We hoped that releasing those “original” movies on a bonus disc would be a way to have some additional fun with the debut of the movies as individual DVDs. We certainly did not want it to become a source of concern or frustration for any of our fans. Read: we are surprised, we honestly thought you guys would be pleased.
Read: we did what we could to give you what you want, honest! The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition. Read: it would cost a lot of money to restore the Original Trilogy properly.
Read: he will probably never approve a full release.We hope you will understand our decision and, again, want to let you know how much we appreciate your interest and enthusiasm. So many fans have requested the original movies, we wanted to find a way to bring them to you. But since these movies do not represent George's artistic vision, we could not put the extraordinary time and resources into this project as we did with the Special Editions. Read: but since these movies do not represent George's artistic vision, we could not put the extraordinary time and resources into this project that we would like to.The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material.
Read: which is the only way we can release them right now as George has not approved a full release.We want you to be aware that we have no plans – now or in the future – to restore the earlier versions.