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It's been a long time coming, but today we're finally getting the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD.

George Lucas

Star Wars fans—including many sci-fi geeks who lined up at stores last night for midnight release events for the 4-disc boxed set—have been looking forward to this day for a long time. At last, George Lucas digitally delivers his classic saga (1977's Star Wars, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, and 1983's Return of the Jedi), right into our family rooms.

The Lord of the Rings aside, Star Wars was the movie trilogy to end all movie trilogies, the films that first married state-of-the-art special effects to the timeless battle between good and evil, all set against the backdrop of a galaxy at war. How much did these films impact our culture? Well, how many people do you know who haven't seen at least one of the movies?

Who can forget the destruction of the Death Star? Or the dazzling lightsaber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, ending with arguably the greatest shocker in movie history ("No… I am your father")? Or that breathtaking scene where a diminutive Yoda frees a spacecraft from the mire with a mere wave of his hand, thus providing countless Sunday school teachers a perfect object lesson of faith moving mountains?

Thank you, George Lucas.

And yet many are tempted to say, "No, thank you" to Mr. Lucas. Why? Because these new DVDs aren't the films we remember so fondly.

Lucas and C-3PO on the set

Those original three movies finally came—unaltered—to VHS in 1995, and Star Wars fans around the world were elated. Then, in 1997, to celebrate the first film's 20th anniversary, Lucas released extended versions of the original trilogy—also on VHS. The tapes came out with ballyhooed new special effects, expanded scenes and additional music. While the "improvements" received mixed reviews, they certainly didn't detract from the originals. And besides, those who preferred the original, unaltered versions could simply opt to skip the "improved" versions.

But that's not the case with today's DVD releases, which include only "improved" versions of the movies—further enhanced and changed from the 1997 alterations. When Lucas announced that the originals—the films on which so many fans grew up—would never again see the light of day, you could hear the outcry clear across the galaxy. Heated exchanges have followed the project ever since.

Fans, sensing a disturbance in the Force, started a petition at PetitionOnline.com, urging Lucas to release the originals on DVD "untouched and unaltered." More than 11,000 had signed the petition, but when their comments got too mean-spirited, the petition moved over to OriginalTrilogy.com, where comments are not allowed. The new petition, with more than 61,000 signatures and addressed to Lucas, reads in part:

While we appreciate your creative viewpoint on the evolution of the films, we respectfully submit that there is tremendous importance in the original theatrical prints of the Star Wars Trilogy. … Undeniably, these movies are also cultural placeholders for millions of film fans. The impact that the original Star Wars Trilogy made on countless numbers of children, young people, and grownups everywhere is indisputable. Preserving the unaltered theatrical release forms of these movies and making them available to your public is of utmost importance.

Other irate fans launched the Han Shoots First website, declaring that they're "genuinely pissed off that George Lucas refuses to release the theatrical versions Star Wars. While we enjoy many aspects of the Special Editions, we are irritated by Lucas' obstinate attitude on what the fans are asking to see."

Why the outcry? After all, the DVD changes consist almost entirely of additional shots and effects, with few subtractions, no plot changes, and only one or two lines of altered dialogue. But from a diehard fan's point of view—stated so well in the petition cited above—it's easy to understand the uproar.

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What You Get	Printer view
Here's what you'll find in the new 4-disc boxed set.