''Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition'' on video; 1997 release available for only 97 days, Aug. 26-Nov. 30.CENTURY CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 1997--Following its recent record-shattering $250 million U.S. theatrical release, the most popular film series ever, George Lucas' ``Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition,'' will be available on home video at more than 100,000 retail outlets across North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. beginning Aug. 26, for a very limited time only. Spectacularly realizing Lucas' original vision, the special editions of ``Star Wars,'' ``The Empire Strikes Back'' and ``Return of the Jedi'' have been restored and include a digitally mastered soundtrack, new footage and enhanced visual effects. The ``Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition'' will be available from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE TCFHE Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment ). The ``Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition'' will be available at the ownable price of US$49.98/CDN$59.98. Each film is also available individually at US$19.98/CDN$22.98. A special Platinum Widescreen Edition will also be available at US$59.98/CDN$74.98. It will be available for only 97 days, and after Nov. 30 Fox will no longer accept retail orders and it will be placed on moratorium. The ``Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition'' will be available in unique, iconographic i·co·nog·ra·phy n. pl. i·co·nog·ra·phies 1. a. Pictorial illustration of a subject. b. The collected representations illustrating a subject. 2. ``keepsake'' packaging, and each cassette will include a behind-the-scenes special segment regarding the creation of the special editions with interviews by key crew and creative personnel, including Lucas and the artists at Industrial Light & Magic. The packaging is an eye-catching, golf-foil-wrapped, two-piece ``slant case'' that follows the famous and distinctive contours of the Darth Vader Darth Vader fallen Jedi Knight has turned to evil. [Am. Cinema: Star Wars] See : Evil helmet. Gordon Radley, president of Lucasfilm Ltd., stated, ``After the theatrical release of the `Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition' created such unexpected excitement and enthusiasm around the world, we wanted to make the video available to everyone who would like to own and enjoy it.'' ``Our partners at Lucasfilm have given us a collection of films that have no boundaries, and we intend to make it readily available to the millions of new `Star Wars' fans as well as the enthusiasts,'' noted Jeffrey Yapp, president, worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Creator Lucas, who was particularly limited by time and traditional effects technology during the seminal 1975-77 production of ``Star Wars,'' had to make creative compromises. Nearly two decades later, Lucas was able to return to the entire trilogy, enhancing the classic films in accord with his original vision thanks to computer tools developed in the ensuing years by his own company. Not only could Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) seamlessly add computer-generated creatures and cityscapes into the original footage and provide digital fixes to optical effects, Skywalker Sound was able to digitally remaster re·mas·ter tr.v. re·mas·tered, re·mas·ter·ing, re·mas·ters To master again, especially to produce a new master recording of (an old recording) in order to improve the sound quality. the soundtracks to meet the high standards of modern sound systems. Now ranked as the No. 1 film of all time, with more than $460 million in domestic box-office grosses, ``Star Wars Special Edition'' shattered shat·ter v. shat·tered, shat·ter·ing, shat·ters v.tr. 1. To cause to break or burst suddenly into pieces, as with a violent blow. 2. a. records for a theatrical rerelease re·re·lease tr.v. re·re·leased, re·re·leas·ing, re·re·leas·es To release (a movie, for example) again. re , with more than $140 million upon its recent outing. ``The Empire Strikes Back'' and ``Return of the Jedi,'' at total box-office grosses of more than $289 million and $307 million, respectively, rank -- along with ``Star Wars'' -- among the top 10 films of all time. Upon the recent theatrical release of ``Star Wars Special Edition,'' Time proclaimed, ``The force is back,'' and ``Good Morning America's'' Joel Siegel stated, ``One of the best films of all time is better than before.'' ``Siskel & Ebert's'' Roger Ebert noted that `` `The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)' is one of the great visual achievements in the history of cinema,'' and the San Francisco Chronicle The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young.[2] The paper grew along with San Francisco to become the largest circulation newspaper on the West Coast of the hailed it as ``Fiercely entertaining. It's as if the kids are given one set of delights and adults are given another.'' And, regarding ``Return of the Jedi Special Edition,'' the New York Post The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily.[3] Since 1976, it has been owned by Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and is one of the 10 proclaimed that it ``Feels like an entirely fresh film in its spiffy spiffy - /spi'fee/ 1. Said of programs having a pretty, clever, or exceptionally well-designed interface. "Have you seen the spiffy X version of empire yet?" This was common mainstream slang during the 1940s. 2. , new special edition,'' while the Los Angeles Daily News The Daily News of Los Angeles, also known as the Los Angeles Daily News, is the second largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is published by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which owns eight other Southern California newspapers surmised, ``A worthy finish to the most popular film cycle of all time.'' All of the films in the ``Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition'' are digitally mastered by THX A design system that provides realistic sound playback for movie and home theater from THX, Ltd., San Rafael, CA (www.thx.com), an independent spin-off from Lucasfilm, Ltd. The THX Sound System was developed during the production of the Return of the Jedi in 1982 and named after George for superior sound and picture quality. ``Star Wars,'' ``The Empire Strikes Back'' and ``Return of the Jedi'' are all rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, a recognized and innovative global industry leader, is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., a News Corp. company. CONTACT: Twentieth Century Fox Steven Feldstein, 310/369-5369 Shawna Lynch, 310/473-4147 www.fox.com or Lucasfilm Ltd. Lynne Hale, (44) 192-368-5084 Jeannie Cole, 415/662-1962 |
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