‘Star Wars’ DVD packed with extras
When the first “Star Wars” movie began production back in the 1970s, director George Lucas gave little thought to the home video industry, which then was barely in its infancy.
Not so with “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2005, $29.98), which zooms onto DVD this week in a two-disc edition loaded with more than six hours of extras.
This is the much-anticipated film that finally shows how Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) was pulled over to the dark side of The Force.
It climaxes with a terrific battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan-Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), with the latter coming out triumphant. That paves the way for the mangled Anakin to don the Darth Vader suit.
As to be expected, “Sith” is packed with dazzling special effects but in this case, they never overshadow the story, which neatly links all six films together.
Rick McCallum, who has served as a producer on the entire epic science-fiction saga, said this time Lucas and company were very much aware of the home-video market and what they wanted to include on the DVD while making “Episode III.”
“That (DVD) has become such an important part of the filmmaking process,” McCallum said during a recent phone conversation. “We wanted to get as much information as possible on this one to satisfy those millions of fans who have a real thirst for knowledge about how these films are put together.”
Among the many extras are “Within a Minute,” a nearly 80-minute, absorbing behind-the-scenes documentary; “The Chosen One,” which focuses on Anakin Skywalker’s transformation to Darth Vader; “It’s All for Real,” a look at the training and the work that goes into the film’s battle sequences; and six never-before-seen deleted scenes.
One of the deleted scenes shows Yoda, after escaping the Sith’s wrath, landing on the swampy planet of Dagobah. It was there the gnomelike Jedi Master had his first encounter with Luke Skywalker in “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.”
“I really wanted to leave the scene in the film,” McCallum said. “But George decided not to and … well, it is his film. I’m just happy we were able to include it on the DVD so fans could at least see it.”
While all the bonus features are great, McCallum said they would mean little if the film itself didn’t receive a first-rate digital transfer to DVD.
“George is not only particular about the picture but the soundtrack as well,” McCallum said. “He believes sound is 50 percent of the movie experience.”
Lucas should be pleased because the DVD picture and sound quality of “Episode III” are knockouts. The fact that many people will find that “Revenge of the Sith” looks better on their large screen TV sets at home than in the theater is a sad statement on today’s moviegoing experience, according to McCallum.
“It’s tragic the way many theaters present films – out of focus and with less than adequate sound systems,” McCallum said. “That’s one reason we’re so devoted to putting out a great DVD version.
“But there is a push to get theaters to convert to digital technology. Movie attendance has fallen off because there are so many good home theater systems out there. So movie theaters need to upgrade.”
There’s another good reason, according to McCallum, that theaters should go digital – so fans can see “Stars Wars” in 3-D.
“I’m really excited about that (converting all the ‘Star Wars’ films to 3-D),” he said. “It’s a beautiful process. And a theater must have digital capabilities to show the films in 3-D.”
Although Episode III completes the six-part “Star Wars” serial, no one should think the franchise is finished.
“We’re looking forward to the TV series we hope to have up and running in 2007,” McCallum said.
Reportedly, the show will focus on the 19 years between Episode III and Episode IV. Can viewers expect the same stirring opening and theme music for the TV series that accompanied each feature film?
“Yes,” McCallum said. “That would be fitting.”