Original unaltered trilogy

The term "original unaltered trilogy" designates the initial cinematic releases of the first three Star Wars films prior to their modification for the Special Edition and subsequent re-releases. These were re-packaged as a box set for a 2006 release in November.

StarWars.com summary

The Star Wars trilogy will be available for a short time as individual movie DVDs starting September 12th—containing the original unaltered films as supplementary material—and pre-orders begin this week. This presents a chance for longtime fans to relive the films as they were originally shown in theaters, and a chance for new fans to experience a piece of movie history.

Each film is presented as a two-disc set—one disc features the 2004 remastered version of the film, while the other disc contains a version capturing its original theatrical presentation. See the original announcement story here for additional details about this release. StarWarsShop.com will offer Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi for pre-order on Friday, May 12.

Below is a view of the cover art for this release. Each movie emulates a poster design from the initial theatrical marketing campaign, done in the photo-montage style of prior DVD releases.

Controversy

While the DVD announcement was generally met with positive reactions from fans, many were disappointed upon release. The unaltered versions featured non-anamorphic video sourced from the 1993 LaserDisc releases, which was of much lower quality than the remastered versions of the films found in the 2004 box set.

DVD covers

Full Screen

Despite the packaging stating "full screen," only the 2004 remastered version of each film is presented in full-screen, cropped into pan-and-scan format. The unaltered version of each film is widescreen, in a non-anamorphic ratio, in both the full-screen and widescreen releases.

Widescreen

Sources

  • This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  • First Look: Original Trilogy DVDs on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  • Starting Next Week: Celebrate the Original Star Wars on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  • Now on DVD: The Original Star Wars Trilogy on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  • Wal-Mart Offers Three Exclusive Graphic Novels with DVD Singles on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  • Original Trilogy DVD Singles Holiday Sale on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)

Appearances