Star Wars Trilogy (DVD)

The Star Wars Trilogy was the first release of the Original Trilogy on DVD.

The collection was released in September 2004 co-inciding with the release of Star Wars: Battlefront. In a CNN interview, George Lucas stated that he had originally planned to release the DVDs in 2007, but brought the date forward due to concerns that piracy was affecting market sales.

The set included:
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (WS, FS)
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (WS, FS)
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (WS, FS)
 * Star Wars Original Trilogy Bonus Disc (WS)

The movies on the DVDs, to the dismay of many purist fans, were not the original theatrical versions, but the 1997 Special Edition versions with additional changes. However a few changes which had been made for the 1997 Special Editions were removed.

In addition to an extensive and comprehensive high-definition digital cleanup and restoration job by Lowry Digital, several major image adjustments were made in order to make the films visually resemble the Prequel Trilogy. With this release, Lucasfilm created a new high-definition master of the films, which will be used in future releases as well.

The most prominent and controversial change which angered several fans, was the placing of Hayden Christensen's head over Sebastian Shaw's during the appearance of Anakin's Force ghost.

The fans' ire was originally increased by the impossibility of legally obtaining DVDs of the original theatrical unaltered releases, and strengthened the Lucas Bashing phenomenon; however, the original theatrical versions were finally released on DVD in 2006.

Reception
Many reviews praised the DVDs for the exceptional sharpness and clarity of image that resulted from Lowry's clean up work.

However, other reviewers were not so impressed, and criticized aspects of the A New Hope DVD such as:
 * The new color pass, with saturated blue tones and crushed blacks.
 * Audio issues in the new 5.1 mix, including music reversed in the rear channels and the dialling out of important sections of John Williams' score.
 * The dirt removal algorithm adversely affecting subtle detail, such as starfields and laserblast glows.

Trivia
There is a hidden blooper reel on the bonus material DVD of this boxset. To access it, go to "Video Games and Still Galleries", highlight "Exclusive Production Photos", and enter on your remote: ''11, enter, 3, enter, 8, enter.