Star Wars Blu-ray announcement

Get ready to dig deep and make your annual donation towards the upkeep and maintenance of Skywalker Ranch.

Yesterday came an announcement that we all thought had already been announced: Star Wars is coming to Blu-ray in September 2011. Seriously, didn't we already know this?

As if there was any doubt anyway - I swear George Lucas has been saving all his merchandise revenue so that one day he will unveil his own giant Death Star and tell us all that he is building the first galactic empire.

So, just to reiterate, Star Wars is coming to Blu-ray in September. Here's what you need to know, including links to preorder the boxsets (yes, you can preorder them already).

• The boxsets that will be available are: The Complete Saga (I-VI), The Original Trilogy (IV-VI) and The Prequel Trilogy (I-III). I'm guessing there'll be a limited run of the latter.


• These are the Special Editions, not the original I-saw-it-first-in-the-cinema-and-there-weren't-so-many-banthas-then theatrical releases. Grrr! Boo! Hiss!


• The special features include over 30 hours of extensive footage including "never-before-seen deleted and alternate scenes" BUT these are only available on the Complete Saga boxset. Because George doesn't want you to give him £35 if he can get you to give him £70 instead. Also, 'never-before-seen' presumably only applies to those without access to YouTube.


• I will be first in line to buy a copy, flagellating myself like a bleached Paul Bettany in The Da Vinci Code.

And, in case you've forgotten what these Star Wars films are all about then, here's a handy trailer for the Blu-ray release. Let the derisory comments begin!