I was put off purchasing the 27-disc Skywalker Saga 4K box set released in April primarily because it looked like yet another cardboard collection of the sort that has all but killed mainstream physical media consumption, but also because my £49.99 Disney+ subscription already allows me to stream the saga’s nine episodes in 4K HDR. Stunningly crafted and über-collectible steelbooks, however, can still tempt even the most resolute of us digital media enthusiasts, and so when I received Zavvi’s Red Carpet invitation to pre-order the original Star Wars movie’s, it took only seconds for me to accept.
Unlike previous Star Wars steelbooks, this one’s appearance has been perfectly tailored to the collectors’ market. Rather than commission new artwork, one of the movie’s original posters has been repurposed for the front cover, instantly evoking that electric, pre-special edition sense of nostalgia that many of us still associate with the original Star Wars. Just as pleasingly, the iconic Obi-Wan / Darth Vader duel forms the centrefold behind the set’s three discs (one 4K, two Blu-ray), while an equally redolent shot of C-3PO and Artoo in the Tantive IV’s gleaming white corridors brings up the rear. The spine’s text lines up perfectly with those of both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of Jedi steelbooks released to date, and even The Rise of Skywalker steelbook released earlier this year - but not The Last Jedi’s from 2018. However, all nine movies will be getting the movie-poster makeover treatment this year even if they’ve been released as steelbooks before. As well as being a sensible marketing move for Disney (who’d want to collect seven of nine movies?), this will be welcome news for those who missed out the first time around, as well as those like me who just can’t stand the annoying Blu-ray logo marring the spines of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker (which has finally been replaced by the apposite 4K Ultra-HD logo on these new 2020 releases, as pictured below).
The 4K presentation of the movie is, expectedly, much better than on Disney+, though the definition of “better” is very much in the eye of the beholder. The new 4K transfer is so sharp that the grain often threatens to overwhelm, and the clarity is such that the enhanced resolution detracts from the experience as much as it embellishes it. Visionary though he was, George Lucas did not intend Star Wars’ props and sets to stand up to 2160p home-video scrutiny. The 4K disc also boasts a Dolby ATMOS soundtrack, but as a result there is not enough room for either of the pre-existing audio commentaries on it. These are included within the set, fortunately, but they are buried on the movie’s Blu-ray disc which you’d otherwise be unlikely to touch.
The biggest let-down with this release is its premeditated failure to be the definitive edition of what an alarming number of people now call “A New Hope”. Indeed, the extras package here has more in common with the vapid 2015 digital release than either of the movie’s big 21st-century physical releases, which is especially disappointing given how high-end a release this is. Whilst the set does import some of the bonus material from the 2011 Blu-ray release, and even presents it in a slightly more digestible manner, the infinitely better bonus material from the 2004 DVD release is nowhere to be seen. The omission of the flagship Empire of Dreams documentary is unforgiveable, as this is crying out for an HD or even 4K physical release, and leaving out The Characters of Star Wars; The Birth of Lightsaber; and The Force is with Them is scarcely more palatable. Even the more entertaining special features from 2011 have fallen by the wayside – the likes of Star Wars Spoofs and even the contemporary Making of Star Wars TV special from 1977 failed to make the cut this time around, whereas all the watch-once fillers like the pointlessly pictured-framed Lucasfilm Archives and even Anatomy of a Dewback made the grade. The inclusion of the latter is particularly infuriating as it only highlights the fact that the original cut of the film is both missing from this set and unlikely to be released commercially in the foreseeable future – if ever. Fortunately the priceless sixteen minutes’ worth of deleted scenes originally released in 2011 have been carried over, along with the much less welcome 2015 featurettes Conversations: Creating a Universe and Discoveries from Inside: Weapons and the First Lightsaber together with some nicely restored contemporary trailers.
