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Star Wars Trilogy

Mark Hamill (Actor), Carrie Fisher (Actor), George Lucas (Director) Rated:
PG
Format: VHS Tape
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 17,416 ratings
IMDb8.3/10.0
Format NTSC, Box set, Closed-captioned, THX, Color
Contributor Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, George Lucas, Carrie Fisher
Language English
Runtime 6 hours and 40 minutes
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Editorial Reviews

Product description

Star Wars Trilogy Includes Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of The Jedi

Amazon.com

The Star Wars trilogy had the rare distinction of becoming more than just a series of movies, but a cultural phenomenon, a life-defining event for its generation. On its surface, George Lucas's original 1977 film is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one can count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by its basic struggle of good vs. evil "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," its dazzling special effects, and a mythology of Jedi Knights, the Force, and droids.

In the first film, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) gets to live out every boy's dream: ditch the farm and rescue a princess (Carrie Fisher). Accompanied by the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford, the only principal who was able to cross over into stardom) and trained by Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), Luke finds himself involved in a galactic war against the Empire and the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones). The following film, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), takes a darker turn as the tiny rebellion faces an overwhelming onslaught. Directed by Irvin Kershner instead of Lucas, Empire is on the short list of Best Sequels Ever, marked by fantastic settings (the ice planet, the cloud city), the teachings of Yoda, a dash of grown-up romance, and a now-classic "revelation" ending. The final film of the trilogy, Return of the Jedi (1983, directed by Richard Marquand), is the most uneven. While the visual effects had taken quantum leaps over the years, resulting in thrilling speeder chases and space dogfights, the story is an uneasy mix of serious themes (Luke's maturation as a Jedi, the end of the Empire-rebellion showdown) and the cuddly teddy bears known as the Ewoks.

Years later, George Lucas transformed his films into "special editions" by adding new scenes and special effects, which were greeted mostly by shrugs from fans. They were perfectly happy with the films they had grown up with (who cares if Greedo shot first?), and thus disappointed by Lucas's decision to make the special editions the only versions available. --David Horiuchi

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.7 x 4.4 x 3.5 inches; 1.5 Pounds
  • Director ‏ : ‎ George Lucas
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 6 hours and 40 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ November 21, 2000
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ February 9, 2007
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Fox
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00004XPP0
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 17,416 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
17,416 global ratings
2008 DVD box set contains original theatrical cuts
5 Stars
2008 DVD box set contains original theatrical cuts
The 2008 box set (see picture) contains that rarest of rarities: DVDs of the original theatrical cuts of the Star Wars trilogy. Yes, you read that right. The opening crawl of what we know as 'Star Wars Episode I: A New Hope' actually only says 'Star Wars', which George Lucas changed to the former for the 1981 re-release. These original theatrical cuts are included on the bonus DVDs, and you will have to tinker with the ratio on your TV so the picture fills the screen without stretching. The quality is about what you'd expect of (then) 30-year-old movie film, but I know many fans who fell in love with Star Wars before the special editions came out that this is the preferred way of experiencing these movies.I don't know what version of the special editions are contained on the main DVDs that come in this box set, but they contain the gratuitous Jabba scene in 'A New Hope', Han dodging Gredo's blaster shot in the cantina, and the ending of 'Return of the Jedi' with the new music and Hayden Christensen as a force ghost. If you look down your nose at George Lucas's meddling with his creation, you'll defer to the theatrical releases, as I do. Those are the versions I'll show my kids first when they're old enough. But I do appreciate the special editions for their enhanced picture and sound quality, as well as the improved computer graphics. This box set contains both, and if you can find it new or used for less than an arm and a leg, get it!
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Top reviews from the United States

Kristina Windbear
5.0 out of 5 stars Great condition.
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2024
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Only one disc was a bit dirty, but no damage it appears. Slip cover, hard case and discs all appear intact and ready to watch.
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Anthony Hinde
5.0 out of 5 stars Country boy makes good.
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2000
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Many Sci Fi buffs tend to treat the Star Wars trilogy like it was the second coming. It was a ground breaking effort on the part of George Lucas but not exactly a world shaking revolution.

These films put to death the theory that all science fiction films must be "B" grade. They were big budget, hi tech, well directed films with some excellent performances. Star Wars launched the successful careers of so many people that they are impossible to list.

The first film, "Star Wars", takes us through Luke Skywalker's discovery of his destiny. He finds an old Jedi Knight, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, who takes it on himself to train Luke in the ways of the force. Unfortunately Ben and Luke get drafted by Princess Leia in an attempt to save her and oppose the evil emperor and his second in command, Lord Darth Vader. They are aided by a smuggler/pilot, Han Solo and his copilot Chewbacca in the fastest ship in the cosmos, the Millennium Falcon. Some heavy duty action is had by all when Leia is rescued, (losing Ben in the process) and the emperor's death star is destroyed with only moments to spare before the rebel base was to be obliterated.

