Ponderance

Star Wars DVD Extras

Okay, so we know that George Lucas is wimping out and avoiding director's commentaries (or executive producer commentaries for Empire and Jedi), but what is extras are going to come out the with classic (albeit Special Edition) Star Wars DVDs? TFN reports:

Star Wars: The Independent Films feature length documentary - The story of Star Wars is the story of the most successful independent series film ever produced. It's the story of a Hollywood outsider named George Lucas and a low-budget labor of love space saga that defied the odds and reinvented the rules. It's the story of a revolution born of a dream. It's the story of an independent filmmaker who had to innovate and invent an entirely new way of creating motion pictures. It's the story of a fundamental paradigm shift in the creative process made, not by the studio system, but by a single filmmaker with a simple dream. (150 min.)

The Evolution of Characters featurette - Get an in-depth look at how all your favorite characters came to be with exclusive concept art and discussion with George and the people who shaped what ultimately became out favorite heroes and villains. Includes a separate still/video gallery cut to Star Wars music with access to artwork and classic scenes for each major character. (30 min.)

The Influence of Star Wars featurette - Without Star Wars, there would be no... The groundbreaking special effects that were pioneered to make Star Wars movies not only helped viewers escape to a galaxy far, far away, but they changed the way every movie was made thereafter. Experience never before seen effects innovations from the films and learn how pivotal the films were to modern effects wizards and filmmakers. (20 min.)

Lightsabers/Fights featurette - Forget laser pistols, the lightsaber is the coolest weapon in the Star Wars galaxy. What were George's influences for creating the lightsaber? How did Mark Hamill, Alec Guiness, and Darth Vader stunt people approach wielding a saber? How did the effects guys figure out the lightsaber beam? How did each fight escalate from the previous one? And what influences did this creation have on movies thereafter? (10 min.)

1977 featurette - Transport people back in time to the opening of each Star Wars film. Menus will showcase all the pop culture features from the 1977 opening such as: TV references, toy ads, promotional partner commercials, news clips, songs inspired by Star Wars, Star Wars magazine and newspaper coverage, classic video game demos. (20 min.)

Star Wars Battlefront X-Box Video Game Demo (15 min.)

Teasers and Trailers from the original theatrical releases of each of the movies along with the 1997 re-releases. (15 min.)

TV Spots from the original theatrical releases of the movies along with the 1997 re-releases (5 min.)

Stills - A comprehensive gallery of posters from around the world, classic artwork, and never-before-seen photos from all three films (approximately 300 images.)

DVD-ROM Features - DVD ROM link to exclusive Star Wars website.

And to try and build the tension for Episode III:

Section One - The Creator: Finally the birth of Vader. George talks about finally bringing Vader back to the series and teases about Anakin's descent to the Dark Side and the powers of seduction in play. Section Two - The Costume: Black is back. For the last Star Wars movie ever and the birth of the ultimate villain, a new costume was forged. This segment answers some key questions: who created it? was it made for Hayden? Section Three - The Actors: Finally I get to become Vader. Key interviews with the cast (including Hayden) and crew sharing their thoughts and experiences about working on the last Star Wars film and finally seeing the completion of the Saga. (10 min.)

All of this Episode III build-up material sounds, to be honest, a bit lame. Indeed, it seems that Lucasfilm has realised that the only way Episode III will do stellar box office business is to link it more explicitly with the classic trilogy and distance themselves for the first two prequels. However, a number of the extras for the original trilogy sound rather cool, especially 1977 featurette and influences of Star Wars bits. Sure, it's bound to be a bit Lucas sycophantic, but we're used to that by now!