interviews with cast and crew
Flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives
Additional Content
Disc 9: The Star Wars Documentaries
Star Warriors (2007, Apx. 84 Minutes): Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures...these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Apx. 25 Minutes): George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Apx. 91 Minutes): The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don't miss "Weird Al" Yankovic's one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
The Making of Star Wars (1977, Apx. 49 Minutes): Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Apx. 48 Minutes): Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas' vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Apx. 48 Minutes): Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.
Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Apx. 26 Minutes): See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
Star Wars Tech (2007, Apx. 46 Minutes): Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today. We will continue to update this news post with more details as they become available.
