May The DVD Be With You On October 16

Posted Tuesday, June 19, 2001 at 9:40 AM Central

by John Couture

October 16, 2001: A day that will live in DVD infamy. After months of speculation and wild rumors, Fox Home Entertainment made it official this morning. The Phantom Menace will be available on DVD on October 16.

The Phantom Menace is the first Star Wars movie to be offered on DVD and the first George Lucas movie to receive his official blessing on the new format.

The two disc set features over six hours of additional bonus material including full audio commentary with George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, and a host of special effects experts. Seven deleted scenes will be included with full special effects that were added specifically for the DVD release. An hour long documentary, "The Beginning," will give viewers access to the best of over 600 hours of video coverage from the making of Episode I. The multi-angle button will also get a workout as Lucas and crew have included an option to flip from storyboard to animatic to finished product through various key action sequences. There are also five behind-the-scenes featurettes, the "Duel Of The Fates" music video, the full complement of theatrical prints, and the complete offering of trailers for the film.

All these added extras and the fact that this is the first Star Wars movie available on DVD is sure to make this one of the best selling DVDs of all time. Too bad they didn't think to include a "No Jar Jar" version of the movie... the sales would have been astronomical.