‘Star Wars’ Is Coming To Streaming — Which Platform Is Right For You?

Star Wars fans: the Force has been freed!

That’s right. As of 12:01 AM this Friday, April 10, you can stream Star Wars anytime you want. The original and prequel trilogies will be available for purchase on digital platforms like Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, iTunes, and Vudu. You can buy all six films individually, but some retailers are offering bundled deals.

Having the Star Wars films available on streaming gives fans the ability to watch these films whenever and wherever they want. There’s a big added literal bonus for hard core Star Wars nerds. Lucasfilm has released a list of all the potential bonus features and deleted scenes that are available. These include famous lost moments like Threepio unleashing the wampa on the Stormtroopers in The Empire Strikes Back, all the Rebel pilots cut from Return of the Jedi, and extra scenes from the prequel trilogy. There are also trailers, documentaries, and special effects reels. Of course, these press releases came with the caveat that not all retailers will have all of these bonus features. Which means, you might not get that extended take the of “Aunt Beru’s Blue Milk Scene.”

So, the question is: which platform is right for you? Personal preferences aside, here are what all the major streaming retailers are promising.

Amazon Instant Video’s Deal

Amazon is giving customers a sweet deal if they pre-order what they’re calling Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection. You get all six films on streaming, plus unspecified bonus material, for $89.99. The films are individually available for purchase in either High Definition or Standard Definition for $19.99.

Google Play’s Deal

Google Play is offering the films individually for $19.99 or all six together for $99.00. However, they have also upped the ante (since their press release last night). You can pre-order the six films together for $89.99. Google Play is the only platform to confirm so far that you will get all 72 pieces of bonus content (and 12 are brand new to Star Wars fans). While it’s probable you’ll get the same content with the other platforms, it’s worth noting that Google Play is the only one so far to confirm it.

Vudu’s Deal

If you pre-order on Vudu, you save $10 on the bundle deal. This means you get all six films for $89.99. Vudu promises “all new digital extras,” but of course, isn’t explicit on which ones you get. (Maybe the famed Toschi Station scenes?) But, Vudu is sweetening the deal by offering an additional $10 credit to new subscribers. So, if this is your first Vudu purchase, you’ll not only get the best deal on the six films, but an extra $10 to spend on Vudu titles to boot.

M-GO’s Deal

You can also pre-order the six movie bundle at M-GO for $89.99, but all individual films are available for a slightly discounted rate of $19.77. That’s also the VOD platform’s nod to the year the original Star Wars was released. In fact, you can pre-order Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope for $14.99. In addition to these price cuts, M-GO is giving customers who purchase the whole bundle 1138 Rewards Points that you can redeem on future M-GO purchases.

iTunes’ Deal

At this time, iTunes doesn’t appear to be offering the films in any sort of bundle. You can pre-order each film individually for $19.99. iTunes also promises “never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes.” Maybe one of them will be a glimpse of a deleted scene from The Phantom Menace featuring Adrian Dunbar as the original Senator Bail Organa?!?!? So, why would you want to buy all the films outside of a bundle on iTunes? Because you have Apple TV. iTunes will be the only place Apple TV viewers can buy the films.

These deals are subject to change, and many are contingent upon pre-order.