Hi 😃

So I am in search of the “best” physical media to own with the unaltered original trilogy on it. I’m not a “collector” (for the sake of collecting or rarity), I want it to watch (and rip for more convenient watching), to show my kids and hopefully my grandkids a long time into the future. I’m only interested in widescreen (not pan and scan) versions.

I appreciate the Despecialized edition, and have high hopes for the 35mm restored versions, but I really want to score something original and 100% legal, with the most resolution and quality available.

I grew up in Eastern Europe. During the late 90s when I was in high school, the THX remastered version came out. We bought the VHS, but I have a vague memory of seeing a DVD version. Of course a DVD player at the time was out of reach. Still to this day I see fleeting mentions of a PAL Region2 only DVD release of the “THX digitally remastered” version.

Can anyone confirm or deny this? Also, if it existed, was it anamorphic, and was it mastered for PAL or converted from NTSC?

What about the “Definitive Edition” laserdiscs? What kind of resolution are we talking about there? Did LD even have anamorphic widescreen, or a rough third of the resolution is taken up by the black stripes?

I see Japanese LD versions going for a fortune on Ebay, are they interesting from a preservation standpoint, or just a curio? Was there a PAL version of the “Definitive Edition”, and if there was, did it actually have higher resolution, or once again, converted from NTSC?

Any other release worthy of attention? 😃

Thanks for your input!