As long as we get the OUT, I’m fine with and even curious about potential new iterations of the SE.
Same here. It’s important to point out though, that even though the '97SE didn’t come out on DVD, it did get a wide theatrical release and my generation did grow up with it on VHS, so there is definitely some nostalgia for it and nostalgia is very much the wave Disney is surfing right now.
Oh definitely, my earliest actual memory of Star Wars was the theatrical release of the SE when I was seven years old (though I know I watched the Faces tapes a year or two before), and I wore out that set of SE tapes. I just meant that there’s got to be significantly fewer folks who are very interested in that version because it was the standard version for such a relatively short amount of time.
Actually, assuming they release it next year, 97 SE and 04 SE will both have been the standard for 7 years, 11 SE the standard for 6 years. That’s a lot of kids who formed their first memories of Star Wars with each version. You said it yourself, your first Star Wars memory is going to the theatrical release and that alone was huge, let alone the popularity of the VHS tapes for 7 years after that. I’m not sure how much nostalgia there actually is for it yet, let alone the 04 version (which as you point out wasn’t all that changed in 2011 anyway), but Lucasfilm owes it to the fans not to bury their childhood memories. They never should have tweaked the movies in the first place, but since they did, it’s only right that they make all iterations available because they each no doubt have nostalgic ties to thousands if not millions of fans.
For me, I’ll be more than satisfied with the OUT alone because that is the version I wore out the VHS tapes of (not even the Faces, the older tapes with the original audio mix and everything, save that 3PO line which the movie feels incomplete without). Never mind it’s also the superior version hands down anyway. But, it would be selfish of me to not hope they give each SE version the proper treatment as well, especially since it’s not like it would be difficult to do. The 04 version is arguably unnecessary, but I think the fact that 97 was a theatrical release, and is possibly the version of the negatives, justifies it. I’ll probably never watch it, save maybe once as a curiosity, considering it holds no nostalgic value for me and doesn’t even have any of the changes I actually like such as the Emperor hologram. But I’m aware that’s not the case for everyone. Everyone should be able to have their own 'member berries, not just us OUT fans.