Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

The Star Wars saga goes digital this Friday with new bonus features

star wars digital download release movie collection
Until now, if you wanted to watch one of the Star Wars films on your phone or tablet, it involved the lengthy process of ripping and encoding your Blu-Ray or DVD copy of the movie. It was possible, but compared to most other movies, it was a hassle. Now the entire six-movie saga will be available in high resolution digital format.

As the hype continues to build around the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s hard to imagine a better time to get fans to buy the previous films in the series for the second or third time.

“We’re thrilled that fans will be able to enjoy the Star Wars saga on their digital devices wherever they go,” said Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in the official announcement heralding the upcoming release. “These films broke new ground in technology, design, sound, and visual effects, and we’ve created some very special bonus material which delves into the saga’s rich history, including new and never-before-released conversations between legendary Star Wars artists — the masters who helped George bring his iconic universe to life.”

Individual films in the series will sell for $20, while certain digital stores will sell the films as a collection for a lower price. The whole bundle will cost $90 on the Google Play Store, and the films will also be available as a set from Microsoft’s Xbox Video, though the price has not yet been announced.

Each of the six films comes with the standard set of bonus features — documentaries, deleted scenes, interviews, and similar featurettes — but as is increasingly the case, there will also be extras specific to various digital stores. Microsoft, for example, has announced that customers who purchase the entire six-film collection via Xbox Video will receive an R2-D2 companion for their Xbox Live avatar as well as a Star Wars-themed table for the free-to-play Pinball FX2 for Xbox One or Xbox 360.

The movies will be available this Friday, April 10 from the usual suspects including iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Instant Video.

Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection – TV Spot
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
The 7 best Star Wars vehicles ever, ranked
lets pick apart little things star wars force awakens teaser trailer  8

The universe of Star Wars is absolutely jam-packed with vehicles. These vehicles are the chief way that the story's characters get from one planet to another, and they're also how people often travel when they're on a planet.

These vehicles serve much more than a simple utilitarian function, though. They're almost characters in and of themselves, and they're also often settings for some of the most important scenes in the history of the franchise. Star Wars simply wouldn't be the same without its many vehicles, so we've decided to rank the seven best.
7. AT-ATs

Read more
All the things we want to see in The Mandalorian season 4
Din Djarin flying while holding onto Grogu.

Lucasfilm and Disney+'s flagship Star Wars series The Mandalorian finished season3 with less fanfare than the first two outings. Overall, the season still earned a generally positive reception, but its comparatively more mixed bag of episodes was tough to ignore.

It certainly didn't suffer from the same intrusive problems as The Book of Boba Fett, and its last two episodes felt like more what fans expected. Even so, the story had more of an identity crisis when it came to its overarching narrative. Couple that with the more episodic stories that didn't use their time wisely, and there are several things fans might hope to see in the inevitable season 4.
A more focused main storyline

Read more
Want to enjoy the Star Wars TV shows more? Watch the cartoons, already!
Ahsoka Tano prepares for battle in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I’m pretty nerdy about a lot of things: turntables, vinyl records, barbecue, Game of Thrones, and yes, Star Wars. To a fault, I can be hard to shut up once my string is pulled, and lately, much of my blathering has been focused around a couple of Star Wars TV series -- The Mandalorian and the upcoming Ahsoka, the latter of which I am super-excited for. But I’ve had a few conversations about these shows with friends recently that have been driving me nuts. The latest involved me gushing over a live-action cameo of the animated Star Wars: Rebels series character Zeb Orrelios in season 3, episode 5 of The Mandalorian. My friend exclaimed that he had no idea who Zeb was and that he'd never watched "that cartoon," and here we are.
But a couple of notes before I continue: First, I know that Star Wars: Rebels and its precursor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, are “cartoons.” Second, I’m aware that I’m a grown man. The point is, I’m often amazed to learn that, for those and other reasons, many people have avoided these excellent animated Star Wars series -- and this is a mistake. Much of what happens in The Clone Wars and Rebels has direct ties to shows such as The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and especially Ahsoka, as they introduce incredible characters and crucial backstories. Do you need to watch them to know what's going on? No. You don't even need to watch every episode to get a better understanding of the live-action shows: We have great essential episode guides for Clone Wars and Rebels to set you up. But time and again I’ve been rewarded with excitement, a better understanding of characters and plotlines, and a more satisfying cathartic payoff because of watching these "cartoons." Plus, they’re just really good.
And whether you’ve just started watching The Mandalorian or are, like me, waiting eagerly for Ahsoka in August, here are a few good reasons you should take the next few months and get caught up on some of the best cartoons you’ll ever see.
Note: There are Mandalorian spoilers ahead.
Ahsoka Tano gets her due

Making her live-action debut in season 2 of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano began her journey as Anakin Skywalker's tenacious young Padawan, and her adventures throughout seven seasons of the animated Clone Wars made her one of the most exciting and loved Jedi characters in the Star Wars universe. Not only does she endure betrayal through Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, but her arc connects her to the warrior Mandalorians when she helps Bo-Katan Kryze liberate the planet Mandalore from occupation. The series concludes when Darth Sidious issues Order 66, which triggered the betrayal and extermination of the Jedi, aligning the show with the film Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith.

Read more