I was finally able to watch my Blu-ray set over the weekend and absolutely loved every minute! There’s not much else I can say that The Aluminum Falcon and others haven’t already covered in great detail, but I’ll throw out a few quick thoughts anyway:
The menus kick ass. They’re simple, effective, and look fantastic. Their inclusion definitely elevates the set above the V3 DVDs, and the overall aesthetic is a perfect complement to the films themselves.
These films have never sounded better and having all of the audio options on one release is great. I watched each with the 5.1 option and they sounded brilliant on my setup.
I was pleased with the V3 DVDs, but the video quality here is even better and certainly better than I was expecting. Sure, certain moments of this release remind you of its origin, but more often than not I found myself amazed that this was actually sourced from the GOUT. Star Wars and Return of the Jedi look especially great, with Empire right behind them. Again, it’s a testament to the work done on the video that I was able to simply enjoy the films without grumbling about the deficiencies of the GOUT.
Also, I didn’t notice the issue raised by Mielr, though I wasn’t aware of it at the time of my viewing and I haven’t gone back yet to check. It may very well be that I saw it, but just chalked it up to the nature of the GOUT.
Ultimately, the best thing I can say about this set is that it’s the version of the Trilogy that I’ll watch from now on, and the one I will show my nephew in a few years when he’s ready for Star Wars. I’m glad I can finally retire my 2006 DVDs and proudly place these on my shelf instead. Thanks again for making this set possible, dark_jedi!