The second film, "The Empire Strikes Back", disappointed me at the time because of its open ended finish. I have since forgiven it for this. As with the first film, the second starts by skipping some of the intervening background material. So, we are left to catch up to the plot by ourselves. We find Luke Han and Leia in a new rebel base on a frozen planet. During an isolated scene where Luke is captured by a snow beast we find that his Jedi powers have developed a little more and that the friendship between he and Han has grown even stronger. But not to the point where their rivalry over Leia has abated.

The empire locates the rebel base and they all have to turn tail and run. Yes, we discover that the destruction of the death star at the end of the last film was nowhere near the end of the empire. Everyone bugs out in an orderly fashion except Luke who heads off to find a new master, by following the instructions of the now spectral Obi-Wan. Han, Chewy and Leia find that the Falcon is in need of repair and have to limp to the nearest port of call.

Luke finds the memorable Jedi Master Yoda, and starts his training. Meanwhile the falcon's crew is in trouble after Han's friend, Lando Calrissian, involuntarily betrays them to Darth Vader, resulting in Han being frozen in carbonite. So it's Luke to the rescue. The problem is that this was Darth's plan all along. Thus we get to see Luke, fencing with Darth. Luke loses his hand but gains a Father. Both against his will.

The final film, "Return of the Jedi", was excellent, except for the ridiculously cutesy Ewoks. We have to do another leap forward to catch the plot which has moved to the point where all of Han's friends are involved in an attempt at his rescue. Han has been sold, as a wall decoration, to Jaba the Hut, a type of Mafia boss in the shape of a giant, fat, salamanda. Luke arrives and impresses the hell out of everyone with his new Jedi powers. With a little help he saves everyone and the movie moves on.

The empire is building another death star and the rebels have a plan to destroy it. Of course Han, Luke, Leia, etc. are all critical to the success of this plan. They must land on a tropical moon to disable the force field that protects the half built deathstar. In the process, Luke is voluntarily captured and tries to turn Darth, his Father, away from evil. We get to see another great dual between the two of them. This time the emperor is on the side lines cheering them on whilst trying to turn Luke to the dark side of the force. Luke is made of sterner stuff than that though.

Meanwhile the rest of the gang have run into the improbable Ewoks. Fuzzy, teddy bear like people who seem unable to walk without waddling. Strangely they turn out to be useful allies, in the capacity of scouts, diversions and pesky warriors. The force field is eventually brought down and the rebels attack only to find that the death star is not nonfunctional after all. If it wasn't for Darth Vader turning against the emperor at the last minute, in order to save Luke, all would have been lost.

Many people have been awaiting more movies in the series. A number of good follow up books have been written, Timothy Zahn's efforts are especially good. However, Lucus has decided to go back in time and produce some prequels. We will see a young version of Obi-Wan as the hero. It should be good.
9 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars 20th Anniversary Rerelease
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2024
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Originally released in 1977, rereleased 20 years later The Special Edition Star Wars Trilogy includes new never before released scenes and visuals. Recommended for young and old fans alike.
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Sajji Baba
5.0 out of 5 stars I just saw the Blu Ray Empire Strikes Back and it was AWESOME!
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2011
Verified Purchase
I just got my Blu Rays of episodes 4-6 and started my weekend by watching Empire Strikes Back.

Firstly, my system:

Mitsubishi 1080p projector on a 120" screen.
Denon receiver with Dolby Tru HD and DTS HD
Atlantic Technology Speakers 5.1
PS3

Picture quality: Amazing! No graininess with great color balance. Original aspect ratio. I've seen the DVDs (including the issue that contains the original theatrical release - that was not in anamorphic wide screen, but original!), the laser discs (both new release and the mega box set that has each movie spanning 3 discs!) and of course the VHS versions that were originally pan and scan. Of course, the Blu Ray's picture quality cannot be matched by previous technologies. I don't know how else to describe the picture, except that it looks like it was filmed using recent technologies, not 35 mm film stock from the 1970s. If you see some other Blu Ray transfers from the '70s and '80s, you'll notice a significant deterioration and graininess that's typical of the low quality film stock from those decades. Take a look, for example, at the Blu Ray transfer of Ghostbusters and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about! This experience, however, was just awesome.

Sound quality: The people that invented THX were, of course, going to do an awesome job and they did not disappoint. These movies are presented in DTS HD - which I feel sounds better than Dolby Tru HD (that's not included). Dolby Digital and DTS standard audio tracks are also on the disks, but why have a Blu Ray player if you can't enjoy the HD audio!?! I think the sound outdid the picture quality! There was a perfect sound emersion with excellent use of the surround channels. Not just gimmicky noises that most other movies employ, this experience really made you feel like you were in the middle of all the action. If you have a well calibrated 5.1 setup, pay close attention to the rainy sequence with Luke and Yoda in Empire; rain is coming down all around you! Simply beautiful! During the asteroid sequence, the surround channels are used with extreme precision; as ships come from the background or fade into the background, you feel it. The .1 aspect? The sub woofers are perfectly balanced throughout the movie. Again, never a gimmicky use of this most important channel. The subs rumble with great precision, just like the surrounds. The battle on Hoth was simply perfect with regard to the use of surrounds and sub. I never had to adjust the volume to adjust from dialog to action sequences - that was the whole point of Lucas' original mission with THX balancing. You should hear the dialog when it's time to hear it and the action sounds shouldn't overpower the rest of the movie. I often find myself lowering volume during crazy action sequences and raising the volume to hear dialog in lesser quality sound mixes...even from modern productions. Not with this movie, the balance was just perfect. This will become a new reference standard for testing sound systems!

