Deep inside, I still hold out hope that one day there will be a Star Wars release that rivals the level of extras we had on the Lord of the Rings Extended editions or the Blade Runner Blu-ray set. Still, we have Star Wars Begins, Building Empire and Returning to Jedi documentaries on YouTube – wish they’d put those on the discs!

- Both the original and special edition versions of these films.
- All the documentaries from the DVD release
- Documentaries, extra features, deleted scenes, we haven’t seen released as incentive to buy this set.

Since we’re not getting that, I’ll just hold on to my DVD set and not buy the Blue Ray, thank you very much.

That said, I do agree with you on the extras. I’m very disappointed myself. One extra I’ve been wanting to see for over twenty years is the other ‘endings’ to ROTJ. I remember when ROTJ came out and I don’t recall whether I was watching an interview with Carrie Fisher or Mark Hamill and when asked about the ending, they said they didn’t know how it was going to end because Lucas filmed three different endings, one of them had Luke turning to the dark side. I remember that distinctly because at the time, Star Wars was supposed to be 9 movies. If Luke went to the dark side, there was your hook for the next three films.

All that was moot of course when Marvel Comics released their summer movie special which adaptated the film and gave away the ending before the movie was out. To this day, I don’t know if he really did film three different endings or they were just saying that. BUT, if there were alternate endings to ROTJ, I have wanted to see them for years. So everytime Lucas re-releases these things, I am ALWAYS disappointed in the extras. So for that, I share your pain.

I enjoyed the prequels very, very much and feel they enhance the story immensely. Long after this generation is dust in the wind, people will be watching the Star Wars movies as one big story — Episodes 1-6. To have kept the original old man Anakin at the end of Jedi makes no sense in the big picture. You can try and reason out that Anakin aged under the helmet but it stands to reason that when he turns back to the good side in Jedi, his appearance should be as it was when he was there last — because he has been restored. Still, fans of the original cringe at the thought of it.

I tried to watch the old versions some time ago and seeing old Anakin at the end of Jedi just throws it all off. The video quality is terrible and it looks like a cheesy 70′s movie — which is ok if you like cheesy 70′s movies, which obviously many do. Thing is, Star Wars is going to outlive all the people who think Lucas raped their childhood.

Keeping the originals the way they were is very small picture thinking, because future generations aren’t going to have the patience or interest to sit through the high quality of the prequels then have to watch the old, antique originals to see the conclusion of the story unfold.

I know kids of today who can’t sit through the original Star Wars as it was because they think its dated, slow and boring. They don’t think like the original fans do, that its a part of history and should remain as it was. Many of the new Star Wars fans of today — who are fans of the prequels — want to see a synergy and flow throughout all six films. Because it IS one big story and that’s the way future generations will see it and that is the way George Lucas as the artist/author wants to present it.

Some artists believe a work is never finished until they are dead and George just so happens to be one of those kinds of artists. The world doesn’t always respond the way we would like. It’s tragic that you take this so personally, especially since it’s not like George Lucas had the stormtroopers come to your house and destroyed all your old VHS/Laserdisc versions. You can still watch them, in all their dated glory.

Me? I’ll buy these new versions because I feel the changes enhance the overall experience. Futhermore, I think he didn’t change enough. With the next release, I hope George Lucas erases all the Ewoks out of Jedi and replaces them with Wookies. Now that would be a change even the original fans would have a difficult time finding fault with.

If this wasn’t the point of your article, then you really shouldn’t have started it off this way and just gone into the extras portion. You really can’t say Shellhead’s off the mark when your first three paragraphs are about the movies of your childhood being lost.

I was, and I guess a big Star Wars fan, loved growing up with the original trilogy, and was so eager for the prequels……. then when they came out, it was like walking in on your best friends nailing the love of your life.

But like you I thought, well these suck and I don’t need to concern myself with them, as I’ll always have the originals. But as we know, the originals are an embarrassment as far as old Georgie boy is concerned, so he messes about with them till they no longer feel the same and we don’t want to know anymore.

I have the original films on VHS, (original Ewok tune at the end of Jedi, no Jabba in A New Hope) and those versions cleaned up, are all I want on DVD or Blue Ray. Maybe one day, when dear old George is no longer with us, Fox will give us the originals cleaned up and untampered with and real fans will be able to pick them up, sit back and again enjoy watching Star Wars.