Star Wars Trilogy [VHS]

Makes Me Eagerly Anticipate A Much Improved Blu-Ray Offering! Friday, August 27, 2010
I think I realised I made a mistake almost immediately upon putting this on my dvd player years back when I was a lot less knowledgable about aspect ratios and picture and sound quality issues overall and hence found out to my chagrin just what pan and scan means. Also as I have a widescreen LED tv, watching full screen pan and scan movies makes me feel cheated somehow. I've recently watched this on a blu-ray player that upscales to 1080p and I also realised that unlike that other great Lucas trilogy, Indiana Jones, this set of dvds do not upscale as well. By the way, that set of standard dvds if you already have them looks wonderful upscaled and so I am in no hurry to get the future Blu-ray offering unless they have perhaps Director's Cut versions of the films. This Star Wars set though is a different story and I find myself waiting in anticipation at a hopefully vastly improved Blu-ray version both picture and sound quality-wise. Even the THX treatment seems to have done very little on these discs as compared to the obvious improvements on the Indiana Jones set. I also happen to agree with those who think the young Anakin's ghost has no business being there together with the old Obiwan and Yoda at the end. They should have kept it the way it was in the original or used all the younger versions including Liam Neeson! I also happen to like Eps IV, V and VI a lot more than I, II and III although I do understand Lucas' need for completion/closure and I can accept that others may feel the opposite of what I feel on this particular issue. Upscaled, I did for the first time see the dents and dirt on C3PO but not enough to wow me the way the Indiana Jone Trilogy set did. Overall, the picture and sound quality is okay/average but not great and so is the bonus material disc and so I'm left expecting a lot more and I wait with bated breath to see if the massive amount of improvements this set clearly needs to be described as reference quality blu-ray will be made in the hopefully not-too-distant future. If they could do the incredible restoration work on the great 1968 classic "2001: A Space Odyssey" on blu-ray, I wonder if there's any good excuse not to do the same on blu-ray for the "Star Wars Trilogy". Impress me George and Fox!

Learn about the inspiration for George Lucas' "Star Wars" Tuesday, August 24, 2010
I was a freshman in college when I took my new girlfriend, (now married for over 30 yrs.) to see George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope." This movie literally blew our minds!!! Audiences were not used to the great special effects this film introduced to the world! Even more compelling for me was the story. The movie had a visceral magnetism that took hold of me. It was only years later when I found out why that was, and the answer that I found is going to be the basis for my review. Let me first say that I love finding out about the "back story" of the great works of artists, the answer I found to this work of art filled me with joy and a sense of satisfaction beyond my dreams!!! I saw a several part series on PBS moderated by Bill Moyers talking to George Lucas about the inspiration for his "Star Wars" story. Lucas gave most of the inspirational credit to a book he read by one of the world's preeminent scholars on religion and myth, Joseph Campbell; his book is "A Hero With A Thousand Faces." I gained a whole new perspective on religion after reading this book and understood why it was so compelling to Lucas. What Campbell was able to ascertain by studying religion and myth is that in every culture there is a foundational "monomyth" describing a "hero's" journey that is at the center of every culture's belief system. I am going to describe the "monomyth" cycle within the "Star Wars" movie to make the point. Campbell discovered through extensive research that humankind shares a universal monomyth in its various religions and legends especially pertaining to the creation of the world and humankind. Campbell borrowed the term monomyth from James Joyce's book Finnegan's Wake. Campbell's intuitive insight in human myth proves that for thousands of years these myths display a certain standard structure, which he summarizes beautifully in his book. A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man (Campbell 30). There are at least four major stages that a monomyth has however, in his book, Campbell goes on to describe seventeen stages that some monomyth's posses. The four stages making up the cycle of a monomyth are "passage: separation-initiation-return:" In the first stage, known as the passage stage, the hero is summoned to journey or embark on an adventure by some kind of event that takes place or from a message, he receives. The hero may embark on this passage willingly or reluctantly. For instance, in the movie, the young Lukeskywalker returning to his farm from performing some errands finds his aunt and uncle killed by shock troops of the Empire. He had been itching to leave the farm to go to the flight academy, so faced with this tragedy he finally has a reason to leave the farm, to start his "journey." Campbell says that during the second stage, the separation stage, the hero meets with a mentor or wise man who gives the hero either an amulet or some words of wisdom to be of help to the hero on the adventure. In the movie this is where Luke meets with former Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi who gives him a light saber and starts to teach him the ways of the "force." During the third stage, the initiation stage, the hero goes through several trials or tests. The hero will go through his first transformation, also known as "crossing the first threshold," as he crosses over to another world or dimension leaving behind the old world. The hero often receives help in these ordeals along the way by allies or from a supernatural force. In this case Luke is helped by Han Solo and Princess Leia on his quest to fight against the Empire's dark force Darth Vader. As the hero completes these ordeals successfully, he proves himself more worthy to continue the adventure. Most importantly, during this stage the hero must pass through a major ordeal that will expand his consciousness, and thereby change his character forever. Often, this ordeal entails the death of an ally or enemy. This is where Luke's mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi meets his death at the hand of Darth Vader, which enrages Luke and will eventually cause him to fight Vader in a duel with light sabers. In the fourth stage, once the hero successful accomplishes his ordeal he is rewarded with a gift, it could be intrinsic like the "holy grail, or it can be new found knowledge to better the world with. This last stage the hero travels is that of the return whence he came. Often the hero will undergo further trials on his return before he is permitted to cross the threshold back to the world he left. During his return journey, the hero will use his newfound wisdom or gift to make a safe return home. Once home the gift is used to cure some ill in the hero's home or to impart new wisdom to his neighbors. In the case of Luke he will continue with the help of other mentors like Yoda, to become a Jedi master, completing his last stage wherein he receives "enlightenment" the gift that he can bestow on his world. Campbell points to the significance of the monomyth in the fact that it describes the cycle that Moses, Jesus, Buddha, and the Mahavira had gone through according to their religious adherents. This is not to mention the hundreds of other monomyths told throughout human history. The monomyth proves that humankind shares a common creation DNA in a sense. No wonder Campbell's monomyth was the perfect vehicle for Lucas' "Star Wars" story!!! I hope you enjoyed the journey!!!

