Star Wars Episode I, VCD, 20th Century Fox Video/VideoVan Malaysia, 2000
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Star Wars Episode I was released on VideoCD in the Asian markets in 2000. At the time, this was the only Digital version available, as the DVD release was still unannounced and would not show up until 2001. The SD (Standard Def) picture resolution of VideoCD was not really an improvement on the common VHS, and the sound was still only Dolby Pro Logic Surround, but having a DIGITAL version of the film was very enticing to many of us. Thus, when Episode I was announced on VideoCD, it was a big deal among home theater enthusiasts worldwide, and the Asian VideoCDs were bought by many international customers.
There are at least three official releases from Asian countries that I am aware of: The Hong Kong version from Deltamac, the Thai version from CVD, and this Malaysian version from VideoVan. The Malaysian version was well positioned to fill the needs of international customers. As English used to be an official language of Malaysia, the disc came with original English audio and no subtitles. Before the film starts you get a short promo for Fox Interactive, but apart from that this is a "movie-only" release. Due to the limits of the VideoCD format, the film is split across two discs, with a well chosen sidebreak (after Anakin says goodbye to his mother). The packaging is all English as well, so it would fit in nicely in international collections. The Malaysian packaging is somewhat frustrating, as it is a single piece of cardboard wrapped around two CD jewel cases stacked on top of each other. This was common for VideoCD releases in Malaysia at the time, but makes for a flimsy package when displayed on a shelf. There were many E-tailers offering to ship Asian movies internationally at the time, many of them even catering specifically to the international market. eBay was an option of course, but I got my copy from VideoValley.com upon release. |
Copyright notice
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VideoVan logo
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Fox Interactive promo video
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20th. Century Fox Home Ent. logo
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Feature Presentation card
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Age certificate
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Fox fanfare
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Title card
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Cropped opening crawl
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Dioxis!
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Careful, Sebulba
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Senate cameos
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No bridge
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Puppet Yoda
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End credits
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