Less than ten days to go until the remastered DVDs of the original Star Wars trilogy hits the stores! It’s out in the UK the day before its release in the US and Canada.
As a mega-fan of the epic story (I saw the original in 1977 at the Tottenham Court Road cinema in London) I’ve had my pre-order with Amazon.co.uk since April. Can’t wait!
In the UK alone, Amazon has reported pre-orders of more than 60,000, smashing by 10,000 the previous record held by last year’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Amazon’s price is £26.99 (€34) and will ship to just about all EU countries. The recommended UK price is £44.99 (€65).
Sales of the box set of the remastered sci-fi classics are expected to reach about half a million in the first week alone, according to a BBC News report today. By Christmas, that figure could have tripled – making it far and away the biggest selling DVD box set ever produced.
Lots of negative comment on various Star Wars-related blogs (the Movie Blog, for one: “official home of correct movie opinions”, whatever “correct” means) re the changes to some of the effects and other aspects in the original films that George Lucas has made with the DVDs as a result of being able to do so because of new or improved technology. Personally, I don’t mind at all. Purists will be upset as always, no doubt.