I REMEMBER PRETENDING TO LIKE THIS WHEN I WAS A KID! Sunday, August 15, 2010
I was eight when the first one came out, and all my friends were "into it". Of course, everyone was raving about it -- even adults. However, I remember sitting in the theater bored stiff waiting for an interesting story to unfold. I was very disappointed. I even went to the second one a few years later and was again disappointed. There was nothing engaging about the Star Wars films at all, and why they are still revered all these years later as great movies baffles me. My reasons for not recommending these films are listed below: a.) Too much BAM! and BOOM! -- These films are extremely noisy and irritating. If you like explosions and fireballs, and things blowing up, then maybe it's for you; however, if a lot of irritating noise, music, and sound effects get on your nerves, then skip them. b.) Cardboard characters -- Come on... Just look at some of the names... Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Hans or Han Solo (can't remember which). My six year old nephew could have thought up better names. The characters themselves are all flat and one dimensional. There's no life or spirit in them. They're predictable and dull. The only character who has any substance at all might be Obi-(Wan or Won)-Kenobi, and that's probably because the actor (who is actually quite good) playing the part tries in vain to give him life. Unfortunately, there's not much he can do with the insipid script, but at least he tries! c.) Egregious writing -- There's not much to say about this. Between the BAMS and BOOMS and all the explosions, the characters engage in lame, predictable dialogue. Some of the one liners by Han or Hans Solo are expected to elicit mirth from the audience, but this is only to divert the attention of the viewer from the terrible shortcomings of the plot and quality of the films. d.) Special effects -- Okay, I know a lot of money was spent in creating the special effects, and that "NOTHING ELSE HAD EVER BEEN DONE LIKE THIS BEFORE!!!" But nothing is left to the imagination. It's all thrown at you quickly and with such noise and thunder that one gets the feeling of being cheated somehow. There is nothing atmospheric about the effects here. Lots of fireworks but little else. Overall, these movies were incredibly dull with silly characters and a lot of empty noise sprinkled with fireballs and spinning spaceships. These were typical "market" movies intended to bilk the imaginations and purses of a gullible public. Unfortunately, they succeeded only too well.

star wars and logan Wednesday, August 11, 2010
My grandson, age 6, had his tonsils out and this was a great "recovery" diversion. He (and his daddy) loved it.

Still cool after 30 years! Tuesday, August 10, 2010
This is a great set, It comes with 6 discs which have the original movies and redone version of the movies. The digital remakes are good quality picture. The original films show in a very small window on the TV and are grainy and not that great of quality, but it is the original version - what do you expect from the late 70s and early 80s. Either way it is a nice set because they include the original movies. I am not holding out for any blu ray version... how much better can they get the quality from movies that were filmed 30 years ago. The digital remasters are good enough for me in that case, they look decent on the TV and I don't really need to see Luke Skywalker's arm hair (that's a blu ray joke). Anyway, This set is well worth the price if you are a Star Wars fan. They come in thin dvd cases so the whole set does not take up that much room.