so who's buying star wars dvds tomorrow?

[PoolMan]

Oh heck yeah. I didn't put the IGN article up as gospel, I put it up because for once I thought they actually spoke their mind. They gave it a 6/10 and basically said "if you already own it, don't buy this new one".

But you're right. They've been running up to this point for a while. They might have spoken their mind, but the timing is undeniably corporate. Which is increasingly true of them anyways.

[PoolMan]

Update!

It was a dark and stormy night last night (true!), so I decided I'd go down and pick me up some Star Wars DVDs. I figure for $25 Cdn, I could do worse, and I've waited all my life to have these movies on DVD. So I caved.

To put it simply, these DVDs are indeed worth the purchase, if you're like me. Each package has two discs. Disc 1 is the Special Edition release of the movie. Everything is crystal clear, the sound is amazing, Greedo shoots first, Luke screams as he falls down the shaft, and Anakin's ghost is only twenty years old. I may just use these discs as coasters to get my wife all riled up.

Disc 2 in each package is the real thing. The original theatrical releases. The pictures are more grainy (but a long way from terrible, it's still quite clean), and the sound is stereo only, no 5.1. But dammit, there's no CGI Jabba, you can easily see through snowspeeder cockpits, and the Ewoks sing their little Yub Yub ditty at the end with all their hearts. These are the movies I grew up loving, and I love them still.

As for extra features, there really aren't any. I haven't gotten into the voiceovers on the SE discs, but I assume they're the same as the last SE DVD release. There aren't tons of Making Of featurettes. These are dry little discs. Not a total loss, but hardly the effort they put into the Phantom Menace discs when they came out.

So the question you really need to ask yourself is: do I really want to pay X number of dollars to own the original movies, free of Lucas' edits, on a digital format? If the answer is yes, go right ahead and buy these things. If you're hesitant, or have the originals on VHS and are happy with them, or are at all hesitant about the money, don't do it. It's not going to be worth it.

As a bonus (which I didn't know about before I hit the checkout) they gave me a lithograph poster for each movie in a really nice mat. They're about 12x18" each, and I'm very seriously thinking about whether I might frame them. They're quite nice. I understand there are all kinds of freebies being given out with these movies in different locations, so maybe you'd be in it for the swag. I don't know.

There will likely come a day when they'll do a full blast Original Trilogy release, complete with more features on the discs, better sound, etc. I hope when they release that they don't sell a single one.

Me, I'm happy. And I'm pretty much done paying for anything Star Wars for probably a damn long time to come.

[Hilasophy]

Just finished watching all three with some friends. They are definitely the original theatrical release complete with artifacts and line streakage all over the place. Do not mistake the previous sentence for a complaint...I think it's worth buying, I will buy it when I get some extra cash. Because like I always say, "there was absolutely nothing wrong with the original."

the special-er edition is also included--I haven't seen that and probably never will but it's there for those who care.

[Head Mutant]

Thanks for sharing, Pooly. Even with various grouses, I don't think it's worth buying a second set of Star Wars DVDs if I already have the special editions. Plus, in a weird way, the special editions mark the only time I've seen all three Star Wars films in the theater, versus just Jedi for the original release.