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It must feel like Christmas.

I have yet to find anywhere the exact quote from Landis.

But on the other hand, I will die a happy man if I never hear that god damned "Yubyub" song again.

I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall for the negotiations between Disney and Lucas. Its my understanding that the changes that were made were what he claimed he always intended for those scenes but technology at the time wasn't sufficient, not sure how Han firing first was due to technological constraints, so I would assume he would have been against releasing the theatrical cuts.

When the deal went down I was curious how long Disney would wait to release these. It wasn't that long ago we all shelled out for the Blurays. It makes perfect sense to capitalize on episode 7 hype and release the unaltered editions christmas 2015, or does Disney wait and release a 9 episode set with the theatrical cuts. My guess is we get the theatrical cuts soon then after the ST is completed they will do a 4K edition of all 9 films with the theatrical cuts.

Question is going forward do they release the Special editions or the Theatrical editions or do they keep some of Lucas' "improvements" but not others, for instance keep Han talking to Jabba in New Hope but go back to original band at Jabba's palace. I would guess it's all or nothing but they have many options

I want my Star Wars on a VHS tape with commercial breaks and missing its first 15 minutes. Because that's the Star Wars I grew up with. Creator, schmeator.

I think there's something to be said for offering the original versions in addition to the Special Editions. People have nostalgia to see the movies the way they used to be when they were growing up. I don't think that's such a terrible thing.

The Special Editions are canon and that's what matters. Hopefully, our new corporate overlords at Disney will continue to link the saga with familiar faces and images, from both the original films and the prequels.

No, the original, pre-Special Edition versions have been deemed, by the ultimate authority, incomplete and unfinished iterations.

People are free to preserve what's available and remain slavish to the past but I don't believe that any creator should be beholden to the nostalgia and, what's far worse, the ridiculously insistent preservationist demands of their audience.

However, I guess the ball's in Disney's court now. They will do what they will.

The SE versions of the OT are canon. End of story. Disney will never fuck with these. I for one am glad. For the most part the SE editions did make improvements imo.

The one addition that was totally uncalled for was the new Max Rebo band musical number. Fan favourite Greedo shooting first is also a big wtf. Not fixing the lightsabres in ANH is unforgivable.

That's really my biggest "WTF." They can add all these things to scenes, fix this and that, but they can't smooth out a jump cut that has looked wonky since 1977?

I'm a big fan of the Special Editions and I'm glad they're canon too, but I'd add one other thing to the shit list, and that's doing such a terrible job of putting Hayden Christensen at the end of ROTJ.

Don't misunderstand me. I don't have a problem with the fact that they put Christensen in the movie. I just think they did a terrible job of it. Seriously, they couldn't shoot ten seconds of new footage for that scene? They had to use stock footage of him instead?

He looks so creepy! That stalker glare he gives Luke is the stuff of nightmares.

It would have been so easy to do it properly, but they were lazy, and it takes me out of the scene every time I see it because he looks so out of place.

They never got Jabba quite right in ANH either, but that's more of a nitpick. The 2004 version looks much better than the travesty we got in 1996 and doesn't pull you out of the scene anymore, so I can live with it.

For the most part, though, the SE versions changed the movies for the better. They make the saga feel more cohesive, and as such, they're definitely my preferred versions of the films. I still think the original versions should be offered for those who prefer them, as there's no sense in pretending they don't exist, but I'll agree to disagree on that point. It has nothing to do with being "beholden" to nostalgia. It's just a decent thing to do.

From my point of view, the only thing that really matters is that Disney respects Lucas' vision to keep the Special Editions as the canon versions of the movies. Everything else is secondary. Fortunately, that's exactly what they're doing, so there's no problem.

It's not so much they would disrespect Lucas' vision, but I'm quite certain it would of been part of the sale to Disney that the SE versions are the definitive versions of the movie. Lucas would of had his lawyers stick it in the contract so that's pretty much it. The unaltered OT is considered to be "unfinished" versions of the films and I don't think we will see them any time soon. I believe FOX still owns these versions anyway.

Unfortunately, I can't pick and choose what features of the SEs I'd keep and remove as to create my "definitive" version of the OT films. There are definite technical improvements that enhance the experience. There's also plenty of head-shaking awful shit that literally embarrasses me to watch. Legal issues aside, they should restore the original versions for the fans if for no other reason that people will spend good money to own them. The desire to make money will win out here and it will happen.

I have the OOT on VHS so I'm not too concerned if they are ever released on blu-ray. Like I said I think the SE versions make for a more cohesive viewing experience - even if a couple of additions (or non-additions) are a bit wtf???