Only one big release this week, but it’s the most-anticipated DVD release of all time. Yes, the Star Wars Trilogy is finally here! Of course, George Lucas couldn’t help tinkering around once again, so these versions are different from even the Special Edition releases from 1997. (Lucas has made it clear that eventually the old tapes (and laserdiscs, I presume) will wear out, and these new editions will be the only versions that survive.) Some things are improved, some are added, and some have been changed to tie in with the new prequels. I wont belabor the changes here, but you can read some lists of the changes from Digital Bits and CNN. At some point, I hope to post a list of the more minor changes that Lucas has made. It should be interesting viewing, in any case.
Oh, and the music is supposedly flipped in the surround channels, so music that comes out of the right front channel will come out of the left rear instead of the right rear. I don’t think that Lucasfilm will be repressing the discs, though. I guess we’ll just have to wait for the high-definition DVD boxed set of all six movies that might be released in 2007. For the best deal on the current DVD set, Deep Discount DVD has it available for $41.88, but shipping usually takes a few weeks. Otherwise, Best Buy is once again your best bet, where it is $42.99 in stores this week. And make sure to pick up the silver box, which is the widescreen edition, instead of the gold box, which is fullscreen.