Regarding Lucas meddling with the originals? I don't really care. Mostly because I think Empire Strikes Back is the best one of all 6 and he really didn't mess with this one much! There are some CGI flight sequences that don't take anything away from the movie, in fact, I think they add to it. Thank you George!!! Star Wars, of course has crazy meddling, with Jaba and new creatures...just too distracting. And I never really liked Return of the Jedi - I thought it was very cheesy with the Ewoks. So if you're like me and want to relive the best movie ever (in my opinion), then these Blu Rays can't be beat.

Worth every penny, even if it's just to watch Empire Strikes Back. Beware though, this box set only includes the 3 movies and no bonuses material. The movies do have audio commentary, but no other special features. I'm ok with that - I think you can enjoy "the making of" stuff only so many times before it gets boring.
16 people found this helpful
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Michelle Kay
5.0 out of 5 stars Came as promised!
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024
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The box was EXACTLY like the picture! Tapes are in good shape.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sandra
5.0 out of 5 stars Livraison rapide, service à la clientèle de grande qualité et produit en parfaite condition!
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2024
Verified Purchase
Reçus en un temps record, ces 4 dvd étaient emballés individuellement et très bien protégés dans leur boîte de livraison. Je les ai visionnés et me suis replongée instantanément dans mon enfance, lorsque je les ai vu au cinéma pour la première fois!!! La qualité des images, du son, de la trame musicale, tout y est pour vivre ou "revivre" la Magie des premiers Stars Wars, personnellement mes préférés!!! Ce doit être une question de génération;). car la technologie était révolutionnaire à l'époque!!!
Je les recommande vivement à tous les amateurs de cette série de George Lucas!
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NICKOLA
5.0 out of 5 stars Star Wars
Reviewed in Italy on April 20, 2024
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Perfecto grazie.
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Tom-P
5.0 out of 5 stars No Frills But Still Thrills
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2024
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I was browsing Amazon for Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope alone as it's my favourite Star Wars Episode & I ended up taking a look for & at Star Wars Rogue One as I really rate that movie & I think that it's a crying shame that it weren't in the collection of the Official Star Wars Movies! Anyway....

I came across this Original Star Wars Trilogy for just under a fiver so it was a no brainer really I'm getting Episode IV A New Hope which again is what I was originally browsing for along with Episode V - Empire & Episode VI - Jedi now I knew that it was going to arrive as a single sized DVD case with three DVD's inside & without any significant booklet for that price I was paying & I was right (photos provided are proof of that) & I'm OK with that as they're great films but I'm not a hardcore follower.

As for the product, the picture is great I'm talking something different especially if you haven't seen them on modern day TV's & the sounds with Bluetooth stereo connection in my case (soundbar in others) really are something else, you see & hear like never before!

Overall I can't moan at all about this purchase! Now I noticed The Prequel Trilogy for the same price with a white cover & Yoda on it & I would have bought it if there was a matching The Sequels Trilogy with say a grey cover & character but sadly this isn't the case, so just continued with the purchase of the Original Trilogy as still you can't beat the Original Trilogy out of the Trilogy of Trilogies & I think that almost everyone would agree with that.
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Tom-P
5.0 out of 5 stars No Frills But Still Thrills
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2024
I was browsing Amazon for Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope alone as it's my favourite Star Wars Episode & I ended up taking a look for & at Star Wars Rogue One as I really rate that movie & I think that it's a crying shame that it weren't in the collection of the Official Star Wars Movies! Anyway....

I came across this Original Star Wars Trilogy for just under a fiver so it was a no brainer really I'm getting Episode IV A New Hope which again is what I was originally browsing for along with Episode V - Empire & Episode VI - Jedi now I knew that it was going to arrive as a single sized DVD case with three DVD's inside & without any significant booklet for that price I was paying & I was right (photos provided are proof of that) & I'm OK with that as they're great films but I'm not a hardcore follower.

As for the product, the picture is great I'm talking something different especially if you haven't seen them on modern day TV's & the sounds with Bluetooth stereo connection in my case (soundbar in others) really are something else, you see & hear like never before!

Overall I can't moan at all about this purchase! Now I noticed The Prequel Trilogy for the same price with a white cover & Yoda on it & I would have bought it if there was a matching The Sequels Trilogy with say a grey cover & character but sadly this isn't the case, so just continued with the purchase of the Original Trilogy as still you can't beat the Original Trilogy out of the Trilogy of Trilogies & I think that almost everyone would agree with that.
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vankaem j-p
5.0 out of 5 stars content
Reviewed in France on January 4, 2024
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toute ma jeunesse j'adore les regarder
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mary
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous box set
Reviewed in Spain on October 15, 2023
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Excelente
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