Star Wars IV
A New Hope

The Trilogy is presented in full frame (1.33:1) pan and scan format on these VCDs. One could regret the lack of a widescreen edition, but since the resolution of Video CD is quite low, a letterbox version would loose too much detail to be acceptable.

The image quality of the VCD of A New Hope is surprisingly good. Of course, it's not a DVD and the image suffers from the limitations of the MPEG1 format: when there's a lot of action on the screen, the image can get blocky for a second or two, and throughout the movie you can see quite a bit of artifacting. However, when there's less movement, the image is pretty good, about the same as VHS (-though in a few scenes the VHS looks just a little bit sharper).

The colors are true to the original; they're just as good as the colors of the VHS version. In scenes where there's a lot of red or blue, the image is even better than the VHS version, in which those colors tend to 'bleed'.

After a couple of hours, I put the second set of VCDs in my DVD player. I expected The Empire Strikes Back to have the same image quality as the ANH VCDs, but what a surprise! The transfer was MUCH better. It just blew me away!! It's without a doubt the best looking VCD I've ever seen!

Sometimes the movie looks so sharp that it's almost like you're watching a DVD! The artifacting on this VCD is also much less than on ANH. Even in the action-filled sequence of the attack on the Imperial Walkers, the image remains sharp and almost never gets blocky.

Colors are vibrant. Contrast is very good. An amazing transfer considering the limitations of the Video CD format.

So what about the third movie of the Trilogy, The Return of the Jedi? The image quality of ROTJ is quite good, though not as good as the amazing transfer of The Empire Strikes Back. The image is a bit more grainy and not as sharp, and in the action scenes the artifacting is more apparent. The quality is more 'standard' for the VCD format.

The colors are natural, not overly saturated. The reds and blues are very vivid. The colors in the scenes on Endor look a bit more washed out; in some scenes the trees and plants look more grey than green. One sequence that looks very good is the final space battle. The Speeder Bike chase on the contrary is a bit disappointing: lots of artifacts and washed out colors.

In some scenes, the image looks just as sharp as in the ESB transfer, but the overal impression is that the movie looks a bit 'softer' and less defined.

This is where the VCDs really shine. The sound is encoded in Dolby Surround and the quality is very good. The original sound has been upgraded for the release of the Special Editions in 1997, and in some scenes the surround channel is well used, even though in A New Hope SE the added surround effects are limited to a few scenes. The opening battle sounds great: Ben Burtt added some low frequency rumble to the engine sound of the Star Destroyer, and the surround channel is very active during this first sequence.

John Williams' Oscar winning soundtrack sounds great and is always clearly audible, even behind dialogue and loud sound effects.

The dialogue is clear, and the sound doesn't get distorted in the louder sequences (something that bugged some VCD releases of The Phantom Menace). Of course the quality of the sound is limited by the quality of the original tapes, and the sound of ESB and ROTJ is notably better, but nevertheless, it's very good for a VCD.

There's a faint hiss throughout the movie, but you hardly notice it, and there are some soft clicks in the title sequence at the end of the movie.

What about the sound quality of the Empire Strikes Back VCDs? In one word: fantastic.

The quality of the original recording was better than the original tapes of ANH, and you can hear the difference: very clear dialogues, extensive use of the surround channel.

John William's score is beautifully rendered. Deep bass and very clear in the upper frequencies. Excellent!

In terms of sound quality, the Return of the Jedi VCDs are just as good as the other VCDs.

Very clear, good stereo and excellent surround sound in some scenes.

Especially the Speeder Bike chase and the final space battle sound fantastic!

This clip is included in all three movies. You get some (very loud!) music and some flashy shots of all the entertainment the studios have to offer. Since the volume level of the sound on the VCDs is much higher than on a regular DVD, make sure to adjust your equipment before playing these discs -you wouldn't want to blow up your speakers!

This featurette is presented in 16:9 format (except for the movieclips from the trilogy that are shown in 2:35:1). The featurette is actually much cooler than I expected (I loved the interview with Anthony Daniels and it's very exciting to see him in his Episode II outfit), and it really inspires me with a lot of respect for what Lucas is doing in the prequels: giving a huge background to the story you already thought you knew. The Featurette helps to look at the original Trilogy with new eyes. The image quality of the featurette is good, and the sound is good as well (it's mainly dialogue, so it's nothing special)

Though standard on DVDs, chapters are not always present on VCDs. They allow you to quickly skip to the various parts of the movie. The division could have been done better though: sometimes a chapter starts in the middle of a scene or a conversation!

Same criticism as for the ANH VCDs: the start of the chapters could have been choosen much better.

Same criticism as for the ANH and ESB VCDs: the start of the chapters could have been choosen much better.

So what's my overal opinion about this Trilogy Box Set? I must say that I'm very happy with it, especially since my old VHS tapes are slowly degrading due to repeated viewing of the movies. These VCDs look and sound just as good, and in case of the Empire Strikes Back, even better than their VHS counterparts, but they will deliver the same quality over and over again.

What's more, not only can I play these movies on my DVD player, but also on my computer, which is an extra advantage of the Video CD format. Since your PC monitor is usually smaller than your television, the image will look even sharper when you play these VCDs on your computer. Make sure you have a good sound system though: the sound quality is amazing, and a good sound setup will enhance your enjoyment of the movies a great deal.

Finally, It's up to you to decide whether or not you want to spend your money on yet another version of the movies you love, but if you can't wait to play the Star Wars Trilogy on your DVD player, these VCDs are a must-have!

You can order this "Star Wars Trilogy" VCD Set at AllVCD.com.