Empire Strikes Back Deleted Scene

The Complete Star Wars Saga makes it's way to Blu-Ray on Friday September 16th, and a new deleted scene from the forthcoming set has made it's way online.  It's from The Empire Strikes Back, and features a little sexual tension between a favorite smuggler and a princess!

Star Wars Blu-Ray Artwork

The box art has been revealed for the upcoming Star Wars Blu-Ray release.  Not bad but why not just use the classic poster art for all the films.  That would have been my choice.

The Complete Star Wars Saga ComesTo Blu-Ray

Lucasfilm released full specs today on the upcoming Star Saga Blu-Ray release as well as a new trailer.  Check out the full press release below!

Bring home the adventure and share Star Wars™ with your whole family – when STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment! To be released beginning on -September 12 internationally and on September 16 in North America, the nine-disc collection brings the wonder of the entire Saga direct to your living room, where you can revisit all of your favorite Star Wars moments – in gorgeous high definition and with pristine, 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Dive deeper into the universe with an unprecedented 40+ hours of special features, highlighted by never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm archives.

Special Features:

STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY is presented in widescreen with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Special features include:

DISC ONE – STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE

-Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires

-Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC TWO – STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES

-Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow

-Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC THREE – STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

-Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett

-Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC FOUR – STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE

-Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

-Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC FIVE – STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

-Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

-Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC SIX – STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

-Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

-Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC SEVEN – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III

-Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more

DISC EIGHT – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI

-Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more

DISC NINE – THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES

-NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures...these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.

-NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.

-NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more - and don't miss "Weird Al" Yankovic's one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!

-The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
-
The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas' vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!

-Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes - and into the costumes - as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.

-Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.

-Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.

The Star Wars Saga Hits Blu-Ray This September

Five months after George Lucas first discussed it at Celebration V, Lucasfilm, Fox, and Panasonic today announced that the complete Star Wars saga will be released on Blu-Ray in September. The release will include over 30 hours of special features, including never-before-seen material. There will be three box sets, one for all six films and one for each of the trilogies. The complete saga will cost $140 and each trilogy will cost $70.

The announcement was made at the Panasonic booth at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The most anticipated Blu-ray release ever -- the Star Wars Saga -- emerges from light speed this September 2011. For the first time, all six of George Lucas' epic films (Episodes I-VI) are united in one complete set. Fans worldwide are able to pre-order now with online retailers.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release Star Wars in three distinct sets to meet the needs of every Star Wars fan:

* Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray (9-disc Set includes all six films)
* Star Wars: Prequel Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes I-III)
* Star Wars: Original Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes IV-VI)

STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films utilizing the highest possible picture and audio presentation, along with three additional discs and more than 30 hours of extensive special features including never-before-seen deleted and alternate scenes, an exploration of the exclusive Star Wars archives, and much more.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray will be available for $139.99 US/$179.99 CAN and the Star Wars: Trilogy Sets for $69.99 US/89.99 CAN. Pricing for each set will vary by international territory.

Flanked by a legion of his finest Imperial stormtroopers, Darth Vader himself joined Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment President Mike Dunn at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to announce the release, vowing "The forces of the Empire will be at your disposal to assure the success of this endeavor."

"The Star Wars Saga is the most anticipated Blu-ray collection since the launch of the high-def format," Dunn said. "The epic franchise pioneered sound and visual presentation in theaters and is perfectly suited to do it again in the home, with a viewing experience only possible with Blu-ray."

"With all six episodes available for the first time in one collection, this is a great way for families and home audiences to experience the complete Saga from start to finish," said Doug Yates, Vice President of Marketing, Online, Distribution, Lucasfilm Ltd. "And with the quality of high-definition, Blu-ray provides the most immersive home experience possible."

"The Star Wars franchise has been the most anticipated Blu-ray release by Amazon's customers," said Bill Carr, Vice President of Music and Video at Amazon.com. "We think that Star Wars will be incredibly popular with our custoe expect pre-orders to be very strong."

Check out the blu-ray trailer below! 

Alternate Star Wars Posters

News is slow this week with the Holidays so check out these alternate Star Wars posters from the Mondo company!

Irvin Kershner Passes Away At 87

Director Irvin Kershner passed away over the weekend at the age of 87. His goddaughter, actress Adriana Santini, confirmed the news early Monday morning, but no further details were given at this time.

Kershner is best known for his work directing Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, the second and most well received of the six movie franchise. He also helmed the James Bond adventure Never Say Never Again starring Sean Connery, and the often maligned sequel Robocop 2.

The Force Is With These Deleted Scenes

As the internet has been stirring about the Star Wars Blu-Ray announcement and fan boys every where are drooling on their keyboards over the missing Jedi scene that hit the net, it made me start thinking what else we might see on these discs when they are released next fall.  Personally I'd like to see everything we can get but when it comes to deleted scenes, at least we may get some of the most famous ones on the extra features discs that have just been seen as still photos all these years or on the Behind The Magic CD-ROM.  Here's just a few I hope make the cut:

Luke Watching Space Battle And The Biggs Scene

Star Wars most famous deleted scenes include Luke looking into space and seeing the battle would be a cool scene to have and it adds to the young farm boy who seeks to be a space pilot attitude of Luke as he longs to be up there in space doing what he is watching.  The Biggs scene just makes sense to include since it's one of the most famous cut scenes of the trilogy with people swearing they saw the scene in an original cut, but no they didn't.  They saw it in the story books and other Star Wars books of the time!

The Wampa Attack & C3PO & Artoo's Wampa Plan

Empire Strikes Back's most famous deleted scene includes Wampa's getting loose during the battle of Hoth and attacking Rebel and Imperial troopers.  C3PO and Artoo even have a master plan of pulling the warning sign off the door so that the Imperial troops go in the door and get attacked by the creatures!  Portions of this scene were shown in early Empire movie trailers! 

The Tattoine Sandstorm

Return Of The Jedi's most famous deleted scene other than the one that recently set the internet on fire, is the sandstorm!  This scene took place after the rescue of Han Solo as they get back to the Millenium FAlcon and part ways for the rendezvous later. There was even a Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca  figures released recently based on the deleted scene!