I guess all of my rants about George Lucas not releasing the original theatrical released of the first Star Wars Trilogy were not in vain. USA Today reports that on September 12th, two-disc versions of the original Star Wars trilogy will be released that “include the films as they first appeared in theaters, along with the new, restored versions,” which were released on DVD in 2004.
The article reminds us that “Back in 2004, Lucas told the New York Post, ‘The special edition is the one I wanted out there,” but Lucasfilm’s Jim Ward claims that this release “does not constitute ‘George changing his mind… What we’ve always said is George viewed the revised versions of the films as the definitive versions.”
Yeah, whatever. As much as I welcome (and will probably buy) this release, I think the real reason for it is a transparent attempt at further cashing in on the franchise. Lucas has made no secret of the fact that he is remastering the entire Star Wars series in 3D, and besides that release there is sure to be some kind of HD remastering, so this definitely won’t be the last time we see these movies re-released…
