Speilberg did this with his "re-edited" version of E.T (ie: you could still view the original version on the special collector's edition pack).
Same issue with the Special Editions. It doesn't change a whole lot in Vs. debates, although some things do (like the ANH and ROTJ space battles, the "effects" of the Death Star and Alderaan explosions, number of stormtroopers, etc).If Lucas did that, he wouldn't be changing the old films. He'd be creating three new films very similar to the old ones, and vs. debaters would get to argue for years over which ones took precedence. If you're going to say that the altered films totally replace the old ones, then Greedo shot first, and I haven't seen a Star Wars fan anywhere willing to accept that.
I usually don't mind, if it doesn't change the story. Updating special effects and restoring the audio/visual quality of a film makes it just a bit cooler for me. Adding deleted scenes (so long as it doesn't change the overall story) is good too.Frankly, I hate this trend of directors fucking around with classic films because they've changed their mind about this thing or that thing.
I certainly hope he lets us view the originals. If he doesn't, there's an original unaltered trilogy bootleg DVD set with my name on it. *sigh*If you want to edit out an FX glitch like a boom mike in the shot, that's one thing, but actually changing the details of the story to suit your present whims is unwarranted, egotistical fuckery. And what's worse is when they won't let the fans own a copy of the original--at least when James Cameron put deleted scenes back in T2, and Steven Spielberg changed the cops' guns to radios in ET, you had the option of watching the unaltered theatrical release instead of the bastardized version. I'd bet my own mother Lucas won't give us that much.
