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George Lucas Announces Star Wars Blu-ray for 2011

Posted August 14, 2010 02:54 PM by Juan Calonge

Confirming earlier reports (see blu-ray.com, April 17), George Lucas himself announced today that the Star Wars films will be released on Blu-ray in 2011, in a six-movie box set. Speaking at the Celebration V convention in Orlando, Lucas said: "I wish I could say it was coming out this year, but it will come out next year." New, extensive special features will be featured, including documentaries, vintage behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, retrospectives and never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives.

One of those special features, a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi, premiered at the convention. In it, Luke Skywalker is seen asembling his new lightsaber before going to the palace of Jabba the Hutt.



"Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home – in pristine high definition," said George Lucas. "The films have never looked or sounded better."

In an interview with the The New York Times, Lucas said that the saga hadn't been announced before because he was waiting for mass adoption of the Blu-ray format. "We've been wanting to do it as soon as we possibly could, but we just wanted to do it when enough people would be able to buy it and see it," said the filmmaker.

Lucas also clarified that the original trilogy movies will be included as they were shown theatrically in 1997 and released on DVD in 2004 - i.e., the original versions will not be included. "You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally," he said. "It's a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.

Srelex wrote:Meh, don't really care if it's not the final cut; never got the fuss over the SE anyway (Greedo shot first? Who gives a fuck? You can't tell without looking closely anyway).

Srelex wrote:They turned Greedo into sizzling kebab, what more do you want? Anyway, wasn't this news already thrown about a while ago?

Srelex wrote:But think about all those starving kids in China who make the casings, you heartless bastard.

MKSheppard wrote:You know; it's really absurdly easy to do the theatrical release AND the Speical Editions on the same disc.

Remember that they restored the theatrical release for the 1997 Laserdisc and VHS releases. So it shouldn't that *that* much extra to bring back only the footage that was different (Han Shoots first, Old Anakin Skywalker in ROTJ) and then use the advantages of Blu Ray to seamlessly make it possible to switch from one version to the other like you could do with the TOS Blu Rays (Original SFX or New SFX)

Vympel wrote:The laser disc version of the original films looks like arse on those DVDs. They haven't gotten a proper remaster at all. They'd look even worse on blu-ray. I also don't really understand the whole "I'm not buying them again" schtick. That's fine, but don't pretend that a blu Ray release of one of the great scifi franchises ever is somehow uncalled for, lol.

Mr Bean wrote:

Vympel wrote:The laser disc version of the original films looks like arse on those DVDs. They haven't gotten a proper remaster at all. They'd look even worse on blu-ray. I also don't really understand the whole "I'm not buying them again" schtick. That's fine, but don't pretend that a blu Ray release of one of the great scifi franchises ever is somehow uncalled for, lol.

It's not uncalled for but color me skeptical that we won't see a redux of the last two releases IE a year from now the Ultra-Mega Super-remastered Blueray will come out in a giant collectors case and that one will have features like the theater release on the disk. It's not like we saw that happen twice before on VHS and DVD.

Ghost Rider wrote:At this point, I no longer care. An extra minute of RoTJ and that's it? Oh wait, Blu-ray looks.

Sorry, it really isn't enough and after getting the VHS and DVD releases? I'm not caring. Sure it will look nicer, but it's nearing four to five sets of SW. Tell me when they do come out with some all in wonder set wherein I can custom make scenes.

Vympel wrote:

Ghost Rider wrote:At this point, I no longer care. An extra minute of RoTJ and that's it? Oh wait, Blu-ray looks.

Sorry, it really isn't enough and after getting the VHS and DVD releases? I'm not caring. Sure it will look nicer, but it's nearing four to five sets of SW. Tell me when they do come out with some all in wonder set wherein I can custom make scenes.

it's deleted footage. It's not being included in a recut of the film. Deleted scenes are mosly deleted for a reason. And how can you possibly have four to five sets of the movies? If you're including your near 20 year old VHS's, maybe. Otherwise there has been precisely one DVD release, two if you include the one that included the laser disc of the theatrical cut. That's it.

Vympel wrote:Heh - people actually own laser discs? You learn something new every day

I tossed my VHS tapes long ago though. Its practically hoarding keeping that old crap, it'll look like arse even if you did have a VHS player to watch them on.

New, extensive special features will be featured, including documentaries, vintage behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, retrospectives and never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives.