‘The theatrical Star Wars trilogy hasn’t just been replaced, it’s being destroyed’
^ a 2021 article.
A snippet from the quality article linked above…
'By now, most people know that the Special Editions have ceased to be “special” editions. They have become the de facto versions of the trilogy that are commercially available. And the changes didn’t stop in 1997. In 2004, with the trilogy’s first DVD release, the films were revised again. The infamous Jabba the Hutt scene from the ‘97 Special Edition of Star Wars was altered up so that the CGI Jabba looked closer to his Return of the Jedi appearance – among other changes.
More significant alterations came in 2011 with the trilogy’s first blu-ray release. Chief among them was the inclusion of Darth Vader awkwardly shouting, “no!”, at the end of Return of the Jedi. Finally, further changes were made between 2010 and 2012 that eventually saw the light of day when the trilogy arrived on Disney+ in 2019.
Presently, the theatrical cuts are not commercially available in any format.
The deliberate erasure of the theatrical cuts isn’t good for culture or history. Countless writers have pointed out the inherent value of the original cuts of these historic films – this isn’t even the first time I’ve harped on about them! But it does bear repeating: the original incarnations of these films left an unimaginable cultural footprint. To effectively bury them is a baffling act of destruction.’
^ also at https://twitter.com/CF_Stewardson/status/1464273749646188547