It appears the Official Site will be world premiering the OUT DVD's. I'm not sure if there is anything to be premiering or if there is interest...

http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060818.html

Starting Next Week: Celebrate the Original Star Wars

August 18, 2006

September 12 is right around the corner -- it's the date that the Star Wars trilogy DVDs will be available as individual movies, each one packed with a bonus disc containing the original unaltered theatrical version of the classic film.

...

In anticipation of these releases, starwars.com is turning back the clock to focus on the original theatrical releases of the three classic Star Wars movies, with informative features that will help set the stage for these historic films. Read about what life was like in 1977, 1980, and 1983, and get ready for inside looks on the DVDs themselves.

It kicks off next week with coverage devoted to 1977's Star Wars, before it was known as A New Hope, and continues the following weeks with Empire and Jedi.

...

Yep, they're definitely not trying to use the original versions as the primary selling point.

The Strawberries I went to today was loaded with signs that read, "Star Wars Trilogy - UNALTERED - Available September 12".

Menus for the ANH bonus disc are up on starwars.com.

http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060822.html

They're just static menus with motion transitions. Not much better than anything fan made. The main menu opening is an animated shot of the Death Star trench. Cool concept, but it looks way too noisy in those images. I have to wonder if they spent more than a day working on these.

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starwars.com: The Bonus DVD Menus -- A New Hope

starwars.com A New Hope 1977 DVD pictureviewer.html (ad-free direct link)

[web]http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/20060822_picview/pictureviewer.html?imgNum=1&world=episode-iv[/web]

It appears as if the menus are 16x9... ironical

HB sees things before they happen.

The use of artwork for the menus is a rather ingenious way of not wanting to draw attention away (with flashy menus) from the original version's picture quality (or lack of) and the altered letterbox format.

...as Jaxon's Dad noticed, why are the menus 16x9 when the movies aren't? Has this ever happened before?

See, I told you!

No effort whatsoever on these things. None.

Actually, there are many instances of menu pages being 16X9 and the content within being 4X3. This has happened in the early days of DVD, and recently in the case of bonus features. It was quite common even up to a year ago to shoot, deliver and author all the extras in 4X3.

And aren't these OUT versions really just that? Extra features?

Basically any Warner Bros animated show. It's not a big deal if you watch them on a 4x3 TV but watching them on 16x9's must be damned annoying.

I have a 16x9 TV. And my question meant more in terms of movies. Most TV shows are shot 4:3. But has a widescreen movie ever been non-anamorphic when the menus enhanced?

As I stated above - yes - in the early days of DVD.

I also find it funny that they would include the THX optimizer so the grainy LD transfer and 2.0 sound can be even further pronounced.

It looks like Wal*Mart is giving us free comic books with the DVDs. Now there's an incentive.

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is it bad that i'm getting sort of excited to watch these?

No it's not bad.

Only if you're expecting DVD quality picture and sound.,

The Official Site updated with The Empire Strikes Back OUT Bonus Disc screencaps:

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starwars.com: The Bonus DVD Menus -- The Empire Strikes Back

starwars.com A New Hope 1980 DVD pictureviewer.html (ad-free direct link)

[web]http://www.starwars.com/episode-v/release/video/20060829_picview/pictureviewer.html?imgNum=1&world=episode-v[/web]