On October 16, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will begin the worldwide release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace on DVD. The highly anticipated arrival of Episode I marks the first film of the Star Wars saga to debut on DVD.

Enthusiastic fans of the film will be rewarded for their patience. Clocking in at about 480 minutes in length, it features over six hours of additional bonus material, including brand new visual effects sequences executed just for the DVD release.

Here's what the two-disc set will feature:

• The Phantom Menace, mastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality, presented in Anamorphic Widescreen and Dolby 5.1 Surround EX (English), Dolby 2.0 Surround (English and Spanish), and Dolby 2.0 Surround (French, for Canadian release)
  
• Audio commentary by Writer-Director George Lucas; Producer Rick McCallum; Co-Editor and Sound Designer Ben Burtt; Visual Effects Supervisors Scott Squires, John Knoll and Dennis Muren; and Animation Supervisor Rob Coleman, offering personal insights into the making of the film
  
• Seven never-before-seen deleted scenes with full visual effects completed just for the DVD release
  
• "The Beginning" -- an all-new hour-long documentary culled from over 600 hours of footage offering unprecedented access inside Lucasfilm and ILM during the making of Episode I
  
• Multi-angle storyboard to animatic to finished film feature, that lets you flip through the various phases of development of key action sequences
  
• Five behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring The Phantom Menace's storyline, designs, costumes, visual effects and fight scenes
  
• The popular "Duel of the Fates" music video that debuted in 1999
  
• All 12 parts of the Lynne's Diaries, the web documentaries that first appeared here at starwars.com
  
• Galleries of theatrical posters, print campaign, and never-before-scene production photos
  
• Downloaded by millions from starwars.com, the original theatrical teaser and launch trailers, plus seven TV spots including the "tone poems"

  The two-disc set is priced at $ 29.98 in the U.S. and $ 41.98 in Canada.

  Keep checking starwars.com for more updates on this exciting upcoming release.

So no word yet about Episodes 4 thru 6, but atart indeed!!!