Star Wars Special Widescreen edition, VHS, Fox Video, UK 1991
Widescreen 2.35:1 - Hi-Fi Stereo - PAL
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1991 marks the debut of Widescreen Star Wars releases in the UK. The film is presented in the "letterboxed" widescreen format, in original English and with Hi-Fi Stereo. The audio mix contains C-3PO's "tractor beam" line, which was not present on any previous UK releases, and would not be included on the 1994 THX releases three years later. This leads me to believe the masters are the same ones that were prepared for the 1986 Japanese Special Collection Laserdiscs. There are some indications of blended frames (see "S-foils" screenshot below) that would confirm this was indeed an NTSC-to-PAL conversion. The tape contains a trailer for Lost in Space and The Twilight Zone, as well as a promo explaining the benefits of the Widescreen format. The first Star Wars has the CBS/Fox Video intro at the start, while Empire and the second pressing of Jedi does not.
This tape could also be purchased as part of a box set. The box itself is copyrighted 1992, and so is the tape inside, but these tapes were kept in print over several years after they debuted in 1991. I have three separate pressings of this tape, two from single purchases and one that came with the box set, and the copyright date on the tape label has been changed between pressings. The outside art retains the 1991 copyright date on all three copies, only the tape labels were updated. The inside of the inlay on the 1991 issue has artwork advertising other Fox titles, but on the 1992 single version and the 1992 box set version the inside is blank. The content of the actual tapes is identical, apart from the duplication date screens. The early 90s represents a transitional period where the CBS and 20th Century Fox partnership for video distribution was dissolved. The Empire and Jedi releases from 1991/1992 have BOTH the CBS/Fox logo AND the Fox Video logo on them, but note that the CBS/Fox logo is conspicuously absent on the cover for the first Star Wars. I'm not sure why that is, but it might have something to do with the rights for the first Star Wars film being divided between 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation and Lucasfilm until 1997. (The rights to the two sequels have always been held by Lucasfilm alone.) The rumour is that in 1997, George Lucas negotiated the exclusive rights to the first Star Wars be transferred to him, in exchange for 20th Century-Fox receiving distribution rights to the Special Edition versions and the planned prequel trilogy.
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Sleeve inside (1991 pressing only)
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Tape front (1991)
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Tape front (1992)
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Tape front (1992 box set)
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Tape top (1991)
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Tape top (1992)
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Tape top (1992 box set)
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Pressing variations:
Tape duplication date
(1991 pressing)
Tape duplication date
(1992 pressing)
No tape duplication date
(1992 box set pressing)
Copyright info
Fox Video intro
Lost in Space/Twilight Zone trailer
Widescreen demo
CBS/Fox Widescreen intro
Fox fanfare
A long time ago...
Title card
Opening crawl
Star Destroyer
Droid spa
Binoculars
Greedo subtitles
Tractor beam line included
Ben's saber
S-foils (blended frame)
Death Star explosion
End credits
End credits
Copyright info (reprise)
