Having not seen any....of course I have and unless you've been living in the kessel spice mines, so have you.
The picture and sound are excellent, people seem divided, with some saying the first three aren't as good looking as the last three and vica verca. I think they all look pretty darn good, but don't expect anything you haven't seen before, as these are basically the same films you know and love/hate.
I even found I enjoyed The Phantom Menace, you can too if you block Jar Jar out when he's on screen. I wish the Lucas team had taken out his awful lines like "exqueeze me" and "meeza in big doo doo". Poo jokes were never what Star Wars was about, it was mainly adult themes in a sci-fi setting where we followed and routed for a brilliant band of brothers...and Sister.
I haven't watched all the extras, but the making of A New Hope is good fun and shows the quality of these films before remastering. It makes you glad they have been labour of love for Lucas and that he's kept them up to date and looking great, although some of the Phantom Menace CGI can look a bit ropey in places, but only for brief moments. Also, the New Hope making of doc was made before Episode 5 and 6 were written. It's great to listen to Harrison and Mark Hamil argue over who should get the princess. Mark even says Leia would be a complete doosh to not go for Luke. Oh if only they knew what Lucas had up his sleeve.
The Spoofs extra was a complete let down. It's just a bunch of clips from shows like saturday night live, some ads and a few other bits, none of which were all that funny. They really missed a trick on this one because there are some genuinely funny spoofs out there like 'Pink 5' and 'Chad Vader'.
Now - THE CONTROVERSY
Basically, the changes are all very very minor and don't change the films much at all. The net nerds will stomp their feet and claim their childhood has been soiled, but well balanced people who love Star Wars but have a life outside of it, will enjoy seeing Star Wars with a few fresh treats. Obi Wan's dragon call, which has been changed to an old man screaming was slated in many pre-release posts. It actually made me jump and was pretty eerie(I knew it was coming too), so I feel it was better than the sound it replaced. The Cantina has been changed, basically sped up so you have no clue who shoots first. Han does dodge but it really is so quick that unless you watched slowed down versions on youtube you won't really notice. I honsetly think all the changes i've seen so far are quite good.
I watched the original originals on VHS recently and they are poor beyond belief. They have a claustrophobic feel because all of the backgrounds are not fleshed out with CGI like in the newer releases. There's also goofs and gafs galore. I suggest most of the people complaining they want the Original Originals haven't watched them recently. 90% of what lucas has done makes the newer versions so much better. Nothing's perfect, so the 10% I don't love, like the song in Jabbas palace, I can ignore. It really is that easy.
Walt Disney first envisaged 'living' cinema in which a film is changed over time so that audiences can happily watch the same story with new twists over their life times. Lucas is the only person doing this and for me it makes watching a film i've seen a hundred times fun all over again.
Literally, for the 12+hour running time, there is a couple of minutes of changes you could even start quibbling over. The rest give new depth and flesh out the Star Wars universe so that it's a living breathing place.
Star Wars on blu ray is an absolute treat and half...