Even if we’re talking which is the least bad counting old changes ported over, I don’t know. I kind of feel like in some ways it’s all or nothing with the SEs. Like if you’re going to have extra added garbage and CGI to better match the PT, better go all the way with it. So I’d say 04 because (for better or for worse) there’s at least a point to it, with an attempt to link the films with the PT better, rather than the 97 SE which is just plain vandalism without a purpose. 11 gets pluses for fixing fucked up lightsabers but minuses for “no’s” and other necessary antics.
JEDIT: Just realized joefavs made the exact same argument but put it much better than me a few months ago…
You know what? I’m going to go out on a limb and say 2004, because of the prequelisms. The argument that the 1997 cut is superior because it doesn’t have the PT references doesn’t really work for me, because if you’re trying to ignore the PT, you should just watch the OUT, because they’re just better movies. The only thing the SE can really claim to bring to the table is smoother visual continuity with the subsequent installments of the saga, and in that regard the 1997 version is kind of obsolete.