Why You Should Buy the Star Wars Movies Digital Release and Why You Shouldn’t
Big news for Star Wars fans and parents with kids who love Star Wars. Lucasfilm is releasing all six movies in the Star Wars saga for digital download on April 10th. There are reasons you should buy these and reasons you shouldn't.
A generation grew up having only seen Star Wars on home on video. Star Wars movies have been released for purchase 22 times! This covers releases on VHS, Laser Disc, DVD and Blu-Ray formats, and single movies releases, original trilogy sets, prequel trilogy sets and entire saga sets. I personally have four different copies of these movies in various formats.
George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney back in 2012 and in no time they announced they would be doing many more Star Wars films. The original cast would be back for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
So to get ready for the new film, the Star Wars Collection digital download is being released on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and many other digital retailers April 10th. You can buy each movie individually for $20 or pay $90 for all six, including bonus features.
The question is should you? Here are reasons why you should and reasons why you shouldn't.
Why You Should Buy Them
- They're digital - This is the best reason to buy them. Since they're digital HD, there's no way for them to ever degrade, get scratched, lost, broken, or used as a frisbee by the kids. They can be downloaded to watch offline or streamed. If you have a smart tv, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, XBox, Playstation, or dozens of other streaming devices you can watch them on your big screen. They'll also be available on computers, tablets and phones, so if your kid wants to watch Star Wars for the thousandth time, send them off with their own personal screen so you don't have to see it again.
- "Never Before Seen" behind the scenes footage - This is for the giant Star Wars geeks who have to get their hands on EVERY bit of Star Wars footage that is ever released. This is also how they get Star Wars geeks (like me) to buy it over and over again.
- They're digital - Sure they're convenient, but digital HD is not the same quality as Blu-Ray. It order for these to not take weeks to download or be a jittery stream, the files are compressed to a smaller size unlike Blu-Ray which is the highest quality you can get. It may not be a big deal to you if you're watching it on a small screen, but if you want the best home theater experience then Blu-Ray is the way to go for now.
- They're expensive - $20 per movie or $90 for all six isn't exactly a bargain. Especially if you already have own a copy of the movies. And what do you have to show for that $90? Some people just don't like the thought of paying all that money for something they can't hold in their hands.
- This won't be the last release - There are at least four more movies planned over the next decade, and probably more. There's no doubt there will be many more collections released in the future including a set with all nine movies in the saga and releases of stand alone movies. Technology will likely change in that time as well. Maybe an entirely new way to watch movies that we haven't even thought of yet.
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