Saga Your favorite Star Wars Home Video Release

Of all the home video releases of Star Wars in the past - VHS, dvd, blu ray, which is your favorite? In my opinion none of them have been perfect, but Im going to have to go with the UK Trilogy Steelbooks.

 

The Phantom Menace DVD. The special features package is still one of the best out there. Don't have mine anymore unfortuenetly.

 

My set of OT dvds. I think they are the 2004 editions and they come in a tin with Darth Vader's helmet molded onto the front. Not only are they the first SW DVDs I ever got but the bonus Empire of Dreams disc has some really good commentary and behind the scenes stuff on it.

 

'The Complete Saga' Blu-ray box set from 2011 with the Anakin & Luke on Tatooine cover.

 

Japanese LaserDisc editions of the early 1990s, first time release in "letterbox" (previously only "pan & scan"), CAV (perfect freeze-frame images possible but disc change after 30 minutes) and with colors and contrast close to the original, theatrical releases.

And here is the back sheet from the "Definitive" US LaserDisc Edition:



That was long before anybody saw the DVD format coming...

 

Rogue One Blu-Ray. I've been watching it a lot and enjoying the heck out of it!

 

Can't say I have a favourite since there something I like on many releases. Be it the 1997 LaserDisc release of the OT SE for the premium presentation (and featurette), the DVD releases of all six for the extras, or the 'Complete Saga' Blu-ray for A/V quality.

 

2011 Blu-ray saga release. Box art is gorgeous.

 

2011 Complete Saga Set

 

I love the Steelbooks!!

 

2006 OOT DVDs. Second to that is the VHSes with the original posters as the front covers.

 

2008 set with the 2004 special editions and original versions. Unfortunately, there's virtually no bonus features. You can buy the digital versions or Blu-rays for that though. I suppose I like the set because of its rarity and it's the most modern way to legally view the OOT.

 

The Executor box set which was probably out around 1995 at a guess. I'm sure this was marketed as the last and best release of the original versions. The bonus features on it are excellent.

 

The blu-ray releases of the final cuts.

 

The Special Edition release in the late 90's on VHS. For three reasons: nostalgia (came out when I was 10 and was my first experience with Star Wars), I always enjoyed watching the 5 or so minutes of special features at the beginning before each movie started, and they had some beautiful box art! They don't make box art that amazing anymore. Even though I don't own a VHS player anymore, I still own this on VHS.




While I never owned the original Star Wars (before the Special Editions) I liked the box art for them as well.

 

I had the silver ones, the widescreen version, of the 1997 SE. Loved it to death. The RotJ VHS is unplayable because the tape has been so worn down.


I do absolutely love those covers for the original SW VHS releases. My neighbor had them growing up.

 

Yeah I remember when the 1995 THX release came out - the last video release of the original version of SW. It had a tag line that said - "This will be the last time Star Wars will be released in its original version" . I remember wondering what the hell that meant because my 15 year old brain could not possibly fathom what Lucas would do in the 1997 SE.

 

The fact that this question is even asked is testament to how each new release of SW since 1997 has featured a completely different cut of the films themselves.

And nobody's making VHS players anymore, so George Lucas has definitely consigned the OOT to "planned obsolescence."

 

That's a hard one. I've got almost every one. Just missing some of the foreign releases. I'm really digging the first saga blu-ray release right now.

 

I used to own the 1980s VHS releases and that is how I first saw the OT. My uncle owns the 1997 special edition versions and I have seen those as well. Currently, I own the 2008 release with both the 2004 DVDs and the OOT. I agree with Grievousdude and think that that is the best way to watch the OOT. Unless I'm doing a saga marathon, I prefer to watch the OOT episodes to view them as they originally were released (the purist in me). There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

 

Having never watched the original versions of the movies I have to ask you something. Is it weird for you watching the original Death Star explosion compared to the new one? I've seen a comparison and the original Death Star explosion is tiny. Does it pull you out of the moment a bit or do you not really notice when watching it?

 

Honestly, I didn't notice the difference the first time I watched the DVD version. Later, when I watched the original, I did see a difference. In retrospect, the original Death Star explosion did feel a bit anticlimactic compared the the subsequent version.

 

If I'm not mistaken, all of the pre-SE VHS sets were identical in content, but the CBS/Fox set get bonus points for being the only set to this day to beautifully feature the original poster art as the cover:

My first set was actually the THX-mastered "faces" set, but basically any set was a winner for the trilogy.

As far as modern content, probably the 2011 Blu Ray still.