I remember many years ago, I think it was 1993, when I first read the rumor of the special editions in a sci-fi magazine, how I thought a cgi face-lift would be great. Fix up some of the special effects scenes and have it all be visually seemless. Despite that enthusiasm though, I would have never dared to think that anyone would have sought to destroy the original versions of the films and completely replace them with the altered versions. I knew many people, including myself, would always want the originals available for watching.
When I read on the 1995 VHS box that George regarded that release as the "final video release" I wasn't even phased. It sounded so ridiculous to assume he actually meant that. I just assumed he meant final as in a long time, like how Disney waits years inbetween re-releasing their classics on home video. Little did I know....
Also, why did George Lucas never fix the scene where Luke powers down his lightsaber in ANH after training against the remote?! That was one of the scenes I wanted fixed because I notice the jerky stop-frame effect every time. Some CGI could have fixed that in a heartbeat. instead, I get a stupid shock wave around explosions and a fucking useless scene depicting Darth Vader landing on his super star destoryer and destroying all of the emotional pacing at the climax of Empire. All I wanted were cleaned up special effects. Not this shit of his.