Original theatrical Star Wars movies on DVD: http://dvd.ign.com/articles/704/704888p1.html

Although I've generally come to accept the Special Edition changes at this point, I reckon the original theatrical releases would warrant a watch, if just for old times sake.  I hope they do as good a job with the presentation as they did with the 2004 DVD releases.

Speaking of Star Wars and the upcoming LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, how was the first game?  I had a decent time playing that demo with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan storming the Trade Federation ship..... how's the rest of the game?  Any differences between the Gamecube version and the PS2 one?

Sweet!  I do have to admit though, the Special Edition movies come with an awesome bonus DVD!  Other than that, I prefer the original movies all the way  

cheers,

-avatar!

No one should be the least bit suprised by this. I knew Lucas was full of it when he said he would never release the originals on DVD....never...hmmm....at least until sales receded on the Special Edition trilogy. He's a smart man, and made an even smarter decision by making this release a limited edition set just before Christmas.....as if the demand wasn't already going to be high

Believing that Lucas has nothing but contempt for actual Star Wars fans, I wouldn't be surprised if these will be the worst possible transfer if only to 'prove' that his new versions are better. But I'll take a grainy washed out picture, dodgy matte lines and everything else to have them without his needless 'improvements'.

Edit: Oh, and Angela, I loved the SW Lego game. It's no game design masterpiece but it's a huge amount of fun and one of the few games recently that attempts humour and actually succeeds. It's simple to play and, if you've played a demo, you'll know what to expect for most of the game. I'm so looking forward to the OT version. To my knowledge there are no differences in the console versions (the GBA version, obviously, was quite different).

About the Lego Star Wars game, I agree with Jay.  It was a lot of fun.  I played through both the PS2 and GCN versions---the only differences would be GCN's faster loader times, I guess, and that the PS2 version is $10 cheaper.  I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

As for the original theatricals being released, I'm not all that interested until I find out how badly they look and sound (Dolby 2.0 audio?  Uh, no.)

Sold.  I believe the PS2 version is a Greatest Hits now, is it not?  I take it the GCN version hasn't quite reached Player's Choice status yet, then.

Thanks, guys.  Maybe I'll post some impressions tonight.  ^_^

Picked up the PS2 version last night, and gave a full playthrough of all three episodes.  I really do like it; the pick up and play nature is strong; simple but tight controls, infinitie lives, and a constant barrage of things to collect and unlock makes this one to keep coming back to.  I really like The Goonies-esque swapping of characters in dealing with the puzzle aspects, and the on-rails shooting portions are quite fun.   Above all, it's an amusing watch, seeing the new trilogy's scenes being reenacted by lego figurines; the little improvisations are very funny, like Obi-Wan fainting in relief as he and Anakin reach Grievous' ship in the beginning of Episode 3.  Plus the character interaction possibilities, like, say, chopping off Palpatine's head when you're rescuing him are temptations that must be fulfilled.  ^_^   

There are some things that I think hamper the game experience a bit, though, like not being able to run with the lightsaber-wielding characters, or that swapping between characters isn't as pinpoint precise as it should be.  The duels, too, could've been handled with a little more variety, and some parts, particularly in Episode 3, feel out of place musically, since they seemed to use music that wasn't specific from EP3 in general. (Understandable, I suppose, since the game was released before EP3 even came out last year, correct?)

In any case, I'm now a believer.  Looking forward to the original trilogy now!

Actually this surprised me.

I've come to accept this new changes.

In any case, i can't even remember what's so good about the old ones that it would spark fan demand, except for changes involving the Ewok ending in ROTJ and the Tentacle-less mouth in the sand, there was nothing special.

But yeah, Lucas is a smart businessman.

And personally I prefer the new music they put in the special edition RotJ ending anyway.  I think mostly I could just do with less CG though.

Clearly you need to watch the original movies again!  In my opinion, what Lucas did was kinda like putting a moustache on the Mona Lisa.  You should leave art the way it is!  It's historically important to keep things intact (imagine if someone added all these special effects and messed with movies such as Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, etc) and althought the Special Editions were fun to watch in the theatre, they still don't have that unique feel that is the original triology.  That's my opinion.

cheers,

-avatar!

"Hans shot first."

Not that I prefer one version over the other; it's just that I was recently told of this argument as to why some fans were howling over one particular change made in the re-release.