A unique behind the scenes look at the classic trilogy.

Having seen all 3 original Star Wars episodes the first time each hit the theaters, and numerous times over the years, it was nice to get a set of DVDs that included the original (and better) versions, as well as the new (changed) versions. While I admit that technology has evolved to make so many things possible, I do think that, for Star Wars, the original versions remain the absolute best. To "enhance" something that was so far ahead of its time originally is just reinventing the wheel - you can't perfect something that was already perfect. But this set gives the viewer the opportunity to choose which they like best, and also allows the viewer to see some of the neat new things they can do.

Love love love this bonus disk. Being one of the people back in 1977 who made Star Wars the phenomenon that it became, I was blown away from all of the new information about the first triology. Thanks George for giving this gift to all of us

This disc was the best part of the terrible 2004 DVD release of the Star Wars Trilogy, which did not have the theatrical cuts of the movies. Empire of Dreams is, for anyone interested in either movie history in general or Star Wars in particular, will lose themselves in this feature-length journey through the creation of a cultural phemon. Other specials on the disc are not as spectacular, but they don't have to be. In contrast to the vast omnibus of Empire of Dreams, the short docs on Lightsabers and such were a welcome shift.

I would recommend buying this separately, then the 2-disc version of the original trilogy (yes, I know the transfer is not anamorphic, but you can get it to fit on a widescreen tv by fiddling with the settings: it's not perfect, but it's the best we've had) Anyway, watch this if you can, it's easily worth it.

Back in 2004, this disc was included as the only "bonus" extra in the Original Trilogy's first DVD release.

Sadly, that release was not only a tampered with set (modified even more than the 1997 Special Editions), but it was poorly restored, featuring odd colors and sound gaffes on the English and Spanish tracks of A New Hope. The 2004 box set was also packaged in a rather flimsy cardboard case that was easily damaged, leaving piles of dented and wrinkled cases on store shelves.

Despite these flaws, the highlight of the set for most was the "Bonus Materials" disc, which became a sought after item after it was nixed for inclusion in subsequent sets (the 2005 "Limited Edition" rehash and the 2006 2 disc sets).

For folks who wisely waited, now you can avoid any of the awful box sets and buy this disc seperately.

To long-time fans, this set contains some things of interest including the longer version of the "Empire of Dreams" documentary, which, despite including many "revisionist" statements by Lucas and his crew, is quite informative. It spends most of its time on the events leading up to the success of the first movie, and speeds quickly through the rest of the trilogy and the phenomenon that would become the Star Wars franchise to the present day. The other docos are interesting as well.

The disc features extensive picture galleries and nearly every trailer of the three original films ever released (though the quality varies widely).
It's great to see these unaltered.

The menus are pretty and show us some effects inconsistent with the 2004 versions, indicating that more care was taken with this release or else a very different team handled it than handled the "restoration" of the special editions mark II.

The rest of the material is rather dated now, and may be of lesser interest to Original Trilogy fans:

An Xbox only demo of "Star Wars Battlefront" a mediocre "Battlefield 1942" imitator. If you've already played the game on some other format, this version actually features some things that were cut from the final version of the game on Xbox and PC: the Bothan Spy and the Imperial Officer class (these two were modified and added in the sequel, SWBF2). This is a one level demo, the Battle of Endor, one of the better scenarios out of the video game.

There's also a trailer for the aforementioned game. Needless to say this game fell far short of my expectations.

There's a promotional teaser for Episode III, full of gushing and showing us the creation of the "new and improved" Vader helmet and Hayden Christiansen trying it on. I once avoided seeing this for fear of spoilers, but it turned out to just be mostly green/blue screen stuff and fluff.

There's a promotional video for the "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" Xbox game, showing early gameplay and more fluff. I never played this game but apparently it was largely overhyped, and while decent by console standards of the day, hasn't held up well over time, much like the "Enter the Matrix" game.

And finally there's a hidden "blooper reel" done in the same style as the hidden blooper reels for the Prequel dvd's. Not hilarious by any stretch, but as entertaining as blooper reels tend to be. It's nice to see more vintage Star Wars footage, at any rate.

I'd recommend this, and give it 4 stars rather than 5 only because so much space is wasted on extras that nobody cares about now, which could have been better served with more vintage Original Trilogy material, like say, deleted scenes or vintage interviews (say with the late Peter Cushing or Sir Alec Guinness).