Original trilogy The original trilogy ( often abbreviated as OT ) were the first films of the " Star Wars " saga to be produced . These were the movies released between 1977 and 1983 . The original trilogy is sometimes called the " classic trilogy " in contrast to the prequel trilogy . The term sequel trilogy is used for the sequels that take place 30 years after " Return of the Jedi " . It primarily focuses on a young man named Luke Skywalker . Plot summary . < br > This film introduces the characters of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia , as well as the iron fisted regime of the Galactic Empire . On Tatooine , Luke ' s home planet , the exiled Jedi Obi - Wan Kenobi , in the guise of a kindly old hermit named Ben Kenobi , watches over him . When Luke realizes his Jedi potential , he teams with Han Solo , joins the Rebels , destroys the Death Star and rescues Leia from Darth Vader . However , Obi - Wan dies in combat with Darth Vader . < br > After the Alliance experiences a devastating defeat at the hands of the Empire on Hoth , Luke Skywalker goes to receive training from the Jedi Master Yoda . However when Princess Leia and Han Solo are captured by the Empire on Bespin , Luke attempts a rescue only to be confronted by Darth Vader . His battle with the Dark Lord ends in Luke ' s defeat , and he receives the horrifying revelation that Darth Vader is in fact the former Anakin Skywalker , his father . Leia manages to break free with the help of Han ' s old friend ; Lando Calrissian ; but Han is himself taken away . < br > After rescuing Han Solo from the gang lord Jabba the Hutt , Luke visits a dying Yoda , who confirms Vader ' s revelation and reveals that there is another surviving Skywalker before expiring . Obi - Wan Kenobi ' s spirit appears and elaborates , and Luke deduces that his sister is in fact Leia . While the Alliance engages the Empire in a battle against the second Death Star above Endor , Luke confronts Vader and the Emperor Sheev Palpatine ; the Sith mastermind who engineered the creation of the Galactic Empire and the fall of Anakin Skywalker . After a brutal duel with Luke , in which he is defeated and shown mercy , Vader shakes off the Dark Side of the Force and becomes Anakin Skywalker again , destroying Palpatine and saving Luke ' s life at the cost of his own before he dies . With the destruction of the Death Star and the death of Palpatine , the Empire is defeated and as the rebels celebrate , Luke looks on at the smiling spirits of Obi - Wan , Yoda , and his father . Re - releases . George Lucas has tinkered repeatedly with the original trilogy . Episodes IV through VI were remastered and re - released The films underwent extensive clean - up and restoration work , and Lucas took advantage of this opportunity to make a number of changes and additions of effects . In a September 2004 interview with CNN , he explains his reasons for the changes : " To me , the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make . Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished . It ' s abandoned or it ' s ripped out of your hands , and it ' s thrown into the marketplace , never finished . . . . Most artists , most painters , even composers would want to come back and redo their work now . They ' ve got a new perspective on it , they ' ve got more resources , they have better technology , and they can fix or finish the things that were never done . … " " I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it . At the beginning , people went , " Don ' t you like it ? " I said , " Well , the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be . " . . . If you read any interviews for about an eight - or nine - year period there , it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was . You know , it ' s too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it . So this was my chance to finish it . " The re - release changes are a point of contention among some fans who claim that they reduce the quality of the movies . Some fans see Lucas ' testimony before the U . S . Congress in opposition to colorizing black - and - white films ( a position he reiterated in August 2004 ) as hypocritical , but the types of alterations Lucas opposes are done by studios without the consent of the artists involved in the original production , as opposed to changes he made to his own films . On May 4 , 2006 , StarWars . com announced that the original trilogy would be released in unaltered form on DVD on September 12 , 2006 .