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Star Wars has to be Lego’s most successful franchise and it’s not hard to see why. The almost too-good-to-be-true combining of the best building toy in existence with the world’s greatest Sci Fi franchise (sorry Trekkies) is a fan’s, not to mention a toy-maker’s, dream.
Over the last ten years Lego has freed an aweinspiring range of Star Wars Themed sets, from all six movies as well as the Clone Wars television series and the occasional Extended Universe ship. In 2011 they will carry on to come up with aweinspiring sets, if primary images of the original wave is any indication.
Due for release in January 2011 the latest Star Wars sets are to a considerable degree focussed on the Clone Wars animated TV series. After the success of former battle packs, Lego will focus on army builders form the Clone Wars by freeing a Clone Wars Battlepack (7913) and a Mandalorian Battle Pack (7914) both priced at $10.99.
The Clone Wars Battle pack will incorporate four figures; Clone Trooper, ARF Trooper and two Bomb Squad Troopers which is a nice mix of clones and differentiates this set from earlier clone trooper battle packs. The Mandalorian Battle Pack will come with four of these widely known and esteemed Star Wars clan-based characters, as featured in Season two and three of the Clone Wars cartoon. Each battle pack likewise comes with a little vehicle.
Vehicles are also featured in this basi Star Wars Lego 2011 wave. Set 7915 is the Imperial V-Wing Star Fighter, already the subject of a Lego set back in 2006 (Set 6205) but this latest version comes with a black color scheme for both the ship, pilot and astromech droid.
Set 7929 entitled The Battle Of Naboo is the firstborn Episode One set for numerous years. It features a huge amount of figures, mainly battle droids and a couple of Gungans. The set also comes with a droid carrier featuring a dark red color system rather of the rather drab brown versions of the past. The new Gungans look to be more varied and elaborate than the versions from 10 years ago. One of the Gungans is, of course, Jar Jar Binks and his headpiece is painted and looks perfectly beautiful.
The Bounty Hunter Gunship (Set 7930) was featured in the Clone Wars Television series Season Two Episode 17 entitled, appropriately, “The Bounty Hunters”. The ship is dark green in color with accents in yellow and gray which blend in nicely with the episode’s location, Felucia. Widening the scope of bounty hunter minifigs this set comes with the long awaited Aurra Sing as well as Embo, Sugi and an Assassin Droid who were all featured in the episode.
The last set of this firstborn Star Wars Lego wave for 2011 is the T6 Jedi Shuttle (7931) also known as a Jedi ambassador shuttle as featured in episode three of Season two “Children Of the Force”. The distinctive semicircular shuttle looks very nicely done and comes with numerous highly envisioned figures. Finally fans may add the Jedi Quinlan Vos, Shaak Ti and Saesee Tiin to their collection as well as another Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Overall this introductory Lego Star Wars 2011 wave looks terrifi and holds a heap of noteworthy Star Wars figures that fans, new and old, will be eagerly awaiting.
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Star Wars: The Complete Blu-ray Saga will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films utilizing the most eminent possible picture and audio presentation. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
(32 Years Before Episode IV) Stranded on the desert planet Tatooine after rescuing young Queen Amidala from the approaching invasion of Naboo, Jedi apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Jedi Master discover nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker, a young slave unusually strong in the Force. Anakin wins a thrilling Podrace and with it his freedom as he leaves his home to be trained as a Jedi. The heroes return to Naboo where Anakin and the Queen face massive invasion forces while the two Jedi contend with a deadly foe named Darth Maul. Only then do they realize the invasion is merely the primary step in a sinister scheme by the re-emergent forces of darkness known as the Sith.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(22 Years Before Episode IV) Ten years after the events of the Battle of Naboo, not only has the galaxy undergone substantial change, but so have Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, and Anakin Skywalker as they are thrown together again for the original time since the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo. Anakin has grown into the accomplished Jedi apprentice of Obi-Wan, who himself has transitioned from student to teacher. The two Jedi are assigned to protect Padmé whose life is threatened by a faction of political separatists. As relationships form and powerful forces collide, these heroes face selections that will affect not only their own fates, but the fate of the Republic. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(19 Years before Episode IV) Three years after the onset of the Clone Wars, the noble Jedi Knights have been leading a massive clone army into a galaxy-wide battle versus the Separatists. When the sinister Sith unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the Republic crumbles and from it is ashes rises the evil Galactic Empire. Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker is seduced by the dark side of the Force to become the Emperor’s new apprentice–Darth Vader. The Jedi are decimated, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Yoda are forced into hiding. The only hope for the galaxy are Anakin’s own offspring. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Nineteen years after the formation of the Empire, Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle of the Rebel Alliance when he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived for years in seclusion on the desert planet of Tatooine. Obi-Wan begins Luke’s Jedi training as Luke joins him on a daring mission to rescue the pretty Rebel leader Princess Leia from the clutches of the evil Empire. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Luke Skywalker and his friends have set up a new base on the ice planet of Hoth, but it is not long before their mystery emplacement is came across by the evil Empire. After narrowly escaping, Luke splits off from his friends to seek out a Jedi Master called Yoda. Meanwhile, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and C-3PO seek sanctuary at a city in the Clouds run by Lando Calrissian, an old friend of Han’s. But little do they realize that Darth Vader already awaits them. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
(4 years after Episode IV) In the epic conclusion of the saga, the Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star while the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
Episode I, The Phantom Menace “I have a bad sentiment regarding this,” says the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace as he steps off a spaceship and into the most envisioned cinematic event… well, ever. He might as well be speaking for the legions of fans of the original sequences in the Star Wars saga who can’t help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The basi elevated moviegoers’ expected values so high that it would have been inconceivable for any subsequent film to meet them. And as with all the Star Wars movies, The Phantom Menace features inexplicable plot twists, a fistful of loose threads, and a great deal of cheek-chewing dialogue. Han Solo’s swagger is sorely missed, as is the pervading menace of heavy-breather Darth Vader. There is still way too much quasi-mystical mumbo jumbo, and a good deal of of what was fresh with regards to Star Wars 22 years earlier feels formulaic. Yet there’s much to admire. The special effects are stupendous; three worlds are populated with a mélange of creatures, flora, and horizons rendered in sheer detail. The action and battle scenes are breathtaking in their complexity. And one queer sequence of the film–the adrenaline-infused pod race through the Tatooine desert–makes the chariot race in Ben-Hur look like a Sunday stroll through the park.
Among the host of new characters, there are a few intimate walk-ons. We witness the basi meeting amidst R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jabba the Hutt looks younger and slimmer (but not young and slim), and Yoda is as crabby as ever. Natalie Portman’s stately Queen Amidala sports hairdos that make Princess Leia look dowdy and wields a mean laser. We never bond with Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Obi-Wan’s day is yet to come. Jar Jar Binks, a cross amidst a Muppet, a frog, and a hippie, provides a heap of of the movie’s lighter moments, while Sith Lord Darth Maul is a formidable force. Baby-faced Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) looks too young and innocent to command the powers of the Force or wield a lightsaber (much less transmute into the future Darth Vader), but his boyish exuberance wins over skeptics.
Near the end of the movie, Palpatine, the new leader of the Republic, may be speaking for fans eagerly awaiting Episode II when he pats young Anakin on the head and says, “We will watch your career with great interest.” Indeed! –Tod Nelson
Episode II, Attack of the Clones If The Phantom Menace was the setup, then Attack of the Clones is the plot-progressing payoff, and consecrated Star Wars fans are sure to be enthralled. Ten years after Episode I, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), now a senator, resists the creation of a Republic Army to combat an evil separatist movement. The brooding Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is resentful of his stern Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), tormented by personal loss, and showing his emergent “dark side” while protecting his new love, Amidala, from would-be assassins. Youthful romance and solemn portent foreshadow the events of the firstborn Star Wars as Count Dooku (a.k.a. Darth Tyranus, played by Christopher Lee) forges an confederacy with the Dark Lord of the Sith, while lavish set pieces showcase George Lucas’s supreme command of all-digital filmmaking. All of this makes Episode II a technical milestone, savaged by some critics as a bloated, storyless spectacle, but still qualifying as a fan-approved precursor to the pivotal events of Episode III. –Jeff Shannon
Episode III, Revenge of the Sith Ending the most standard film epic in history, Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but at long last satisfying journey. Picking up the action from Episode II, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated Clone Wars series, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
It’s just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars amongst the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). On another front, Master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) leads the Republic’s clone troops versus a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is in the introductory half of Episode III, which feels a lot like Episodes I and II. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in space, a new fearsome villain (the CGI-created Grievous can’t match up to either Darth Maul or the introductory Darth Vader, though), lightsaber duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least it’s left to the droids rather of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids.
