I've been thinking about this topic since I joined this site, and I have come up with what I believe is the most logical explanation of this debacle. Lucas basically struck gold by sheer chance with ANH, mostly due to the time period it was released. In a time of moral and ethical confusion, it served as a ray of hope for many. Of course, due to the film's massive success, sequels were produced and the rest was history. Fast foward to the early/mid 1990's: Star Wars had lost much of its former draw, mainly due to lack of new material. Games were popular such as TIE Fighter, Rebel Assault, etc, but the franchise as a whole was losing momentum. As a result of this, the concept of creating the SE versions is realized, as evidenced by the sticker on the '95 Faces LD set that read "The last chance to own the original versions". This whole marketing ploy was obviously conceived of many years before the SE versions actually premiered. In 1997, the SE versions were released, which reintroduced a whole new audience to the films, and served as the segueway into the prequels, the first of which debuted 2 years afterwards. Lucas explained away the numerous alterations as being "closer to his original vision". While I believe this statement contains some truth to it, it seems more like an excuse than a real explanation. Many of the changes made do not serve to add anything to the movies and in most cases, detract from them. Most of the alterations are seemingly abitrary, and could have easily been accomplished when the films were originally produced. I believe that most of the reason the films were altered and the originals buried was literally to create controversy surrounding it. Lucas is a better marketer than he is a filmmaker, and knows that his refusal to even acknowledge the issue beyond the trite answers already given is what keeps interest in the films alive. If it were not for these changes, this site and others like it would not exist. Why else would LFL/FOX ignore all the fan edits and bootlegs, and sites like this that enable their creation? It's free advertising! By forcing people to accept a revised version instead of offering a choice, he leaves himself more options to resell the films over and over again to the public. Lucas knows his franchise has a finite life span, and will do anything to keep people's attention focused on it. I believe the originals will eventually be released at some point, but only time will tell. This is only a theory, but it seems to be the most logical explanation of how someone who decries other people's films being altered can be so hypocritical and closed minded when it comes to his own work.