This entry has been through a massive overhaul to include all the Star Wars DVDs. If you wish to see the original post, concerning primarily the Episode III DVD content, click:
E3 DVD Exclusive Content - I finally played it. Some tips...

Otherwise, this has been revamped to include all of the info found in the old entry, plus a complete guide to all the Star Wars discs and their DVD-ROM content.

If you've never tried to access the exclusive online DVD-ROM content available with any Star Wars film on DVD, there's some really great stuff in there, my favorite being the Depth Commentaries. Many people have tried to access this content, but have come across a multitude of problems. There are threads in the message boards discussing these issues, of which I'll provide links for. This here blog is a collection of problems and solutions I've found, and a basic guide to accessing the content for each DVD, all rolled into one.
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Before we get down to the nitty gritty, here's the table of contents for this guide:

I.The Basics: Stuff you'll need to access the exclusive online DVD-ROM content for all Star Wars saga DVDs, basic directions to access content and issues that affect all DVDs.

II.The Discs: What content you'll find for each disc and any individual issues. Going in chronological order from Episode I through Episode VI DVDs.

III.Endnotes: All footnotes (*, **, ***, ****, ***** and $) are directed down here, and maybe we'll throw in a prayer to the DVD-ROM gods for more help.

Good luck... you're gonna need it
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I.The Basics

Ever since The Phantom Menace was released on DVD, every subsequent Star Wars DVD release has included DVD-ROM content, which includes either or both:

- Script to Screen: The entire movie is played with the screenplay showing. I beleive the script/screenplay credits are displayed in the feature.

- Depth Commentary: The entire movie is played with color coded commentary showing (Blue = Behind the scenes, Green = Lore, Red = Did you notice?). This is very similar to the audio commentary each movie has on DVD, but it isn't the same content. You'll find lots of enlightening behind the scenes facts and verifications of some of those lingering questions from the movies. I couldn't find credit for the authors of this feature, but hope to find it and add it to this entry. Nope, I'm not gonna get into what the Depth Commentaries reveal here. There's just too much. But, yup. Mace really is dead.

There's a few other goodies in the Episode I: The Phantom Menace exclusive content, but we'll get to all that with each disc below.

WHAT YOU NEED:

The following is adapted from a troubleshooting post by QueenAmidala for the Episode III DVD, but goes for all the DVDs.

1. A Star Wars DVD.
- I use region 1 (USA) discs, and I'm not sure how other regions work (or don't work). (see my notes for discs for other regions and PAL discs $$)
- For two disc sets, see individual disc listing below in section II.The Discs.

2. A PC computer running on Windows 98 or newer, with a DVD-ROM drive and an internet connection.
- It will NOT work on a computer CD player (CD-ROM), unless it's a combo-drive with DVD-ROM capabilities.
- The earlier discs may run on Windows 95, if you're lucky.
- Keep your OS updated. I have Windows XP SP2 set to auto update.
- In general, these will probably not work on a Mac.*

3. An internet browser, preferably updated to a current version, with JavaScript enabled. Here's where things get glitterstim spicy:
- I highly recommend Mozilla Firefox.**
- Some of the discs note that the program was created for optimum use with Internet Explorer. Whatever the case, try tinkering with whatever your default browser is first. If all else fails, try downloading Firefox and set it as your default browser and set to auto-update.
- Use your browser's help menu if you are not sure how check if JavaScript is enabled.

4. The latest version of the Macromedia Shockwave Player. Don't worry, it's free.
- This is not the same as a Flash player.
- Download it from the browser you will be using here:
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?
- Don't freak out at Shockwave errors. ***

The InterActual Player:
- I'm trying to remember the first time I put a Star Wars DVD into a PC to play or access DVD-ROM content, and whether or not the InterActual player auto-installed, but I'm pretty sure it did. Worse case scenario could be that there are incompatibility issues with IA and your computer.****

If you're pretty sure the above checklist is all set, that brings us to...

HOW TO ACCESS THE CONTENT:

Again, this is adapted from QueenAmidala's directions found here (for E III), but made to fit for all Star Wars DVDs.

