It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of George Lucas and his works. Though some might say otherwise, it’s not a blind devotion, either. George Lucas is an incredible filmmaker in his own right and his pre-Star Wars films I would count among my favorites, whether or not Star Wars had ever happened.

One of those two films, American Graffiti, is being released on Blu-ray next week and it’s a must have for any serious cinephile.

The film itself is worth owning in any format. The film is a documentary-feeling examination of the car culture of the late 50s and early 60s. It takes place over one night and has some of the finest performances out of Richard Dreyfus, Cindy Williams, Ron Howard, Charlie Martin Smith, and plenty of others. This is one of my favorite movies because of its incredible direction, acting, storytelling, use of music… All of it. It’s one of those films that brings everything together perfectly and ends with a bang (literally in the case of Harrison Ford’s character, Bob Falfa.) The film is charming, funny, quotable, preposterously well-written… Above all, it’s engaging and timeless. If you haven’t seen it, I implore you: SEE IT NOW. This new release is the perfect reason to buy this film and watch it.

One of the biggest reasons this release is perfect is the quality of picture. George Lucas personally oversaw the digital cleanup work on this film and it is one of the best looking Blu-rays I’ve ever scene. This is an incredible colorful film and the neon and bright lights stand out on a screen in a way I never expected possible. American Graffiti was shot in what’s been called “poor man’s anamorphic,” meaning that each frame was half of a 35mm frame split in two so that the film got them twice as far and they didn’t have to use anamorphic lenses while shooting. The movie is very dark, shot almost entirely at night, and I had always assumed the grainy nature of the film would be impossible to sharpen. I was wrong.

This release looks truly stunning.

Another great thing about this release is the behind the scenes documentaries. George Lucas has always provided incredibly insightful and inspiring documentaries for his material and this is no exception. When it was on the DVD, I must have watched the documentaries a dozen times and they are educational and give me a jolt of creativity that’s more effective than coffee.

New to this release is a video commentary starring George Lucas. It’s interesting to listen to and offers great stories about the production of the film, but the video component to it seemed useless to me. I like looking at George as much as the next guy, but I really felt like the video element was a distraction.

I was very appreciative, though, that there was an option that told me the song playing during the film. There are so many damned songs on the soundtrack (all of them great) that it’s nice to have some way of figuring out what they all are other than guess work.

All in all, this is a must have. Buy it. Now.