Star Wars Blu-Ray

So I finally received my Star Wars Blu-Ray set from Amazon the other day and wow, the film quality is amazing.  A lot of bad things have been said about this set before it was released due to George Lucas's tweaking as well as the absence of the original 3 films in their untouched format.  I however purchased it anyways for both the extensive special features as well as then 6.1 sound upgrade.  I have not been disappointed.  Watching the original Star Wars (Episode IV), the transfer is so detailed that I was able to see the dirt and scratches on R2D2's dome.  The sound of Darth Vader choking the man in the conference room of the Death Star is a sound entity in and of itself, WOW!  While I'm not a fan of most of George's additions to the original trilogy, it is nice to see the scenes he didn't change in such pristine condition.  I still have my VHS editions of the "as seen in theater" versions of this trilogy if I feel the need to relive the joy of the past.  The new trilogy (Episodes I-III) doesn't have many changes although it still looks and sounds amazing on Blu-Ray.  The 3 Blu-Ray's full of extras, especially the documentaries are a nice treat for those of us who have already watched all of the extras from the DVD collections and are looking for more insider information.

Star Wars vs Avatar

So, I saw an MSNBC article today that had me upset. It was titled ‘Avatar’ surpasses ‘Star Wars’ at No. 3 all-time. I haven't actually seen Avatar yet but I know I will eventually. However, I also know that I don't want it surpassing Star Wars. That disturbs me. I have a lot of film student friends and those that have seen Avatar say the 3D effects are amazing but that the story isn't all that wonderful. Also, is this a film that will completely change the way films are made? Maybe in terms of 3D but what about the film business itself? There wasn't a summer blockbuster film until Star Wars created the trend. Star Wars completely changed how studios made films and marketed them. Merchandising as we know it today was formed because of Star Wars. With the ticket prices as high as they are right now, a lot of films are now making the list that if ticket prices were less, would not. Luckily for me (as I am a huge Star Wars fan - I know, big shocker), the article later says that not counting ticket prices, just using number of tickets sold, Star Wars is still way ahead of Avatar. That is the only way films should be judged anyways. Inflation changes ticket prices every year and will continue to do so. Therefore the only scientific way to judge the popularity of a film is how many people went to see it.