The 2006 limited-edition two-disc release of George Lucas's epic space fantasy Star Wars is not only the first time the movie has been officially available by itself on DVD. It marks the first-ever DVD release of Star Wars as it originally played in theaters in 1977. What does that mean exactly? Well, for starters, the initial title crawl proclaims that this is just Star Wars, not Episode IV, A New Hope. Second, the film is without the various "improvements" and enhancements Lucas added for the theatrical rerelease in 1997 as well as the DVD premiere in 2004. So no more critters and droids scurrying around the port of Mos Eisley when Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi first arrive, no meetings between Han Solo and Jabba the Hut and between Luke and Biggs (extraneous scenes that were cut in 1977), no enhanced explosions during the final reel, and--most importantly to some fans--no more of Greedo shooting first in the bar. Instead Han is free to be the scoundrel and not even let Greedo squeeze off a shot.

What do you lose by watching the 1977 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here). Digital cleanup for another--Tatooine looks like it's been coated with an additional layer of sand cloud. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Star Wars, however, is not anamorphically enhanced (sometimes referred to as "4:3 letterbox"), so on a widescreen TV it will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

The Original Star Wars

I bought this DVD, because I haven't seen the original Star Wars since it came out in the theaters 30 years ago. It was great to see it again.

Strange what happens in 20 years!

Its been twenty years since a hero fell, a Republic transformed, and A New Hope was the least likely thing to occur in centuries. But alas, a new hope has risen for the galaxy that lies in the grip of a terrible power. New heroes, taught by some old ones, will rise, and the glory that we saw the last days of, might be restored. I myself find the 2004 edition of Episode IV to be the Definitive Edition, after all, this is the film that writer/director George Lucas envisioned when he began filming in 1977. In many ways, it's taken decades for Lucas' final three chapters in his beloved Star Wars Saga to be completed, and I'm glad to say that they're finally finished. Episode IV is everything I was hoping it to be.

Why, George? Why?

I too have been purchasing version of the starwars trilogy for going on 15 years. I just wish that, finally, Lucas would release a properly formatted version of the original films. I don't know if anyone's noticed, but the original unaltered versions aren't in the correct aspect ratio. In fact, I can't even zoom them into the proper ratio, so they look fairly terrible. I wouldn't mind if Lucas re-digitized the video from the original film as he did for the special editions, but after that, he needs to drop it. Cut this cord, you've milked this cash cow for all it's worth. Please, George, do it for all of us fans who enjoyed your films as children and want to have the original version in the best format available.