Star Wars* is finally available to pre-order on blu ray. Of course we’ll have to wait and see what sort of irritating tinkering Lucas has done to the original trilogy- I doubt they will be available in their original theatrical cuts (or even a cleaned up version), and I seriously doubt whether Lucas will manage to resist the temptation to tinker even more than he did with the special editions, even though the reports say it is simply a transfer of the 1994 DVD versions to high def format.This could be the trilogy I own the most copies of in different formats if I’m not careful. I’ve got the pan and scan VHS, the widescreen VHS and the first DVD release. In terms of the actual cut of the film, the widescreen VHS is the best. I suppose it’s time to see if I can find a bootleg of the laserdisc version on DVD.
Still, I’ll no doubt end up with the blu rays. Originally of course the films were going to be released on the ill-fated HD-DVD format but the death of that format isn’t the issue with the late release. Lucas has apparently spent ages cleaning up the films on a frame by frame basis.
Whether cleaning up means removing artifacts or more sinister stuff is debatable. Lucas was quoting as saying prior to the special edition releases that there would only be one revision and that would be it but who can second guess his ability to tinker?
