Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and LucasFilm announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas that all six movies in the Star Wars saga would be released on Blu-ray high definition disc on September 18, 2011.

Three sets are planned for this release:

• Star Wars: The Complete Saga ($140) will be a 9-disc set containing all six movies and more than 30 hours of extensive special features including never-before-seen deleted and alternate scenes, and exploration of the exclusive Star Wars archives, and "much more"
• Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy ($70) will be three discs, containing Episodes I-III
• Star Wars: The Original Trilogy ($70) will be three discs, containing Episodes IV-VI

You will not be able to buy the movies individually, at least not right away. Anyone hoping for the original trilogy to contain the original theatrical releases will be sorely disappointed.

These will be the modified Special Editions that George Lucas has stated are the "only editions that exist" even though no one really believes that. Fans would gladly pay full price (just about any price for some, I'd imagine) for the unedited, un-enhanced, un-Greedo-shooting-first editions, and I would like nothing more for Lucas to put a PIP documentary with them that explains his thought process in creating the modified versions of the original trilogy and why he likes them so much.

Considering some of the double and triple dips of movies that are out on Blu-ray already, and considering how many different editions of the Star Wars movies have been sold on VHS, Video CD, LaserDisc, DVD, and now Blu-ray, no one will get their noses bent too far out of joint if LucasFilm were to dig into the archives and release the original original trilogy onto Blu-ray. Yeah, the quality won't be up to the same standards as the bright and shiny new remastered ones, but that's part of the appeal!

In related news, there is no mention of any versions of the prequel trilogy that have had Jar Jar Binks removed completely. That may come as a bigger disappointment to some than the lack of the unedited original trilogy, but we'll have to wait for another release to see if that will ever happen...

Amazon.com has all three editions available for pre-order, so look below and check out the special pricing that they have right now:

Don't forget, Amazon guarantees pre-order purchases to get the lowest price that they offer until the day of release, so you're best off placing your order now, and hope that the price goes down in the next several months. If you find another place that has it cheaper, you can always cancel your order at no risk to you.

What Do You Think?

Is this the best news all year, or does the news have you yawning? Upset about the original trilogy special editions instead of the theatrical editions? Happy to finally bask in some Jedi greatness in 1080p?

Comment below, you must!