But then it all changes.
After setting up characters and situations for the primary two and a half movies, Episode III ultimately comes to life. The Sith Lord in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic, and an integral portion of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you’ve been living beneath a rock the last 10 years, you know that Anakin will transform into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an uttermost showdown with his mentor, but that doesn’t matter. In fact, a outstanding share of the fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they’ll get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also will have to inspire fans to want to see the basi movies again, but this time not out of feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized at the new ones. Rather, because Episode III is a beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of all, it seems like for the original time we actually care in regards to what happens and who it happens to.
Episode III is effortlessly the best of the new trilogy–OK, so that’s not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place amongst the six Star Wars films. It’s also the primary one to be ranked PG-13 for the intense battles and darker plot. It was probably totally unlikely to live up to the decades’ worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced for the Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with the basi two movies), but Episode III makes us once again glad to be “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.” –David Horiuchi
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV – VI) The Star Wars trilogy had the rare distinction of getting more than just a series of movies, but a cultural phenomenon, a life-defining event for it is generation. On it is surface, George Lucas’s primary 1977 film is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one may count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by it is basic struggle of good vs. evil “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” it is dazzling particular effects, and a mythology of Jedi Knights, the Force, and droids.
In the basi film, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) gets to live out each boy’s dream: ditch the farm and rescue a princess (Carrie Fisher). Accompanied by the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford, the only crucial who was competent to cross over into stardom) and trained by Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), Luke finds himself involved in a galactic war versus the Empire and the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones). The following film, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), takes a darker turn as the tiny rebellion faces an overpowering onslaught. Directed by Irvin Kershner rather of Lucas, Empire is on the short list of Best Sequels Ever, marked by fantastic settings (the ice planet, the cloud city), the teachings of Yoda, a dash of grown-up romance, and a now-classic “revelation” ending. The final film of the trilogy, Return of the Jedi (1983, directed by Richard Marquand), is the most uneven. While the visual effects had taken quantum leaps over the years, resulting in thrilling speeder chases and space dogfights, the story is an uneasy mix of severe themes (Luke’s maturation as a Jedi, the end of the Empire-rebellion showdown) and the cuddly teddy bears known as the Ewoks.
Years later, George Lucas transformed his films into “special editions” by adding new scenes and particular effects, which were greeted largely by shrugs from fans. They were perfectly happy with the films they had grown up with (who cares if Greedo shot first?), and thence disappointed by Lucas’s decision to make the special editions the only versions available. –David Horiuchi
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Most helpful client reviews
528 of 682 persons found the following review helpful.
 Major disappointment, but not because of the absence of the introductory versions
By J. Bongiorno
There are times you lower expectations, which is wise, because you don’t end up disappointed. But then there are times where you can’t lower them enough. This is one of them. At $90.00 (from Amazon, so that means after the 30% discount), I may safely say that the upcoming Star Wars blu-ray set is not one thing more than a contrived, corporate cash-grab designed to take vantage of fans.
770 of 1186 people found the following review helpful.
 Eh, it’s not actually *that* bad… is it?
By Bob Smith
As much as I respect everyone’s views and try to tolerate all of the quibbling reviews on here, this is just one ongoing debate/arguement that never ceases to end or stop annoying me. Do I think the originals ought to be included just to appease the die-hard & [really] old-schools fans? Yes. Do I care if they’re not included? No. No I don’t love each little thing that’s been added, notwithstanding I do be grateful for him cleaning up a lot of of the special effects – so I don’t let those things bother me. I don’t agree that each modify he made was for the better, but it’s a great saga – deal with it. Once he’s made up his mind he’s likely not going to change it over a bunch of negative amazon reviews.
To add onto what another reviewer wrote, if you prefer the originals in their ‘original’ state then you prefer their ‘original and poorer’ quality. And if that’s the case, why do you need these on bluray? They already subsist on dvd, so just get those *and* save yourself galore cash.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
 So a good deal of knickers in a knot Take a chill pill
By Moodies forever
Have never seen so galore people with their panties in a bunch, over something that may or may not be. No one knows what the final decision of Heir Lucas will be. Heck he may croak before September and then sanity will prevail.
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