1997 Special Edition Box   2000 Special Edition Box

Catalog Number PILF-2434 Format Extended Play CLV

Pressing Location Pioneer LDC, Inc - Japan Retail Price ¥14,000 Issued November 7, 1997

In 1995, George Lucas began the process of restoring the film elements for the existing Trilogy to be released in theaters during 1997 for the original Star Wars 20th Anniversary. Part of this was in attempt to rescue the original camera elements which had not survived well over time and were in danger of being lost forever. Lucas also took the opportunity to 'fix' certain things he didn't like about the films. These 'fixes' were necessary due to a number of reasons, including limits of technology and budgetary restrictions at the time of original production. The result is Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. The three films were released to theaters one at a time over the period of January 31 through March 7, 1997. The benefited not only from new special effects, but also new THX certification and Digital Audio presentation. Not all the changes added to the Original Star Wars were necessarily greeted with approval by the hordes of fans. One particular change Lucas made was the infamous "Han Shoots First" sequence in the cantina. Still others have felt that the 'fixes' did not go far enough. It is reported that Lucas himself is still not finished with the tweaking necessary for Episode IV, in particular, which might explain why the original trilogy has yet to be released on DVD. The events in Episodes 1-III raise certain inconsistencies in Episode IV, which will hopefully be corrected in time. This box set is a deluxe slip case with the three films housed in their own jackets, all in Extended Play. At the conclusion of each film is a featurette regarding the changes to each film for the Special Edition including interviews with George Lucas and other members of the creative team. The films were also available as seperate releases.