Does anyone know WHY Lucas stubbornly clings to his decision? Is he embarrassed about the original release or is he just being that controlling of his creation? or is it something else?
I find his decision to date quite puzzling on the surface of it.
I honestly believe he likes the latest SE revisions better, and it does more closely align with his original vision (in a general sense, clearly not the specifics). Keep in mind that Star Wars and Empire at least were heavily collaborative efforts, and Lucas was not anywhere near the final authority on Star Wars. He was involved, but he didn’t direct Empire and it showed. Other people could talk him out of his dumber ideas, and he was unsure enough of himself that he’d listen.
Now, it’s all Lucas, unfiltered. And yeah, that sucks.
SW is definitely his baby but one that was ran through a lot of other people’s filters before we ever saw it. Yep.
In a lot of ways, Lucas’s filters came off for Jedi, but he was still a bit constrained by characters and storylines that had been established during the collaborative period of the first two films. When he was able to ditch that and work with more of a blank slate, what he got was the prequels. And just as I’m sure the Special Editions better reflect what he wanted to create, I’m equally certain he likes the prequels better than the originals (all Lucasvision, no compromises from the very start) – otherwise he wouldn’t continue clumsily trying to remind the world that they exist (Maclunkey!)