| | |  | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Home » » Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980 & 2004 Versions, Widescreen Edition) | | | | | | | Description: | | For the first time ever and for a limited time only, the enhanced versions of the Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi will be available individually on DVD. Plus, these 2-Disc DVD's will feature a bonus disc that includes, for the first time ever on DVD, the original films as seen in theaters in 1977, 1980 and 1983. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels | | Director:
| Irvin Kershner | | Format:
| AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English, Spanish, French | | Number of Discs:
| 2 | | Studio:
| Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment | | Run Time:
| 124 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| September 12, 2006 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 422 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 422 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
93 of 107 found the following review helpful:
 George Has Become The EmporerSep 11, 2006
By Bruce Aguilar
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.
66 of 75 found the following review helpful:
Bait and Switch!May 27, 2006
By M. French
"NoHandLuke"
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!
62 of 73 found the following review helpful:
the movie deserves five stars but the dvd treatment a 0Jul 13, 2006
By MATTYG
"MDG"
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.
182 of 230 found the following review helpful:
Move along. These aren't the DVDs you're looking for.Jun 27, 2006
By J. Renner
If you love the original Star Wars trilogy as much as me, it is time to send a loud and clear message to Lucas that you will not endorse a subpar, inferior product. Do not get too excited when you pop this DVD into your player to watch on a widescreen TV. The 1980 version will appear as a tiny, low-resolution image. It is a non-anamorphic transfer (which in 2006 is NOT an industry standard), so it is NOT enhanced for 16x9 viewing. Get ready to enjoy Star Wars like you never have before - as if you were watching it through a mail slot!!!
Boycott this DVD until Lucasfilm acknowledges and corrects this. This trilogy's most loyal fans deserve better.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 The Good, the Bad, and the UglySep 17, 2006
By RES
We are given 2-DVD releases where the films in the much sought-after original 1977/83 STAR WARS Trilogy are relegated to the status of "bonus discs," a remarkably cynical move even for Lucas and Fox, who know full well that very few people actually want the dreadful 1997/2004 revisions that have been around on DVD for two years. These "bonus discs" are largely non-cleaned-up, low-definition, non-anamorphic transfers based on the 1993 laser discs. The picture is actually not bad, all things considered--better, in fact, than any other issuance of the originals (which admittedly appeared in media far inferior to the DVD); but with a little effort, they could have been so much better--especially for folks with 16x9 TVs. The 2.0 sound is more than adequate--actually rather clearer than the 5.1 mess that was produced for the 2004 disasters. Ironically, it is the 2.0 mix, not the 2004 5.1 remix, which is more similar to, though less complex than, the 6-channel, non-digital, non-surround stereo that was heard theatrically 30 years ago.
A couple of interesting details: one reviewer felt that these DVDs were worse than the 1995 VHS tapes, which he remembered as having been better cleaned up. In point of fact, the LDs from 1993 and the LDs/VHS tapes from 1995 were the *same* THX remasterings--just packaged differently; having seen both, I can say confidently that neither are nearly as good as these still-below-par DVDs. Moreover, the 1993/5 THX versions from which these DVDs were transferred are full of print damage at the same points--odd for a THX mastering; it means that even for what he said would be the *final* release in 1995, Lucas *already* didn't care about the old versions, as he was about to embark upon his 1997 distortions! Another important point: not all of these DVDs are direct LD transfers. For STAR WARS, the LD, and *every* home video version since the film first appeared on VHS, had the later title scroll that included "Episode IV A New Hope." This one, nicely, does not--the first time in a home video release! However, either good elements for this truly original opening do not survive or were not searched for hard enough because the whole frame rocks from side to side somewhat--owing to uneven print shrinkage: it's disconcerting to see a sky full of stars that all move back and forth together. This could have been cleaned up along with the many other points of print damage in the source material. One last observation: someone said that the opening sequence in STAR WARS is time-compressed. That is rubbish: all earlier versions have identical running times *to the second*! Let's not savage Mr. Lucas when he doesn't deserve it, folks.
The problem with allowing George Lucas to clean up, or even anamorphically enhance, *anything* in his original STAR WARS Trilogy is that he obviously wouldn't know when to quit, and we'd get another non-original permutation. It's a shame because far older films have been restored to look much better than the 1977-83 STAR WARS originals in their new DVD releases. Films of this cultural significance deserve far better. But since Lucas can't be trusted not to tinker, perhaps we should be satisfied while we're ahead, even though the results are compromised. If the originals ever do get issued in cleaner and higher-definition, anamorphically enhanced versions, you can bet that something will also be missing--again! My guess, however, is that Lucas regards his first versions merely as historical artifacts, remembering all the grief they caused him in the making; he obviously prefers to forget about them, continuing to insist that his most recent thoughts, however inferior we all find them, are the standards. It also occurs to me that Fox is testing the market: sure, thousands have been clamoring for the genuine films for years, but they wanted to see if we'd shell out the cash even for technically outmoded versions. Well, now we have. Perhaps they will realize that, despite how much we are currently protesting about Fox's (and perhaps Lucas') greed, when the originals are restored--not changed, just restored, preferably without Mr. Lucas' "assistance"--we will, in fact, buy them. In the meantime, these are better than nothing. Watch them on a 4x3 SDTV.
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