Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983 & 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition) | 
| Director: Richard Marquand
Actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $12.36
You Save: $7.62 (38%)
New (47) Used (19) Collectible (4) from $8.81
Rating:  429 reviews
Sales Rank: 2108
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 134 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2236393D
UPC: 024543263937
EAN: 0024543263937
ASIN: B000FQVX78
Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 1983
Release Date: September 12, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 02/20/2007 Run time: 135 minutes Rating: Pg
Amazon.com
The 2006 limited-edition two-disc release of Return of the Jedi is not only the first time the movie has been officially available by itself on DVD. It marks the first-ever DVD release of Jedi as it originally played in theaters in 1983. What does that mean exactly? The film is without the various "improvements" and enhancements George Lucas added for the theatrical rerelease in 1997 as well as the DVD premiere in 2004. So Sebastian Shaw reclaims his spot as the man behind Darth Vader's mask, and we don't see the otherworldly celebration (including the Gungans) at the end of the movie. What do you lose by watching the 1983 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Jedi, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference. Yes, it's true that serious home-theater lovers who want spectacular sound and anamorphically enhanced picture can always watch the 2004 version of the movie also included in this set. But chances are good that they already picked up the trilogy edition of all three films, so their decision to buy the 2006 two-disc edition depends on how much they want the original film. The official LucasFilm stance is that this is an individual release of the 2004 version of Return of the Jedi, and the 1983 version of the film is merely a "bonus feature." Common speculation is that the only reason the original versions are seeing the official light of day at all is to undercut the booming black market for the laserdisc version. Star Wars fans will have to decide for themselves if that's worth the purchase. --David Horiuchi
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| Customer Reviews: Read 424 more reviews...
 0 Stars - It's the original 1983 movie & it looks BAD June 23, 2006
Troy Heagy (Forest Hill MD)
170 out of 218 found this review helpful
First off, I already have the special/altered movies on dvd. IF I bought this latest release, it would only be to obtain the ORIGINAL theatrical release (with all the matte lines/primitive technology). The original version is all that I'm missing from my dvd collection & my only motive to purchase a new release.
DVD has a maximum resolution of 720x480 dots on the screen; did Lucas take advantage of that improved hi-res technology for this "first time on dvd" original theater version?? NO of course not. He's giving us the original movie in laserdisc resolution:
540x320
(analog letterboxed). That's only *50%* the pixel resolution that DVD can offer!!! What a royal ripoff. Are we fans supposed to be happy about getting an inferior-quality print of the original movie? Fat chance. The original movie was recorded with 6-track surround & on hi-resolution 70mm film <---- THAT'S what we want, not some inferior 540x320 blurry picture from an old 1980s laserdisc.
Get with the program George.
You should have released the originals in hi-resolution 720x480. You should have taken advantage of DVD's full potential, not dump some inferior/blurry/lo-resolution video on us.
Waste of money. May 25, 2006
H. LUI (Glendale, CA USA)
92 out of 146 found this review helpful
Why charge us twice for the special editions most people purchased in 2004 when the correct way to do it is by releasing both versions in the first place with 16x9 enhancements ???????
Beware of the Dark Side September 11, 2006
Bruce Aguilar (Hollywood, CA)
63 out of 75 found this review helpful
So after waiting 11 years or so, we finally get a re-release of the original version of Return of the Jedi in all it's unaltered glory. Just as fans have been dreaming about since the advent of DVD.
Well, um...I don't think any fan was dreaming about this particular release.
The original release version of Return of the Jedi (the only reason to buy this set as most all fans will already have one of the previous Special Edition releases) is relegated to bonus material on disc two. Ouch! But wait, it gets worse.
George Lucas, the champion of pristine presentation in the theatre and at home has released the film that made him a legend in the state of the art of technology circa 1993.
Yes, that's right. This transfer is from the laserdisc release of '93. Even worse the film is not anamorphic like just about every other modern day DVD. What does that mean? Well a non-anamorphic DVD has a low visual clarity and the image won't fill a widescreen TV. To make a movie anamorphic takes very little time and money. That Jedi is not anamorphic shows a disregard for the film that is disturbing.
Star Wars fans expect these landmark films to be treated just like many other films (Vertigo, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Snow White, etc.) that have gotten detailed restorations that cleaned up dirt, grime and audio ticks and presented the films in today's state of the art. This is the release most fans were dreaming of. A release that showed the film some modicrum of respect.
George, the fan base you have worked so hard to woo over the years is fed up with your shoddy treatment of these films.
 At least the crowd-surfing Imperial Stormtrooper is gone September 17, 2006
Paul Bubny (Maplewood, NJ United States)
25 out of 29 found this review helpful
I suspect the reviewers who assert that the longtime fan base should be satisfied with the DVD transfers of the original theatrical versions because "this is the way they looked back then" never saw any of the original trilogy in 70mm with 6-track magnetic stereo sound on a 65-foot screen. Apparently they're not aware that DVD is a low-res medium compared to film. The fact is, the 1977-83 trilogy looked and sounded better in theatres, way back when, than in any home-video transfer since--including the 2004 "Special Edition" DVDs that restored (or approximated) the original color palette and cleaned up each frame along with adding George Lucas' can't-leave-well-enough-alone second thoughts to many scenes. So the argument that digitally remastering the original versions to 16x9 anamorphic would be "tampering," and thus something the "purists" should object to, is disingenuous. Transferring movies from one medium (film) to another (digital) is inherently an act of tampering. So by doing as little as possible in bringing the original cuts to DVD, Lucas wasn't being respectful to those original versions. He was saying that he didn't think the original cuts were worth a high-quality presentation on DVD.
Well, the rumors are flying that better-looking transfers of the originals will eventually show up when a 30th anniversary edition of the '77-'83 trilogy is released on DVD. Having bought (and parted with) the 2004 boxed set and having just bought the separate issues of the "before" and "after" versions, I'm not sure that springing for that eventual THIRD reissue of these movies on DVD is in the cards. This DVD of the circa-'83 "Jedi" is certainly watchable, if not as vivid as the 1997/2004 version on Disc 1 of this set. For me, though, the important thing is that, as with "Star Wars" and "Empire," I can watch this movie without the intrusions of later revisions: digitally-added creatures, the loss of a Han Solo one-liner, a younger actor--whose face Luke Skywalker would never have seen--turning up as a paternal ghost, and an overblown celebration montage at the end (CGI crowds celebrating an event that apparently the entire universe had heard about within a couple hours of its occurrence). For that I'm glad. And if by chance I actually want to see the 1997/2004 revision, it's right there in the same DVD case as the original.
Wish I Could Choose Zero Stars!! May 24, 2006
T. F. (Sunny CA)
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
Non-Anamorphic Widescreen?
I think I'll just watch my old VHS tapes. What's the point of a DVD release that ignores the technical specs of the format? We're not talking about cleaning up or restoring the print itself, just formatting the DVD image for today's televisions. Inexcusable!
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