The Best on Blu-ray: Restoring the Star Wars Saga for the HD Generation

Though the Star Wars movies were created for the big screen, George Lucas and his production team have made efforts to ensure they look and sound as good as possible for their home video releases. With the Saga's long-awaited release on high-definition Blu-ray disc this September, it will be arriving in the best looking and best sounding home video format ever, a release that required meticulous optimization of picture and sound.

It's not without precedent. The 1993 Laserdisc set saw the inclusion of a new sound mix that took from the best of what had come before. The 1995 VHS release underwent the scrutiny of a then-new THX home video review process. The 2004 DVD launch of Episodes IV, V and VI saw a concerted restorative effort to bring the picture and sound up to the digital clarity that audiences now expect from Star Wars. The unprecedented quality of the Blu-ray experience required even more investment.


After numerous tests and comparisons of different conversions of the filmed Star Wars movies, the restored high-definition masters were selected as a starting point for artistic preferences. But even with these carefully restored masters, there was still room for restoration to ensure the best quality Blu-ray presentation from these.

Read the full story at StarWars.com