Corona | Coming Attractions

George Lucas’ massive mythology hits Blu-ray on September 16 with nine discs and over 40 hours of bonus features.

Today is Star Wars Day, and to celebrate Lucasfilm and Starwars.com have announced the release date and details for their long-awaited blu-ray editions of Star Wars: The Complete Saga. I haven’t been this happy since the Death Star blew up!

This is the whole enchilada, kiddies: a nine-disc collection of all six films in beautiful high def and 6.1 DTS Surround Sound, plus over 40 hours of bonus material. Special features will include new and vintage documentaries; audio commentaries; deleted, extended and alternate scenes; behind-the-scenes footage; interviews; <gasps for breath> retrospectives; and even a number of Star Wars spoofs made by independent filmmakers over the decades.

The Complete Saga will street on September 16 in North America (September 12 internationally), retailing for $139.99 ($179.99 in Canada). Lucasfilm will be release the individual trilogies in separate blu-ray collections as well: the Prequel Trilogy (episodes I-III ) and the Original Trilogy (episodes IV-III) will retail for $69.99 each ($89.99 in Canada). International prices will vary. Currently, Amazon US has The Complete Saga on blu-ray for a pre-order price of $89.99 and each Trilogy Set for $44.99

Lucasfilm will give fans a sneak peak at this year’s Comic-Con, where they’ll also celebrate their 35th year at the con.

After you check out the specs below, click here to check out new images, box art and a teaser trailer that Fox released!

The blu-ray version of Star Wars: The Complete Saga will include:

Disc One - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

• Audio commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew

Disc Two - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

• Audio commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew

Disc Three - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

• Audio commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew

Disc Four - Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

• Audio commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew

Disc Five - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

• Audio commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew

Disc Six - Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

• Audio commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
• Audio commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew

Disc Seven – (New) Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III

• Deleted, extended and alternate scenes
• Prop, maquette and costume turnarounds
• Concept art
• Supplementary interviews with cast and crew
• A flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives

Disc Eight – (New) Star Wars Archives: Episode IV-VI

• Deleted, extended and alternate scenes
• Prop, maquette and costume turnarounds
• Matte paintings and concept art
• Supplementary interviews with cast and crew

Disc Nine - The Star Wars Documentaries

• NEW - Star Warriors (2007, Color, approx. 84 min.) - A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts.
• NEW - A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, approx. 25 min.) - George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in honor of the 30th anniversary of the movie.
• NEW - Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, approx. 91 min.) –The farce is strong with this one! Over 90 minutes of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more. Plus, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
• The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, approx. 49 min.) – The behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen. Hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2, it includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
• The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, approx. 48 min.) - Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas' vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality.
• Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, approx. 48 min.) - Production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized to create the creatures and characters seen in Jedi. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams.
• Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, approx. 26 min.) - George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures (in 1977’s A New Hope) from immovable rubber puppets to seemingly living, breathing creatures for 1997’s Star Wars Special Edition.
• Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, approx. 46 min.) - Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.