The Force is (still) with ‘Star Wars’; Blu-ray breaks sales records

The just—released Star Wars box set on Blu-ray, dubbed The Complete Saga, has become the no. 1 best-selling catalog Blu-ray disc to date, with worldwide sales totaling 1 million units within its first week. This six-film set has also become the no. 1 pre-order catalog title in the high-definition format's history.

A "catalog" title refers to the release of an older film, opposed to a "new release" that was recently in theatres -- or perhaps a "straight to video" disc.

The 1 million copies sold, with more than half in North America, represents about $84 million in sales. In Canada, the box set sells for $89.99.

As you'd expect from a Blu-ray release, the six films are presented in pristine high-definition picture and 6.1 DTS surround sound audio.

"I may play an amazing beast with computerized intelligence but I just found out what Blu-ray is all about and it's amazing," says Anthony Daniels, a.k.a. C-3PO, in a telephone call with Yahoo! Canada. "The quality is amazing — almost to the point where you can see glitches here and there in the original films [laughs]."

"Film is very forgiving -- your eye won't likely pick out some gaffer tape, hair out of place or strange makeup — but with Blu-ray there are going to be occasions where you'll just accept it and smile warmly,' adds Daniels.

The 65 year-old English actor, who was recently in Toronto for Fan Expo, says he thinks Star Wars is "magical" not just in its story, characters and special effects, but because the films have transcended three generations.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga also houses more than 40 hours of extended, alternative or deleted scenes; new and old documentaries, featurettes and full-length audio commentaries; plus interviews, on-the-set scenes, a handful of spoofs, and more.

Highlights include: A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (a 2010 chat with George Lucas and others on the 30th anniversary of the film), Star Wars Spoofs (a 91-minute look at hilarious Star Wars parodies from Weird Al, Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more), The Making of Star Wars (1977; featuring many interviews), Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983; on costumes, primarily) and Star Warriors (a 2007 film about Star Wars fans).

"Please, don't watch it all at once," kids Daniels. "I love the wonderful spoofs like Family Guy and the hysterically funny LEGO special, so don't miss those."

"It's been a wonderful career," reminisces Daniels. "To me, it's been a wonderful job, and to many people Star Wars has been a very important part of their life, which makes it even more special to mine."

Episodes I - III and Episodes IV - VI are also available as separate Blu-ray Trilogy collections for $49.99 apiece.