OOT vhs box set? (answer: an OT VHS box set from 2000; the 1997 Special Editions)

Hello. I found the ot VHS box in a thrift store. I was wondering if these were the OOT or SE?

(links fixed by mod)

Mod Edit: This is the 2000 OT VHS box set (which would make them the 1997 Special Edition versions):-

Wookieepedia link: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_home_video_releases#Original_trilogy_reprints

a 1 minute trailer for the 2000 VHS release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVPmE4CQcg0

Nathan Butler youtube video on the 2000 OT VHS boxset release: www.youtube.com/watch?v=639xdq3sO7o (13 mins long)

Im not sure why the link didn’t work but here it is without the url

https://m.imgur.com/a/hg04m

It kind of looks like the 1997 Special Edition, but I wouldn’t know for sure. Could be the 1995 “OOT”.

It’s the 2000 VHS re-release of the Special Editions which have that short behind-the-scenes thing for Episode II.

theMaestro said:

It’s the 2000 VHS re-release of the Special Editions which have that short behind-the-scenes thing for Episode II.

This^

Yeah I remember this set being asked about not so long ago. I guess because it was when they stopped calling it “The Special Edition”.

chyron8472 said:

The film Star Wars wasn’t marketed as “Episode IV: A New Hope” until around the time the prequels were released. So they definitely would not be OOT.

The last OOT VHS release was probably the Faces set.

The Faces tapes say A New Hope on them, but the Laserdiscs don’t for some reason.

Mocata said:

Yeah I remember this set being asked about not so long ago. I guess because it was when they stopped calling it “The Special Edition”.

Yep. I owned this set and remember being disappointed that it was the SE. They came out after TPM on VHS, with the box art designed to match the TPM (and later AOTC) art, episode numbers and all.

As everybody has already pointed out, this is the SE. I’d just like to say on record, however, that this exact box set was my first introduction to the trilogy as a child, and as a result I still have a soft spot for it. I managed to snag one still in the plastic wrap at a Goodwill a few years ago for $1.

That’s all

Interesting that it’s the 1997 SE artwork but not the Drew Struzan painted version. Those are collaged photos (except they used an alternate shot of Leia from ESB for some reason).

Yeah the inconsistencies were present in the originals too like ROTJ Palpatine on the ESB poster, it just carried over to the worse photo versions.

I’ve only now just noticed that the Struzan ROTJ art has ESB’s Luke and Vader duel (complete with blaster on hip and a blue blade).

Something else to keep in mind about the Struzan artwork is that all three covers are a collage that fit together into one big image. You can tell with the starfield between the three images that the middle is ESB and the stars are moving out towards the left on the ANH cover and to the right on the ROTJ cover. That’s why no characters are repeated across the 3 covers (except Luke and Vader dueling obviously), which kind of explains why Palpatine is on the ESB cover. ESB has all the bad guys, ANH has all the good guys, and ROTJ has the random leftovers.

MusicallyInspired said:

Interesting that it’s the 1997 SE artwork but not the Drew Struzan painted version. Those are collaged photos (except they used an alternate shot of Leia from ESB for some reason).

Yeah they sort of did that for most of the movies around that time. They would roughly try to capture the essence of the Struzan artwork by using actual images. Sometimes the head positions would be different, but they tried to get the gist of it.

TPM poster: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0630/8509/products/flat2228starw_grande.jpg?v=1469549959
TPM VHS: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ed/8d/e2/ed8de234bc71ebe921c0d6d8c8d8a475--vhs-movie-vhs-tapes.jpg

ROTS poster: http://www.thecine.es/1784-2133-large_liquid/cuadro-star-wars-episodio-iii-la-venganza-de-los-sith-cartel.jpg
ROTS DVD: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RHXMVH9YL.jpg

ANH SE poster: https://imgix.ranker.com/user_node_img/50048/1000953176/original/a-new-hope-special-edition-poster-photo-u1?w=650&q=50&fm=jpg&fit=crop&crop=faces
ANH SE VHS from 2000: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/8/88/Ep4.png/revision/latest?cb=20060713202042

TESB SE poster: http://www.screenused.com/images/posters/14275_1.jpg
TESB SE VHS from 2000: http://swonvideo.com/vhs/imageslarge/vtrilogyboxuk2000esbfront.jpg

ROTJ SE poster: http://www.screenused.com/images/posters/14274_1.jpg
ROTJ SE VHS from 2000: http://vhscollector.com/sites/default/files/vhscovers/box_front/star-wars-vi-return-jedi-vhs-1-28433.jpg

AOTC was the only one whose VHS/DVD cover did not even look close to the theatrical poster. Then there was the 2006 GOUT release, where they followed a similar philosophy, except that the image collages were made to look like the original theatrical posters; and their back covers had the actual theatrical posters for comparison.

chyron8472 said:

Wazzles said:

chyron8472 said:

The film Star Wars wasn’t marketed as “Episode IV: A New Hope” until around the time the prequels were released. So they definitely would not be OOT.

The last OOT VHS release was probably the Faces set.

The Faces tapes say A New Hope on them, but the Laserdiscs don’t for some reason.

…*checking for verification.

Okay, on the spine yes. But only on the spine.

The cassette label also had the ‘A New Hope’ subtitle.

crissrudd4554 said:

chyron8472 said:

Wazzles said:

chyron8472 said:

The film Star Wars wasn’t marketed as “Episode IV: A New Hope” until around the time the prequels were released. So they definitely would not be OOT.

The last OOT VHS release was probably the Faces set.

The Faces tapes say A New Hope on them, but the Laserdiscs don’t for some reason.

…*checking for verification.

Okay, on the spine yes. But only on the spine.

The cassette label also had the ‘A New Hope’ subtitle.

Comparing the theatrical posters and the DVDs on my shelf… I guess I need to make some custom covers.
Also, the 1995 LaserDisc does say A New Hope, but on the back:
[http://www.swonvideo.com/laserdisc/imageslarge/ldstarwarsthxback.jpg]
(The 1993 release does not)

geek-o-rama said:

crissrudd4554 said:

chyron8472 said:

Wazzles said:

chyron8472 said:

The film Star Wars wasn’t marketed as “Episode IV: A New Hope” until around the time the prequels were released. So they definitely would not be OOT.

The last OOT VHS release was probably the Faces set.

The Faces tapes say A New Hope on them, but the Laserdiscs don’t for some reason.

…*checking for verification.

Okay, on the spine yes. But only on the spine.

The cassette label also had the ‘A New Hope’ subtitle.

Comparing the theatrical posters and the DVDs on my shelf… I guess I need to make some custom covers.
Also, the 1995 LaserDisc does say A New Hope, but on the back:
[http://www.swonvideo.com/laserdisc/imageslarge/ldstarwarsthxback.jpg]
(The 1993 release does not)

Huh. I guess I never noticed that.