1. Insert your Star Wars DVD Disc into your PC's DVD-ROM drive.
- To see which disc to use, check the list of individual Episode discs in the next section.
- Make sure all other windows are closed on your computer.
- Don't be click happy. Give everything a chance to load for a moment.

2. Allow disc to automatically load the movie with the InterActual player.
- For some of the discs you will see a full screen menu display open.
- Other discs may open a smaller InterActual player window that starts running the movie.

3. Close or Quit the InterActual player.
- If it is a full screen that opens, you should see a Quit option in the menu. Click that.
- If a smaller InterActual player window opens (which for me doesn't play the movie well), simply close the player by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the player window. Don't worry about waiting for the DVD intro to finish or anything, just go ahead and close the player.

4. Open your web browser and go to http://dvd.starwars.com/dvd
- The site is actually, now, http://www.starwars.com/dvd - but either URL will work. The dvd.starwars.com link automatically redirects to www.starwars.com/dvd. Confused yet?*****

5. With the www.starwars.com/dvd page open, select the Episode of whichever movie you have in your computer from the pulldown menu, hit the red button "Get Started".
- The page displaying that particular movie's content will open up.
- Give it a moment to load (i.e. wait for the prompts "Click Play to Start" appear on the screen).
- The feature (Script to Screen, Depth Commentary, etc.) you are about to play is labeled with the white menu tab.
- If the specific movie page only opens briefly, then bounces back to the main www.starwars.com/dvd page, this is most likely a browser issue.**
- Don't click around the controls too fast. You may get a Shockwave error, or even screen freeze up.***

6. Shut down all garbage mashers on the detention level.

Step 6 was a joke! Okay, maybe you're not laughing so hard at this point if you've been having troubles with playing the content. Proceed to the next section for the details on content from each individual DVD release.
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II.The Discs

This section will remain under construction, as I find new info, or if they add new content to the site. I hope to add the authors of the DVD-ROM features soon, where applicable. Keep checking back!


Episode I: The Phantom Browser Settings
- Both discs 1 (the movie disc) and disc 2 (the bonus feature disc) have playable DVD-ROM material on them.
- Disc 1 plays the Depth Commentary and Script to Screen, and also plays Outtakes (the blooper reel) for The Phantom Menace.$ (see Endnotes and below in EI links)
- Disc 2 plays a special interview concerning the making of the podrace scene, and also an "extended" loop of the podrace.$ (see also below in EI links)

Episode I DVD-ROM links:

TPM DVD Depth Commentary (about):
http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/release/video/news20020520.html

Episode I DVD: From Script to Screen (about, and this shows how the old site dvd.starwars.com looked):
http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/release/video/news20020923.html

TPM Easter Eggs (without the Hunt) (about the DVD easter eggs you can access on www.starwars.com/dvd - unfortunately, no other movie's easter eggs are available on the site at this time):$
http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/release/video/news20020228.html

For more help with the Episode I DVD-ROM, try this thread:
DVD Talk: Not equipped for dvd.sw.com [TDE]

Other discussion of Episode I on dvd.starwars.com:
DVD Talk: dvd.starwars.com [TDE]


Episode II: Attack of the Interactual Player
- Contrary to the directions on the DVD packaging, the DVD-ROM material is accessible using DISC 1 (the movie disc).
- You'll find a Depth Commentary and Script to Screen feature for Attack of the Clones.

The Episode II Mac DVD-ROM experiment:

As described in the following starwars.com article from the days of yore:
Clones DVD-ROM for Mac Users
... there is some offline DVD-ROM "exclusive" content that could be accessed using a Mac. Since the article is so old, the InterActual player has since been made available for Macs, but I still couldn't get my Mac to work with regular Star Wars DVD-ROM content on www.starwars.com/dvd.*
... You can probably view the materials described in the article (AOTC college poster campaign, and a Dex's Diner easter egg), with some possible minor adjustments, but this same content is also viewable as DVD easter eggs on a regular DVD player.$

Episode II DVD-ROM links:

Episode II DVD: From Script to Screen (shows old dvd.starwars.com site. The new version of the site has no easter eggs $):
http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/release/video/news20030523.html

Star Wars Episode II DVD Technical Support - Frequently Asked Questions (I happened to find this page at InterActual's site. Figured I'd post it here):
http://player.interactual.com/help/support/articles/0128.asp

For more help with the Episode II DVD, go to this thread:
DVD Talk: Not Equipped for dvd.starwars.com [TDE]

Other discussion of Episode II on dvd.starwars.com:
DVD Talk: dvd.starwars.com [TDE]
- Note the comment by DarthTusk in the page linked:
"This may be handy for some people who also have the PAL problem
You can find all the commentary lines in the html of the commentary page. So you can use for example the Textpipe or some other tool to strip out the html and provide the synchronisation yourself."$$


Episode III: Revenge of the Shockwave Error
- Contrary to the directions on the DVD packaging, the DVD-ROM material is accessible using DISC 1 (the movie disc).
- You'll find a Depth Commentary and Script to Screen feature for Revenge of the Sith.

Some Episode III DVD facts:
- It was by the time of Episode III's release on DVD that the format changed at dvd.starwars.com to what you see now at www.starwars.com/dvd (at least for viewing ROTS DVD-ROM content at first - now it's all the same format). I think a lot of the bugs were fixed during that change over, but it's still not perfect!
- This isn't relevant to the DVD-ROM content, unless you consider that some easter eggs are available on the Episode I disc at dvd.starwars.com, and used to be available for Episode II - but Episode III is unique in that there was never a blooper reel outtake. See my upcoming entry on the DVD easter eggs for a fan-made version of the ROTS blooper reel.

Episode III DVD-ROM links:

For more hellp with the Ep III DVD-ROM, this is the thread:
DVD Talk: Not Equipped for DVD.StarWars.com (Technical Issues) [TDE]

Other discussion of Episode III DVD-ROM content:
DVD Talk: DVD.StarWars.com [TDE]


The Original Trilogy on DVD
- All Star Wars original trilogy movie discs have the DVD-ROM content on them, excluding the original theatrical release bonus discs. So in other words, all DVDs that contain the Special Edition of any original trilogy film, have the DVD-ROM content on them.
- For the limited edition sets that contain 2 discs (the main film, and a bonus disc with the original theatrical release), the DVD-ROM content is playable using DISC 1 (the main feature).
- The only DVD-ROM feature currently available for the OT is Script to Screen, and it is only on Episodes IV and V. Episode VI has no content currently available.
- The last dvd.starwars.com content that was added for the OT, was the Episode V Script to Screen feature in early 2005.

I HOPE this means that they can add content to www.starwars.com/dvd in the future for the OT, especially and at least Depth Commentaries. I would think that the Script to Screen feature will be added for Episode VI sometime in the (near?) future.

Original Trilogy DVD-ROM links:

Star Wars Trilogy DVD Technical Support - Frequently Asked Questions (Found this InterActual link too):
http://player.interactual.com/help/support/articles/0160.asp

For more help on the DVD-ROM content of the OT DVDs, go here:
DVD Talk: OT - Not Equipped for dvd.starwars.com (Technical Issues) [TDE]

Other discussion of the OT DVD-ROM:
DVD Talk: Star Wars Trilogy - dvd.starwars.com [TDE]


Episode IV: A New Browser Update
- Any A New Hope SE movie disc plays Script to Screen.

Episode IV links:

Episode IV DVD: From Script to Screen:
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20040924.html


Episode V: The Active X Control Strikes Back
- Any The Empire Strikes Back SE movie disc plays Script to Screen.

Episode V links:

Episode V DVD: From Script to Screen:
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20050208.html


Episode VI: Return of the Page that Works but has No Content
- Any Return of the Jedi SE movie disc will open up a www.starwars.com/dvd page for ROTJ, but the page will tell you there is no content currently available.


The Original Trilogy Special Edition box set bonus feature DVD (disc 4) does not contain any DVD-ROM material, but you can access the OT blooper reel on your computer DVD player (WinDVD, etc. - I haven't tried this on a Mac yet) with this disc: $

- Insert OT-SE bonus disc (disc 4 from the box set) into your DVD drive.
- Open it to play in your computer DVD player (not the InterActual player, even though I never bothered trying that either).
- Click to play any featurette.
- Go to title 38 (in WinDVD, I right click on the screen while the featurette plays to find the title menu).

