GL's obsession with these films is really unhealthy from an artistic perspective. Whatever happened to "birthing" a work of art, handing it over to the public, reflecting, moving forward, and applying lessons learned to NEW STUFF?

It's lucky for us that GL wasn't an influence on Ingmar Bergman, or we may have had 20 SEs of The Seventh Seal but never any Wild Strawberries, Hour of the Wolf, or Persona.

I suppose the $64,000 question is what difference it would make on our perception of all this if he'd actually made other movies along the way. It's an awfully thin filmography--even including producing credits. And, yes, the real reason it's so bothersome that he keeps tweaking these movies is that it runs counter to the rule of film: that once the movie opens, that's it. You move on. Lucas seems unwilling to do either; to leave alone his completed works or to craft new ones.

What incentive is there for him to do it? Clearly he abandoned the "art" long ago for the "merchandising".

& I heard there was a blu ray set coming fall 2011...

I would say all of you have an unhealthy obsession with these films. Can't you all move on with your lives?

I just watched The Phantom Menace today and I couldn't believe how bad and boring it is. Everything about the film is amateurish, even the special effects.

Oh...Snap!

Watch this, it's far more entertaining: http://www.redlettermedia.com/phantom_menace.html

Well, yes, but what would be the fun in that?

(at least we haven't filled pages debating the varying speeds of lightsaber swings like another site that will remain unnamed)

Amazon is tempting me with the $85.49 goldbox price...but I think I'm going to hold off to see what the transfers and audio are like. If IV still has the almost silent score...I will probably pass. Plus, the DVDs look pretty damn good. I'm surprised at the level of quality they were able to achieve...even if they are a bit "blue" looking.

Still...very damn tempting. I haven't seen the prequels in years and i don't plan on revisiting them until my son finally begs me to see them. I think he knows there are other movies...but he's so preoccupied with the OT right now I don't think he cares.

I wish we knew exactly what was on the bonus discs. I'd love to see more stuff from the OT, but I don't care to see more green screen clips from the PT. I loved the bonus disc in the 2004 set.

Out of morbid curiosity, I watched a fan edit of The Phantom Menace today. To my surprise, I actually kind of enjoyed it. Sure, no amount of editing could make Jake Lloyd's performance good, but overall the changes showed that there is something worth seeing somewhere in the footage of that movie.

So, of course, what I'm saying is, Lucas should include fan cuts in HD on this set.

Which one was it? I recently got The Phantom Edit, but I'm still hesitant to watch it.

I love that guy, I'm always promoting his reviews!

Yeah, it is actually hard to sit through in one sitting. Hopefully the picture quality/visuals will be captivating enough on Blu-Ray. I don't remember anything particularly bad as far as effects go. (compared to the more obvious cg stunts, riding beasts in the sequels) Ironically some of the actual costumes and puppets were the worst looking shots imo, esp the jedi at the end of the movie - hoping those are updated along with Yoda.

I want to see the footage of the N*SYNC guys from Attack of the Clones, as long as it's not edited back into the movie.

Weren't they just supposed to be random background Jedi during the arena battle? For all we know they're still there, just put way in the background where they're not visible.

the PT makes me think of some of id Software games. nice technicals but no depth and no story.

That's not fair. id games are at least fun.

Thanks for the post. Very funny and actually worth the hour and 8 minutes!

I'm pretty sure they were completely cut out. In the original cut, they were supposedly clearly visible. They weren't there for the main shoot, they were just kind of stuck in the film. I don't even think any publicity photos have surfaced of them in costume. It's like Lucas is just burying that whole involvement.

Don't watch The Phantom Edit. The editor gets lazy halfway through and stops editing out the bad stuff. The one I watched was called Attack of the Federation.

Planning on picking up the original series but I wish the box was black instead of blue.

It looks like it's going to be the Latest Special Editions after all. Lame.

I'm far more stoked to see The Abyss basically confirmed for this year.

Wouldn't expect anything else.

--THX

I'm sure we'll find something different . . .