Search - Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (2-discs with Full Screen enhanced and original theatrical versions) on DVD

George Has Become The Emporer

Bruce Aguilar | Hollywood, CA | 09/11/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"So after waiting 11 years or so, we finally get a re-release of the original The Empire Strikes Back in all it's unaltered glory. Just as fans have been dreaming about since the advent of DVD.



Well, um...I don't think any fan was dreaming about this particular release.



The original release version of The Empire Strikes Back (the only reason to buy this set as most all fans will already have one of the previous Special Edition releases) is relegated to bonus material on disc two. Ouch! But wait, it gets worse.



George Lucas, the champion of pristine presentation in the theatre and at home has released the film that made him a legend in the state of the art of technology circa 1993.



Yes, that's right. This transfer is from the laserdisc release of '93. Even worse, the film is not anamorphic like just about every other modern day DVD. What does that mean? Well a non-anamorphic DVD has a low visual clarity and the image won't fill a widescreen TV. To make a movie anamorphic takes very little time and money. That Star Wars is not anamorphic shows a disregard for the film that is troubling.



Star Wars fans expect these landmark films to be treated just like many other films (Vertigo, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Snow White, etc.) that have gotten detailed restorations that cleaned up dirt, grime and audio ticks and presented the films in today's state of the art. This is the release most fans were dreaming of. A release that showed the film some modicrum of respect.



George, the fan base you have worked so hard to woo over the years is fed up with your shoddy treatment of these films."

The movie deserves five stars but the dvd treatment a 0

MATTYG | USA | 07/13/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"to paraphrase darth vader " I find Mr. Lucas lack of faith in the oot disturbing"



out of all the three at least empire deserved the gold standard when It came on dvd in it's orginal version. But non anamorphic for one of the greatest sequels in movie history please!



again thanks for nothing mr. lucas.



Please somebody stop him before film history is erased forever by a so called film preservationist activist, who often likes to re-write history and cgi the crap out of it.



Please AFI and the DGA stop this madness! Lobby him to perserve these films as they deserve to be treated not as bastard children he once disowned.

"

Bait and Switch!

M. French | Atlanta, GA | 05/27/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Lucasfilm is marketing this trilogy release on the inclusion of the unaltered versions of the films when in fact this is a shoddy laserdisc transfer on a bonus disc and the buyer is forced to purchase, yet again, the 2004 versions also. This is essentially retail fraud given that Lucasfilm holds itself as a bastion of home video quality and film preservation - these transfers are 13 years old, non-anamorphic and substandard. YOU WILL BE PAYING $[...] FOR OLD LASERDISCS TRANSFERRED TO DVD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. You will not be able to watch them on a widescreen TV with adequate quality - this is shameful and shameless marketing taking advantage of buyers. DO NOT BUY!"

Did'ja Notice???

amsterdamaged | 09/14/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Has anyone noticed that the packaging on Episodes 1, 2, and 3, have gold lettering, but when the boxed set came out last year, the lettering was silver? Now, the "limited editions" have gold lettering, making them a better "fit" with episodes 1-3 on your DVD rack.



Its almost as if they planned this whole thing from the beginning...



Suckers!



Seriously, if Lucas only planned to release the unaltered versions as non-upgraded bonus disks, then he should have offered them for free, as part of the box set last year. That's exactly what Spielburg did when he released the Special Edition of E.T. Sure, some people would still complain about the lousy transfer, but at least they wouldn't feel that Lucas tricked them. He did. Most of us would not have bought the box set last year if we knew that he was going to offer the original version as a bonus disk in the future. We would have waited.



Shame on you, Mr. Lucas.



The film actually deserves 5 stars. In my opinion "Empire" is not only the best SW film of all time, its one of the best FILMS of all time. I'm giving it 1 star because of the principle of it all.



As for the 5 star reviewers who are saying "get over it" and "get a life", don't be a hypocrite. You're wasting your life writing silly reviews on Amazon just like the rest of us geeks."