The original theatrical versions of the three earliest "Star Wars" films are finally coming to DVD Sept. 12, exactly two years after diehard fans blasted Lucasfilm Ltd. for releasing only the digitally modified 2004 versions of the celebrated trilogy in a boxed collection.
This time, the three films will be available individually and appear on DVD exactly as they did in their initial theatrical runs -- "Star Wars" in 1977, "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980 and "Return of the Jedi" in 1983.
Each release, distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, will be a two-disc set that also includes the digitally tweaked 2004 edition. The DVDs will only be available through Dec. 31.
Lucasfilm said the decision to revisit the trilogy came about "in response to overwhelming demand."
"See the title crawl to 'Star Wars' before it was known as Episode IV; see the pioneering, if dated, motion-control model work on the attack on the Death Star; groove to Lapti Nek or the Ewok Celebration song like you did when you were a kid; and, yes, see Hans Solo shoot first," according to Lucasfilm.
The most publicized change is the notorious cantina shootout between Han Solo and Greedo in 1977's "Star Wars."
In the new DVD, Han Solo will be shown shooting first, just as he did in the original theatrical edit. He pulls his gun and shoots Greedo dead.
When George Lucas tweaked the film for a theatrical run in 1997, marking its 20th anniversary, he extended the scene at the front end to show Greedo firing first and missing.
Fans objected, so for the film's 2004 DVD debut, Lucas tinkered with the scene yet again, this time making it appear Solo and Greedo fired simultaneously.
Jim Ward, president of LucasArts and senior vp of Lucasfilm, said over the years, "a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters. We turned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD."
Sources said the transfers won't be as clean or vivid as the digitally modified versions.
Geoff Kleinman, editor-in-chief of the Web zine DVDtalk.com, expects strong sales from fans who have been waiting for years for the original theatrical versions to come out on DVD.
Lucas, he said, "seems to be able to put his fans through pain and misery and have them come out the other end buying more product. There's only one 'Star Wars,' and anytime that appears on a shiny disc there will be people who will buy it."
Additional reporting by Jessica Wolf, senior reporter for Home Media Retailing.
Thomas K. Arnold writes for The Hollywood Reporter.
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