STAR WARS - THE COMPLETE SAGA

Disclaimer: This is not a review of the STAR WARS movies. It is a review of the "Complete saga" collection box, and the movies themselves will be just about the only part of it that I'm not going to review.

STAR WARS is one of the biggest si-fi movie franchises there is, and it was really just a question of time before there would be a collectors etition of the movies. With all six movies in crystal clare HD, and about 40 hours of bonus feature, this is the ultimate STAR WARS collection.


The Movies: 8/10

The movies themselves look fantastic. From the newer "Revenge of the Sith" and all the way back to the original "STAR WARS", they are all presented in sharp 1080p HD, with 6.1 DTS surround sound. The imperial fleet chasing the Millenium Falcon through the astroid field, Anakin battling Obi-Wan on Mustafar, everything gets much more realistic (and exiting) in this edition, there is just nothing to put on the resurrection of the movies. However, this is not the original movies, who where sent on theaters many years ago. Several changes have been made, all from the old "Han shot first" argument, till newer alterations like replacing puppet Yoda with a CG version in Phantom Menace. These changes aren't exactly a problem, but I really think they should have included the original versions as well.

"Red leader, standing by"

The Bonus Feature: 6/10

The bonus feature is one of the prime reasons to why I buy these boxes. After finishing the movies, people like to know how the film came to be, every step from scriptwriting and pre-production to filming and editing. On STAR WARS The Complete Saga, you don't get that.
The bonus feature is divided in three disks; the first two are called the archive, while the last one contains documentaries. The archive offers four different sections; Interviews with cast and crew, deleted scenes, concept art and the collection. The interviews are about three minutes each, so are most of the deleted scenes. The deleted scenes does not contain special effects, as this was never added, so on the prequel trilogy this basically means a guy in front of a green wall. The collection is my favorite part of the extra material. You got a prop from the movie that you can turn around and zoom in on different spots, and on some there follows a short video explaining how it came to be and the chalenges they had with it. The documentary disk have seven-or-so documentaries that was made a long time ago, not purposely for this collection. So most of them are trying to be funny, instead of informing, and you don't really get a lot of insight on the movies. Some of the videos are just barely related to the franchise, and should just have been left out.
The archives are really good, they give you interesting behind-the-scenes information, but there is hardly anything at all about filming or post production, which pulls down the grade a bit.

George Lucas, the creator of STAR WARS

The Interface: 9/10

The setup of the disks are both neat and simple. There are clips from the film thats on the disc moving acros the screen while you easily choose your subtitle setting and ignore the commentary option. On the archive, the films are categorized into movie, then which planet they are most relevant to, and then into deleted scenes, concept art and so on. This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, and there is also a "play all" button, which plays everything on the disc, or everything of one chosen category (for example the collection). The documentary disc is even simpler, where you just scroll sidewise until you find what you want. There are some cool animations in there, which makes it look like you are operating one of their fancy machines or something, not just a Blu-Ray movie. The only thing to pick on is that the look of the menu doesn't relate to the films, the layout feels sort of random.

"The Archive"

The Design: 10/10

The box-let is greatly designed, it combines a artful look with practical usage. The discs lay in each their pocket, that you can easily flip over to reach the next one. There are no photos in the box, which I think gives it a classic and majestic look. The view of Luke and Anakin standing back to back on Tatooine goes is found multiple places in the box, but it still don't feel repetitive. It's just pure beauty.

This painting is seen often in this box

The Verdict: 8/10

This is a must have for every STAR WARS fan. Even though it got some downs, they aren't big enough to stop me from recommending it to you. If you are going to buy one item this year, make it be this one.