Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review assumes you are already familiar with the incredible score John Williams composed for the Star Wars trilogy. I had a few questions about this release before I bought it, so I did some research, and here's what I learned: (1) Is this REALLY the complete score? --- Well, yes, with one caveat. The content of the 30th Anniversary Collection is exactly the same as that of the 1997 RCA Special Edition and 2004 Sony Classical releases. These three releases apparently have all of the music composed for the entire trilogy, except "Lapti Nek" and "Ewok Celebration" from Return of the Jedi. These two cues (which are pop-like songs used as source music) do, however, appear in the 1993 Four-Disc Fox Anthology. Apparently their exclusion in the newer "complete" releases is due to the fact that these two cues were cut from the Special Edition Return of the Jedi movie (1997). These cues were replaced by "Jedi Rocks" and "Victory Celebration," which were newly composed for the new version of the movie. So, I suppose the 30th Anniversary Collection is complete if you accept that two of the source music cues were substituted for the new movie. You might notice that the "Main Title" for A New Hope is about 2-1/2 minutes longer in the 1993 Anthology. This cue is longer in the Anthology simply because music from other cues was tacked onto it. The newer releases have all of that music; the music just appears on other cues (chronologically) rather than tacked onto the "Main Title." (2) How does the 30th Anniversary Collection compare with the 1993 Four-Disc Fox Anthology? --- The 30th Anniversary Collection pretty much makes the 1993 Anthology obsolete, except for the liner notes. First, the sound is much better (see below). Second, there are 80 minutes of additional music in the 30th Anniversary Collection, making it truly complete (with the above caveat). More specifically, there are 20 additional minutes of music for A New Hope, 15 additional minutes of music for Empire Strikes Back, and 45 additional minutes of music for Return of the Jedi. Third, the 30th Anniversary Collection has the music in chronological order, as it is heard in the movies (with the exception of a few well-placed concert arrangements). The 1993 Anthology put the music in a more concert-appropriate order. I think the chronological order is much more enjoyable for true fans of the movies: you can almost see the action just from listening. (3) Is the sound better than in previous versions? --- Much better than the 1993 Anthology; slightly better than the 1997 RCA Special Edition. For the 1997 RCA Special Edition, the sound was digitally remastered from the original tapes; therefore compared with the 1993 Four-Disc Fox Anthology, the 1997 RCA Special Edition has much less hiss and the sound is warmer. On the flip side, the dynamic range is narrower and the uppermost frequencies were lost in the compression. Overall, I think the 1997 RCA Special Edition sounds much better than the 1993 Four-Disc Fox Anthology. Then, for the 2004 Sony Classical release, the music underwent Sony's Direct Stream Digital remastering, which provided a minimal amount of clarity. The sound of the 30th Anniversary Collection is exactly the same as that of the 2004 Sony Classical release. (4) How is the packaging? --- Not great. The 1993 Anthology came with a full-size booklet with color photos, lots of background information, and music analysis. The 1997 RCA Special Edition came with acclaimed liner notes by Michael Matessino, a film music historian and producer, who provided a track-by-track analysis of the entire score. The 2004 Sony Classical release omitted these notes and came with only a few screensavers (a major disappointment for fans). The 30th Anniversary Collection does a bit better than the latter, containing packaging from the original LPs of these soundtracks and a CD-ROM containing files of original materials associated with the films and soundtracks. I agree with other reviewers that this is a bit of a let down, but I wouldn't let this deter me from acquiring this new set. The 1997 RCA Special Edition is not easy to come by anymore (and if you look hard enough, you can find Michael Matessino's notes online). BOTTOM LINE: If you (1) are a fan of John Williams' amazing score for the trilogy, (2) want all the music available for the trilogy, and (3) don't already have either the 1997 RCA Special Edition or 2004 Sony Classical releases, I highly recommend this set. If you own the 1993 Four-Disc Fox Anthology, this is a tougher call--get it if you crave the additional 80 minutes of music and better sound quality. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT take Amazon's above suggestion and purchase this together with Star Wars: The Corellian Edition. The latter already comes included in the 30th Anniversary Collection Box (Disc 7)!