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Last updated on June 17, 2005 .
I first saw Star Wars when I was 8 years old, and like most other 8 year olds who experienced George Lucas' science-fiction groundbreaker for the first time, it left an indelible impression. There may be many better movies out there, but nothing else holds such a dear place in my heart, and to this day, the original Star Wars trilogy remains pure magic to me.
As an avid DVD collector (view my collection), I would love nothing more than to own the original Star Wars trilogy on the DVD format. My problem is two-fold: the original Star Wars trilogy is not currently available on DVD, and according to George Lucas himself, likely never will be. Even when Episodes IV-VI are released to DVD, they will be the Special Edition films or some variant thereof. Those were not the films that millions of viewers flocked to see, and I have no interest in owning these revised versions.
(It's possible that public opinion could sway things for Lucas. Please visit OriginalTrilogy.com and sign the online petition - it just might get things done.)
My goal: to create a set of Star Wars original trilogy DVDs, of the highest possible quality, for my own personal use. My plan is to record the laserdisc versions of the movies to digital video, edit the pieces together on my PC (and perhaps clean up the matte boxes during outer space shots), and then burn the results to DVD. Create slipcase covers and other some such niceties, and there you have it: the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD.
I am not a pirate. I do not plan to distribute these DVDs, and will be breaking no copyright laws in creating them. Don't ask for copies; any such e-mails will be summarily ignored. These will be completely legal products - I own the original trilogy VHS tapes and laserdiscs, and these DVDs will be created for my own personal use only. This page is merely intended to document the process, so that anyone else who might like to duplicate what I'm doing will be able to see how I did it.
Latest Updates
November 15, 2003: Welcome back - I bet some of you thought this
page would never be updated! Well, guess what? I am making
actual progress on this project. I have some new equipment, have
revised some of my plans, and am working on some of the preliminary
elements for the DVDs. Also, I have people writing me who are
similarly working on this project for themselves. One of them has
completed their project, and you can read about their experience
right here.
Previous Updates
October 1, 2002: At the moment, this project is
just beginning. I have done no work on it yet. This should
change when the new year rolls around. Until then, this page is very
much under construction.
However, here is my general plan: I will require 4 main pieces of equipment - the original trilogy laserdiscs, a high-quality laserdisc player, a digital camcorder, and a fast computer with tons of memory, hard disk space, and most importantly a DVD burner. I already have the first two items in hand. Later this year, I plan on buying a new computer (which I will make sure has the memory, hard disk space and DVD burner that I require) and digital camcorder.
What comes next should be rather simple, if time consuming: record the laserdiscs to digital videotape, transfer the digital video to my computer, edit together the side changes, make any other edits or clean-ups I'd like to make, and finally master the finished product to DVD. Esimated timeline: finish obtaining equipment by February 2003, transfer to digital videotape March 2003, transfer to computer and begin editing process April 2003, and completed product May 2003.
I will keep you posted...