They were showing it in theaters in my area for most of the month of October (and it wasn’t a drive-in, but that’s a great idea!).
Hardly anyone was there. They were selling plastic lightsabers at the door, but I passed on that. I also didn’t order anything to eat, ate beforehand to minimize contact.
I didn’t show up on opening night but eventually worked up the courage to visit. I watched the whole thing while wearing a Boba Fett helmet (got creative with the PPE). Because of the breath fog around the edges of the transparent plastic of the visor viewing area (also, be careful on steps), it had a certain gauzy quality which was kind of attractive, and it blurred out much of the SE issues. Of course I knew there was the new Wampa there (and "alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival, and of course the sound of Jango Fett’s voice and engine from Attack of the Clones were unmistakable), and some of those snow drifts when Luke escapes looked way too blue. Otherwise I quite enjoyed it.
But I’d still rather see the original version once more on the big screen… with my own eyes. *
ESB is probably the best experience because it is the “film” least marred by in-your-face changes.
The theater I saw it in played clips from the Force Awakens and that awful “Last Jedi” before it, which only made the experience of what “real” Star Wars is like that much better, even if it was the 2019 (or 2011, I really couldn’t tell with the mask on… it could have been 2004 for all I knew).
Disney Star Wars soured me even wanting to think about Star Wars for quite some time and I hadn’t been to theaters to see anything with the title in about three years, I’m not going to lie. And nobody needs to try to refute or debate me on these points, I’m just sharing my feelings, #NoRetweets. 😉 Nothing beats the originals, even in this modified format. It was a refreshing experience after so much negativity towards the franchise and being away from this form of entertainment for awhile. Of course not everyone is so lucky, so I count myself blessed.
*Actually to be quite honest I have never seen the original version of ESB on the big screen. Only on VHS/cable, and the first time I saw it in theaters was the '97 Special Edition, and now this.