Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Blu-ray) Review

One of the most beloved movie sagas has finally made the jump to high-definition. All six Star Wars movies are now available on Blu-ray in two box sets for each trilogy (Episodes I-III and IV-VI), or as a special nine-disc set that contains all six movies and a plethora of bonuses. So is the complete saga box set worth it? If you’re a Star Wars geek, then these are the droids you’re looking for, but if you’re a casual fan, then see if the total package is worth the price of admission.

The best way to determine if this is worth it to you is to look at each individual movie. For this release of the Star Wars saga, creator George Lucas has made some not-so-significant changes -- as well as some rather hefty ones.

Episode I - The Phantom Menace

The first film in the prequel trilogy has its flaws, but this version contains improvements over the theatrical and DVD releases, aside from the HD upgrade. The biggest change that can be seen is in Yoda, who was a puppet in the original 1999 release. The Jedi master is now all digitized, like in Episodes II and III, and the improvement is obvious. Yoda looks more animated and more realistic than his puppet counterpart. Overall, while The Phantom Menace is considered by most to be the worst Star Wars movie of all-time, this version of the film is the best yet.

Episode II - Attack of the Clones

The second episode had only some minor tweaks here and there. George Lucas shot the film in digital when it was made for its 2002 release, so not much, if anything, changed effects-wise. The only noticeable differences are in some of the dialog, and you won’t even notice those unless you’ve seen this film enough times to memorize most of the lines. Attack of the Clones has its slow points, but the last 30 minutes or so, which contain the biggest battle in the entire anthology, looks as good on the small screen as it did on the silver screen.

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

The most recent Star Wars film to be released also had little to no changes. This movie, as you could expect, looks incredible in HD. Every laser blast and landscape looks and sounds as real as it could get. If there was a gold standard to the SW anthology for HD, then Revenge of the Sith is it.

Episode IV - A New Hope

The film that started it all does have some noticeable changes, such as when Obi-Wan scares away the sand people (Tusken Raiders), and some noticeably different dialogue when Luke and Obi-Wan get to Mos Eisley. There are some other not-so-obvious changes, such as different camera angles for some minor scenes and other minor dialogue changes. Otherwise, it is basically the same as the 2004 DVD release, with an HD upgrade. However you shape it, A New Hope is still a classic.

Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back surprisingly -- or unsurprisingly depending on how you look at it -- had little to no big changes from the 2004 DVD release. The film looks great in HD, and you can hardly tell that it’s a movie made in 1980. It’s still considered by many to be the best movie in the franchise and one of the greatest films ever made.

Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Return of the Jedi probably has the most controversial changes in this set. Some of them are for the better, including the addition of Sebulba from Episode I in the Jabba palace scene and other minor effect upgrades. A change that might unsettle some: The eyes of the Ewoks on Endor now blink, and their eyes move around a bit. The one change that most Star Wars fans will hate is near the end of the film. In the movie’s climax, Darth Vader now yells “NOOO!” similar to the way he does in Episode III. Lucas obviously has his reasons for adding that in, but most fans were probably disappointed with this addition. Otherwise, the movie is basically the same as the DVD release, and like The Empire Strikes Back, it looks great in HD.

Bonus Features

The complete box set has three discs full of bonus features. The first two discs contain extras from the films, while the third disc has some other goodies. The first disc covers Episodes I-III, while the second covers IV-VI. The discs are laid out in a very unique way, in that each episode is broken down by the individual planetary locations that appear in them, such as Naboo in Phantom Menace and Hoth in Empire. Some of the bonus features seen on these two discs include interviews with Lucas and cast members, art galleries, and of course, deleted scenes and animatronics. One cool feature is to look at certain props in a 360-degree scale. There’s also an awesome tour of the Lucasfilm archive that houses all the various props used in the films.

The final disc has several documentaries, old and new, on the Star Wars universe as a whole and on the making of the films. The must-see on this disc, however, is a 90-minute montage that covers all the various Star Wars spoofs, from fake screen tests on Saturday Night Live, to the Family Guy trilogy that retells Episodes IV-VI. Hardcore and casual fans alike should go out of their way to see this montage.

To buy or not to buy?

Overall, this is the ideal box set of the Star Wars saga. Casual fans and those new to the franchise should take a look at it for certain. Many die-hard fans will be disappointed by some of the changes as well as the exclusion of the original theatrical releases, but if you can overlook those two things, then this is a must-own.