Fox and/or Lucas would be sued (via class action) if they ever re-released the O-OT on VHS, LD or DVD. That does not mean the class action would win. There is a history of this type of suit. In 1976 (maybe 75) Cadillac promoted the DeVille Convertible as the “last American convertible” at autoshows. When Chrysler (and later GM) came out with a convertible in the early 80s, Cadillac was sued. The class action ultimately failed for several reasons. The claim was an autoshow billing and Cadillac could not be held liable for the actions of another automaker.

The case with Star Wars is a little different. Fox really played up the “last chance” aspect of the Faces release. It was in just about every advertisement, on the back of the each box, and Lucas himself has been relatively steadfast in his assertions. Also, Fox and Lucas have complete control on whether or not the O-OT is ever re-released.

Who would sue? Any owner of a previous release of the O-OT could join the class action. The lawyers would go after Fox and Lucas for false advertising and damages. The value of these previous releases, especially the LDs, would fall. There is no way Star Wars LD Trilogy would fetch $400 if you could buy them on DVD. I would guess these versions would be worth less than $50 for the set.

With respect to Obi-Wan Spicoli, DVD stands for Digital “Video” Disc. Semantics aside, Fox and Lucas do have some options to give us a DVD version, hence the recent release of the special special edition (or whatever you want to call it) on DVD and the special edition release in the late 90s on LD and VHS, after the Faces release. We just can never have it just as it was in the theaters. Lucas could do a Directors Cut, or Special edition with the digital upgrades less the story line changes. This should satisfy the purists and avoid costly litigation.

Lucas is a shrewd business man. He has milked the Star Wars saga for billions and he shows no signs of stopping – capitalism at its best! Over 69K fans have signed the petition on this website – clearly there is purist demand for the O-OT. Laserdiscs, arguably an obsolete technology, of the O-OT are commanding huge premiums on the market. Special Editions of the entire trilogy on LD go for less than $40, yet the O-OT (Definition and Faces Edition) range from $100 to $400. The very idea that Lucas would not capitalize on this demand is shocking; that is, unless he can not. Do you really believe he is not releasing the O-OT on DVD on a whim? No, there must be more to it than that. My contention is that the reason he and Fox are not re-releasing the O-OT is the legal perils they would face if they did. It would not take Lucas long to do an O-OT on DVD. The digital mastering was done for the Definitive and Faces LD editions. All you would need is someone to do the menus and marketing.

Personally, I hope we do see something close the theatrical releases on DVD in the future. However, I am not under any delusions that it will be modification free, less they risk litigation.