Fans begin the countdown to launch of 'Star Wars' DVD set
The "Star Wars" empire, whose epic storytelling, special-effects wizardry, and merchandising power changed the way movies are made and marketed, will soon expand again.
On Sept. 21, in one of the most highly anticipated releases since the advent of DVDs, Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will issue a four-disc boxed set containing the first three "Star Wars" films plus a documentary on the making of the trilogy. In addition to providing never-before-seen footage and commentary, the films have been digitally remastered and re-recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX sound, enhancements that should make them attractive to fans whose home-entertainment systems have kept pace with current technology.
"We want watching this DVD collection to be as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time," Lucasfilm vice president Jim Ward said in a statement.
The price for the set has not been decided, according to Lucasfilm officials. Yet it's believed within the industry that the four-disc "Indiana Jones" set, which came out last year and sold for about $70, is a reliable benchmark.
To the consternation of some fans, the DVD versions will be presented as director George Lucas reedited them for theatrical release in 1997 -- and not as the original cuts of "Star Wars" (1977), "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), and "Return of the Jedi" (1983), which hard-core fans still cherish. For the rerelease, Lucas used computer-generated animation to add creatures and enhance the special effects.
"There's no question there's a mixed bag of reactions," says Joshua Griffin, editor of theforce.net, a leading "Star Wars" fan website. "These are not the films fans most want to see. They'll take them, trust me -- most fans weren't expecting them to be released until 2006 -- but the majority wanted the original films they saw as a kid."
Whereas Lucasfilm executives have insisted that these versions constitute "the artist's vision," says Griffin, "these films are really way bigger than Lucas himself, I'm afraid."
Those sentiments notwithstanding, fans of the sci-fi trilogy greeted the announcement as welcome, if overdue, news.
" `Star Wars' is easily the most requested DVD ever, as well as the most bootlegged," says Bill Hunt of thedigitalbits.com, a website covering the DVD industry. "This is by far the biggest news to date in our industry, and one that's been a long time coming. The e-mails have been pouring in all day."
As far back as 1997, when DVDs first came out, Hunt says, a grass-roots campaign tried to persuade Lucas to release the films on DVD, as he has done for the fourth and fifth "Star Wars" films, 1999's "Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" and 2002's "Episode II -- Attack of the Clones." Fans even took out a full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter. Lucas claimed to have neither the time nor the resources to devote to the project, according to Hunt. But with 40 million DVD players now in use, supporting a $22.5 billion video industry, the time may have seemed too ripe to pass up the opportunity any longer.
"Since Lucas has always been about technological innovation, it just made sense" to follow the path taken by Steven Spielberg and others, says Hunt.
Entertainment Weekly senior editor Marc Bernardin calls the three films "the Holy Grail of pop-culture cinema" and says that despite the negative audience reaction to the fourth and fifth installments (and actually episodes I and II, since they served as prequels), fans will likely gobble up these DVDs.
"Now they can get them legally," says Bernardin, referring to the numerous bootleg copies in circulation. "My guess is, they'll sell steadily from September through Christmas -- which will reposition the `Star Wars' franchise before `Episode III' comes out." Lucas is currently readying the sixth and final "Star Wars" installment -- actually the third prequel -- for release in early 2005.
Count David Taylor of Waltham among those ready to snap up the DVDs when they come out in September. "I know I sound like a `Star Wars' geek, but I've probably seen each one at least 20 times," says Taylor, 35, who coincidentally went looking Tuesday morning for new copies of the "Star Wars" films on video. His old tapes are worn out, Taylor explained. Although the discs are likely to be expensive, he adds, "Anybody who's into `Star Wars' will be interested in them, absolutely."
David Jones, 52, a software development manager from Hingham, says it's high time the DVDs were available.
"Given how lucrative a franchise this is, I'm surprised Lucas didn't do this earlier -- not that he needs the money," notes Jones, who likewise plans to buy the DVDs as soon as possible.
Fans such as Fabio Dovalle of Everett admit their excitement is tinged with disappointment.
"I was skeptical at first, because they said before that they'd release it," says Dovalle, who's studying computer science. "But I'm guessing they might be trying to build momentum for `Episode III.' " Asked whether he's disappointed the original versions won't be on the DVD, Dovalle replies, "A little. But I believe they'll release them eventually, because they know there's a market for them."
Speaking as a fan, Hunt says Lucas and his artist's vision may prove shortsighted. "When Spielberg put out `E.T.' on DVD, he included both versions," Hunt notes. "There's no reason Lucas couldn't do the same. Doesn't he have some obligation to fans who remember the originals?"
Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.
