I looked at the bios for Harrison Ford, Mark Hamil, and Carrie Fisher, and boy, they really didn't bank in on their fame between the two Star Wars movies.

What's funny (not ha-ha funny) is that only a period of days pass between Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), while four years have passed. Luckily, nobody really aged too badly, but that's a chancy proposition. In four years, you could develop a serious weight problem; you can go bald; luckily Hamil and Ford kept themselves in shape (I did notice that Harrison Ford's hair wasn't exactly the same, but that's being nit-picky).

While none of the actors lit the world on fire between 1977 and 1980, that did change for Harrison Ford between the second and third (Return of the Jedi 1983) installments...of course, none of the other actors were as lucky...

Don't mean to be ultra picky, but I believe Empire is supposed to take place three years after A New Hope. Also, only three years passed, not four...

D'OH!
You're right! I didn't have my calculator with me for that very hard mathematical deduction.

How come Lucus didn't have the acting portions of Empire Strikes Back filmed immediately after Star Wars? It would have given the two films great continuity (not that much was lost by waiting three years), and what did those actors care? Hamill, Ford, and Fisher didn't have hot agents knocking on their doors in 1977, '78, '79, or '80.

The only reason I see for not continuing is lack of budget. Star Wars would have to have been released in order for Lucas and company to receive any money - enough to warrant continued filming for the sequel.

Nevermind - I answered my own goddamn stupid question...

so the only way to get the original 1977, 1980, and 1983 film versions is to buy this 30th Anniversary box set, right?

If I go to Circuit City or someplace, and buy Star Wars, it will not be original, but the George Lucas patented "improved version?"

If you buy the following three separate editions, each contains the original unmolested version of the movie (in cruddy non-anamorphic widescreen from an old transfer) as well as George Lucas's latest bastardized version (in a spruced up anamorphic remaster):

Star Wars

Empire Strikes Back

Return of the Jedi

Exactly. The movie could have bombed. In fact, early reviews of the movie said that it sucked.

Fortunately, the force was with us.

Where to begin with this posting...

First of all, I can't speak about the other two actors but I know that after Star Wars, Harrison took every role that WASN'T a science fiction movie...and ended up making 4 movies. True, they weren't the greatest movies but he was smart about doing things that were against the type that he'd been cast as in Star Wars. And it's not as if his career started with Star Wars either. Also, I could be wrong but I think he had the same manager for his entire career, for the most part.

And, again, why would you think that a few days passed between SW and Empire? They set up an entire rebel base on Hoth at that point. That takes longer than a couple of days. At the end of SW, they were all set up on Yavin.

And although none of the actors achieved superstardom as actors, Mark Hamill has had a VERY successful career doing voiceover work and Carrie Fisher is also VERY successful not only as a novelist but as a script doctor.
I would never say that neither of them was succesful just because they weren't Indiana Jones.

God, those DVD covers are awful. Would it be so horrible to release DVD's with the original movie poster artwork?

They were photoshopped to look like the original movie posters.

... and to also keep with what had been established with the previous DVD release.

Buttmunker, have you been living in a cave for the past couple of years? Just curious.

But those aren't the original movie posters.


this is the original poster.

That was just one style. There were MANY for each movie.

Don't forget Mark Hamill's scar (although it was covered in the Wampa scene), and the fact that Carrie Fisher's face was a lot less chubby.

Actually, what really bugs me is that since they pressed the 2004 versions using classic poster art, they didn't do that with the original versions, which of course would have been more appropriate.

Speaking of changing things up, when the SE came out, I was at a toy store and this guy pointed out that they started making everybody muscular, Luke, Han, Chewie. Looked pretty odd.

carrie fisher

Oh now, Reaper. Hehe. Do you not recal the joyful bounce in her step as the stormtroopers escort her along? Just before she trades barbs with Vader?

I thought it was a nice idea that they photoshoped the cases, good intent. But ultimately I wish it was something else. It is clear that they never intended to do this release, to me. Why not use the very nice Special Edition posters ad nauseum and save the original, or some version of the original, for the OT DVD? They had no plans to.

I'm hoping they include everything thus far released on DVD and a few bits and peices that are hanging around the Ranch. I'm sure there's more. Lot's more.

What gets me is how horribly cheap/poorly designed/ disproportionate the 2004 DVD covers are, whereas the 2006 versions - like them or not - were designed with far more skill.

On the 2004 Empire cover, Vader's neck is warped and his head looks like it was pasted over another Vader image.

On the 2004 Jedi cover, Vader's neck is warped again, and Luke's hands are obviously too small. It looks ridiculous, and I wonder why those were ever approved for printing.

The Digital Bits reported today, that the 30th Anniversary set will most likely not be coming, because get this, the sales for the individual relases weren't that great and people may be tired of buying the same films every year (although I'm curious as to who actually bought that repackaged trilogy set from 2005; the one lacking the bonus disc).

Are you referring to the set between the trilogy w/bonus disc and the set that included the OOT as a bonus?

Well, no crap Lucas! Maybe if you actually gave the fans what they wanted instead of dropping us a tiny little morsel here and there with each new set, we'd be more keen to buy your re-releases. Here, let me give you some ideas:

Well, I'd laugh my ass off if I heard that the 30th anniversary set was gonna contain anamorphic versions of the original trilogy in its original form. I can hear it now... "Wait, the message we were trying to send by not buying the non-anamorphic ones was that we had to have anamorphic, not that we weren't interested!!! Boo hoo hoo... now I'll never get my anamorphic original trilogy set! "

Like I said folks, if you don't buy it... the releases will stop, not get better.