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III.Endnotes

* MAC - Even though the Interactual player has recently been released for Mac OS X, I tried downloading it and running the DVDs through Mozilla on my Mac to no avail. I wasn't interested in trying to download Virtual PC, but there are a few other things I didn't try either. See above Episode II, about the Mac conten't that was available with that disc.

** BROWSER - I first tried to access DVD-ROM content with the release of ROTS on DVD back in November '05. I was successful with ROTS using Internet Explorer, but not without a lot of tinkering. From what I've been able to tell from all the DVD forums, a disproportionate amount of the problems seem to be associated with Internet Explorer. I've long since installed Mozilla Firefox on the PC I had been using, and set it as my default browser. Since I recently tried (again) to access the DVD-ROM content from each disc, I have not been able to do it using Internet Explorer (I went and downloaded IE 7 before doing it), but have had no problems, save for an occasional Shockwave error, using Mozilla Firefox (which I also have set to automatically update itself). This may be due to the fact that Firefox is set as my default browser.

*** SHOCKWAVE - Shockwave errors may intermittently come up while playing the content. This can often happen by clicking around the Shockwave controls too quickly, while it's trying to load. In most cases, this is fixed by simply restarting your browser (close it, then open it again). Make sure nothing else is loading on your computer (browser updates, Windows updates, etc.). Close all other windows while playing the content too. If restarting the browser doesn't seem to help or if your screen froze, close all windows (or force shut down - eject disc first), eject the disc, and restart your computer. If that still doesn't work try reinstalling the Shockwave player, and give a look over at their Support Center if neccessary. It just may be that there was a Shockwave player update since the last time you used it.

**** INTERACTUAL PLAYER - You probably won't have to worry about the InterActual Player much, but if it seems to be an issue, check the support page. Basically, the IA player works with a compatible DVD decoder (the software that allows you to play and control a DVD on your computer, like WinDVD) your PC uses, along with your web browser to "unlock" the DVD-ROM exclusive online content. Here are some of the basic IA requirements you may want to checklist if you're having issues.

***** URLs - The site http://dvd.starwars.com now has the doamin name www.starwars.com/dvd, but either link will bring you to the same page. The original site (dvd.starwars.com) was slightly different for the releases of Episode I and Episode II on DVD, then changed for Episode III and I beleive the OT discs. Don't worry, the same content is there, except the easter egg links (see below). See section II.The Discs for details.

$ - These are DVD "easter eggs", of which every Star Wars DVD has some, and they are playable on a regular DVD player. These include blooper reels, interviews, extra footage and a breakdancing Yoda. The original site dvd.starwars.com, had a feature to play these easter eggs (for Episode I and II), but the new version of the site, www.starwars.com/dvd, doesn't have the DVD easter egg function. However, you can see some of the Episode I DVD easter eggs on www.starwars.com/dvd. I'll put up an entry about the saga DVD easter eggs in the future, and how to access them using your regular DVD player and remote control. Check back for the link!

$$ - From what I've heard, the PAL discs may have been a problem for some folks too, but this could have been the way the site used to be layed out under the dvd.starwars.com URL, which has now changed (since the release of ROTS on DVD). This doesn't mean you shouldn't try your PAL discs! It could very well be that those folks had other problems, and it wasn't the PAL discs that were the problem, or an older problem has now been corrected. Feel free to tell me if and how your PAL disc has worked. I have only ever tried a region 1 (USA) disc. The site dvd.starwars.com is set up to actually play the movie off your DVD in your computer drive online, in conjunction with the Shockwave player, as it displays the DVD-ROM features. I'm not so sure it is set up to work with discs that aren't NTSC. See another note in Episode II links above (in section II.The Discs) about this.

I'll be keeping this beast updated as much as possible.

Feel free to post any comments, especially if it concerns info not posted here, or questions. Many of the comments here are from the old entry and aren't neccessarily viable anymore.