I'll admit... I'm very surprised Lucas is putting this scene back in the movie.

Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Well, if you were even a few minutes late this morning, you missed it all.

Thanks to a genuinely awful pun, today is the day that "Star Wars" nerds the world over proclaim their fandom, because the other 364 days a year, they are completely silent about the subject.  Oh, wait, no they're not.  I'm not exactly sure why we'd need to set aside a particular day each year for the celebration of "Star Wars," since fandom seems to be one long, unending celebration of the property already.

Even so, I've been anticipating this day since the news that StarWars.com would be making an announcement about the details of the upcoming "Star Wars" Blu-ray release.  There was a countdown clock…. A COUNTDOWN CLOCK, I TELL YOU… so this morning's news had to be a big deal, right?

The new site went live at 6:00 AM PST.  As of 6:25 AM PST, the new site is gone.  Nuked.  Crashed like a cop car in "Fast Five."  All the original link does is send you to FoxMovies.com now, where there's no mention at all of the upcoming Blu-ray release.

Good thing we've got the details for you, isn't it?

First, a quick word on what not to expect:  the original untouched theatrical editions of the films.  But you weren't really expecting Lucas to give you those on Blu-ray, were you?

The original idea of the site seems to have been a sort of social networking game, where the more people who liked the site via Facebook, the more details we were going to learn about the discs.  And let's pretend there is some news about the original theatrical versions that we just haven't been told yet.  Even so, the best case scenario is that they'll be treated as bonus features on the discs.  Ultimately, Lucas is going to be treating his super-duper deluxe souped-up versions as the versions that matter.  Just the way it is.

UPDATE:  You can now find all the details on the official site, including our first look at some pretty spiffy cover art for everything.

So let's see what that original press release this morning promised:

Bring home the adventure and share Star Wars™ with your whole family – when STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment! To be released beginning on September 12 internationally and on September 16 in North America, the nine-disc collection brings the wonder of the entire Saga direct to your living room, where you can revisit all of your favorite Star Wars moments – in gorgeous high definition and with pristine, 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Dive deeper into the universe with an unprecedented 40+ hours of special features, highlighted by never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm archives.

STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY is presented in widescreen with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Special features include:

DISC ONE – STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman,John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC TWO – STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC THREE – STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC FOUR – STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC FIVE – STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC SIX – STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC SEVEN – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III

Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more

DISC EIGHT – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI

Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more

DISC NINE – THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES

NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.

NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.

NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!

The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!

Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.

Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.

Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.

So far, the only thing I'm really interested in here is the release of the films.  The extras sound fine, but at this point, what I'm most concerned with is having truly beautiful prints of the films when I share them with my sons this fall for the first time.  So far, they've managed to not see a single "Star Wars" film, and that's by design.  By the time this box set lands, I'll be ready to sit down and watch them with the kids, and for that, I'm grateful to have what I'm sure will be impressive transfers.  So far, every major home video release of "Star Wars" has been as good as the format could be at the time, and I've been there for VHS, laserdisc, and DVD before.  I've seen the evolution of "Star Wars" at home.

If the site goes back online today, I'll update this with new details.  For now, it sounds like this is what all the hubbub was about.

Now... can I go back to bed?

"Star Wars: The Complete Saga" arrives on Blu-ray September 16, 2011.