The Corner Penthouse

On September 22, 2019, Disney re-released all 10 Star Wars films (The Rise of Skywalker wasn't out at the time) in new packaging featuring artwork that looks like a vertical smartphone against a HUGE black background with silver trim. Many times over the past year, I saw these releases in Target and Best Buy, but was never interested in them as I think that artwork looks really ugly - and from a design standpoint, all of that blackness is a a waste of space. Well, I received the Solo: A Star Wars Story Black-Cover "Multi-Screen Edition" Blu-ray for my birthday a few months ago, which was my first in-hand exposure to these releases. Well, let me tell you why you should AVOID THEM!

As far as I was knew, the Solo: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray, that was released on September 25, 2018, was a two-disc Blu-ray set with the movie on Disc 1 and the bonus features on Disc 2. That's what both DVD Compare and Blu-ray.com say about it. So, imagine my surprise when I opened up the case of the "Multi-Screen Edition" in this new black and silver packaging and saw this:


Inside was only one disc that just said "Feature Film" on it, as well as a Movies Anywhere digital copy code (not pictured). My heart sank when I saw that there was no second disc at all! Immediately, I grabbed the case and started studying it to see if it had anything to say about this lack of a second disc. I saw this written on the back cover, IN TINY PRINT and broken English: "Bonus not included on enclosed disc product." The bonus features are ONLY included with the Digital Copy!


WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!! Does Disney not realize that the people who still buy physical discs want ALL of the content to be ON the physical discs?!? Those people who would want the bonus features to be in a digital format would just buy the movie digitally. They wouldn't even bother with a physical disc. So, what is the point of these "movie only" re-releases? Who is the target audience? Mind you, these aren't even "budget releases". They carry a MSRP of $24.99, which in my opinion, is quite pricey for movies that are 2 to 43 years old at the time of this writing. Obviously, the reason Disney isn't including the second disc in these Black-Cover "Multi-Screen Edition" Blu-rays is to save costs, while still charging the customer full price.

Insultingly, Disney REPLACED the standard editions of all of these Star Wars movies with these movie-only Black-Cover "Multi-Screen Edition" Blu-rays. (NOTE: Disney never released Episodes 1-6 individually on Blu-ray, so the preceding comment about "standard editions of all" refers to Episodes 7 & 8, Rogue One, and Solo.) I went to my local Best Buy and Target stores, and the only Blu-ray copies of the Star Wars films they stocked were these abominations. They ALL had the same tiny note on the back about the bonus features only being available digitally. Disney has decided that if you still want the second disc with the bonus features, you'll have to buy the more expensive "Ultimate Collector's Edition" 4K release, which is just the original 2-disc Blu-ray set with an extra 4K disc.

Anyway, I was deeply saddened that I got the "bad" copy of the movie for my birthday, so I contacted Disney to see if they would make things right for me by sending me the missing Disc 2. After a lot of back and forth, they said that they don't send discs, but if I were to send them a copy of my sister's sales receipt, and a photo of the set with a special code written on a piece of paper, they would send me a refund check. I did just that, and used the pre-paid return label they mailed to me to send the Black-Cover "Multi-Screen Edition" Blu-ray to them in mid-July. At the beginning of August, I received a check for $21.71, which is what my sister paid for the set with sales tax. I used that money to buy the proper, and now forcefully out-of-print, two-disc Blu-ray set.

While I am happy that Disney made things right for me, and I didn't have to be stuck with that crappy Black-Cover "Multi-Screen Edition" Blu-ray, this shouldn't have happened in the first place. Shame on Disney for removing the "good" versions from the market and replacing them with crap.

Based on the DVD and Blu-ray sets that I own (I don't own any of the 4K releases), and some quick research, these would be the best OFFICIAL RELEASES to buy if you want the movies AND a healthy collection of bonus features on physical discs. There might be more elaborate releases, and probably some extra bonus features out there, so this is not meant to be a complete list of all releases. Rather, this is a list of what should suffice for the average collector residing in the United States. Also, NOT ALL "MULTI-SCREEN EDITIONS" ARE BAD; ONLY THE ONES WITH THE BLACK COVERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED. (Side note: I don't endorse Episodes 8 & 9, and refuse to have them in my collection, but I'm including them below for the sake of including all of the theatrical motion pictures.)

4K & BLU-RAY COMBO PACKS

• The Skywalker Saga (27-Disc, contains Eps 1-9 + nine bonus discs) (Region Free) (I DON'T OWN, CAN'T COMMENT ON IT, BUT IT MAY BE THE ONLY SET YOU NEED [EXCEPT FOR ROGUE ONE & SOLO])
• Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 2: Attack of the Clones (2002) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 4: A New Hope (1977) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (1983) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 7: The Force Awakens (2015) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 8: The Last Jedi (2017) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Rogue One (2016) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (3-Disc 4K+BLU)

BLU-RAY

• The Skywalker Saga (18-Disc, contains Eps 1-9 + nine bonus discs) (Region Free) (I DON'T OWN, CAN'T COMMENT ON IT, BUT IT MAY BE THE ONLY SET YOU NEED [EXCEPT FOR ROGUE ONE & SOLO])
• The Complete Saga (9-Disc, contains Eps 1-6 + three bonus discs) (20th Century Fox) (cover is either Anakin or Vader)
• Episode 7: The Force Awakens (2015) (3-Disc BLU+DVD)
• Episode 8: The Last Jedi (2017) (2-Disc)
• Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) (2-Disc)
• Rogue One (2016) (3-Disc BLU+DVD)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (2-Disc)

DVD ONLY (FOR THEATRICAL CUTS & EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES)

• Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999) (2-Disc Widescreen)
• Episode 2: Attack of the Clones (2002) (2-Disc Widescreen)
• Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (2-Disc Widescreen)
• Episode 4: A New Hope (1977) (2-Disc Widescreen Limited Edition with Special Edition & Theatrical Cuts)
• Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (2-Disc Widescreen Limited Edition with Special Edition & Theatrical Cuts)
• Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (1983) (2-Disc Widescreen Limited Edition with Special Edition & Theatrical Cuts)
• Star Wars Trilogy Bonus Material Disc (from a box set with Episodes 4-6 without the Theatrical Cuts)
• Episode 7: The Force Awakens (2015) (NO BONUS FEATURES, NOT NEEDED)
• Episode 8: The Last Jedi (2017) (NO BONUS FEATURES, NOT NEEDED)
• Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) (NO BONUS FEATURES, NOT NEEDED)
• Rogue One (2016) (NO BONUS FEATURES, NOT NEEDED)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (NO BONUS FEATURES, NOT NEEDED)

May the Schwartz be with you.

(Header photo courtesy of Core of Movies on Twitter)