It is a long established fact that ‘Star Wars’ fans will lap up almost any opportunity to rebuy the franchise’s movies every time they’re reissued in new editions. The UK division of Fox Home Entertainment is counting on that by re-releasing the Blu-rays for both trilogies in new SteelBook packaging.
First off, before you ask, these are the same discs as previously released on Blu-ray, just repackaged. ‘A New Hope’ through ‘Return of the Jedi’ are still the abhorrent “Special Edition” versions with the worthless new scenes and stupid CGI additions. Anyone holding out hope for the original theatrical versions can keep waiting.
The discs are split between two sets, one for the Prequel Trilogy and one for the Original (altered) Trilogy. These house the same content as the two earlier Blu-ray “trilogy” packages. The bonus features previously exclusive to the Complete Saga box set remain so, and will not be found here.
Here’s what the SteelBooks look like:
I’m not sure how I feel about the “painted” artwork. It looks a little… I don’t know… amateurish to me.
In any event, I made a decision not to buy the ‘Star Wars’ movies again until the original theatrical versions are properly restored. I passed on the Blu-rays previously and will do so again. The SteelBook packaging isn’t enough to lure me over to the Dark Side.
If you can’t resist the temptation, both Blu-ray sets will be released on April 8th. You can preorder the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy from Amazon UK, which will ship to North America.
Written by: Josh Zyber | Visit Website
Josh Zyber is a veteran movie and video disc reviewer from Laserdisc to DVD and beyond. In addition to managing this blog and writing the occasional Blu-ray review for High-Def Digest, Josh also contributes regularly to Home Theater magazine.
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Tags: Blu-ray, Full Metal Jackets, Star Wars, SteelBook
Tempting! I still haven’t gotten around to buying Star Wars yet – been waiting for a good deal. However, a brief look at Amazon.co.uk says these are region B locked. So I guess no steelbook for me.
I purchased the Blu-Ray Complete Saga when it came out. I can overlook most of the “Special Edition” changes, so I bought it, mainly for the lossless sound, which is excellent. Won’t be purchasing any more until the Originals are released.
Just as a side note: all of those painted images in and outside of the steelbooks are the same exact images in the Complete Saga set. They are on the cardboard sleeve “pages” holding the discs. I agree that they don’t look professional at all and make the set look cheap.