Star Wars The Complete Saga Comes to Blu-Ray in September

At Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando last August, George Lucas teased that the Blu-Ray high definition editions of his epic saga would be hitting stores in 2011. Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox Home Video narrowed that date down to a month – September. What does the date matter this far in advance? Well, when it comes to Star Wars fanboys (and girls), there’s nothing we like more than making something as mundane and simple as a product release for something we technically already own 5 times over into a highly anticipated, worldwide event that allows us to stand in line outside a store with special midnight hours in our home made Ewok costumes. Of course, Lucasfilm is more than supportive when it comes to our geeky obsessions for their products. Since the 80s, I’ve owned every release of the Original Trilogy, from more than one VHS box set to the Special Edition DVDs, the 2006 original Unspecial Edition DVDs, and even (*gasp*) the Prequel Trilogy DVDs. And god knows I’ll be in line for the Blu-Ray release too, if only to document the madness at my local retailer(s). And even though I don’t own a Blu-Ray player yet, Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-Ray is just the thing to make me go out and buy one.

Of course, I’m not foolish enough to believe this to be the final version of the 6 films that I’ll be lining up to purchase. Once the films are converted and re-released into theaters in 3D (look for that announcement later this year most likely), we should expect to see them in stores soon afterward, if 3D eventually becomes a standard television feature. Plus, there is the possibility that Blu-Ray will become an antiquated format much sooner than you might think (right around the time it becomes the common standard), and the next, more highly defined, more inexpensively produced, and (not surprisingly) more overpriced format becomes the next big thing. That realization crosses the mind of every fan at least once while standing on that sidewalk outside of Best Buy, trying to scratch that itch through their stormtrooper armor, but it never stops us from shelling out the big bucks for a new excuse to bask in the geeky goodness of a galaxy far, far away…

The Blu-Ray sets will come in 3 different packages for every type of Star Wars fan. The Original Trilogy (episodes IV-VI: A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) and Prequel Trilogy (episodes I-III: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith) will be made available as separate 3 disc sets (suggested price $69.99 each) and together in the Complete Saga set (9 discs with tons of never-before-seen deleted and alternate scenes for a suggested price of $139.99). Is there any question as to which will be the hottest of the three options, even to the Prequel Haters?

To get you psyched for next September, here’s the official promotional trailer that debuted at CES on January 6th. See you in line this September.

Watch this video in 1080p! Click the view options on the bottom right to change the resolution and then go full screen!

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