I believe that the new DVD's will be more durable than available bootlegs; pressed DVD's always are. I just think that while they were doing all of this editing of the LD masters, they should have removed the most glaring artifact: the letterboxes and made the picture anamorphic. And, while we're on the subject of sources, LD transfers are the kind of thing I would expect from smalltime fly-by-night outfits or someone in a situation where there is nothing better that can be used. I mean, people can do this in their basement for crying out loud. There simply is no excuse Lucasfilms can give with all of the latest technology they claim to employ to treat these films this way. These monumental films are owned by a company that has film sources and the means to restore them; it is the height of insanity that a company in this situation would release such influential masterpieces in the form of LD transfers. Furthermore it is even more ridiculous that people would fall all over themselves to buy said transfers and justify Lucasfilms' view that substandard is good enough.

I read an interview with producer Gary Kurtz who produced ANH and Empire. From comments made in the interview concerning Star Wars and George Lucas, it is glaringly obvious to anyone reading that George Lucas' current philosophy is to make the most money possible while doing the least amount of work on a film. The only exception to this philosophy seems to be the "Special Edition" that has become his obsession. In other words, if George Lucas sees he can make as much money from these bad DVD's, he won't be very inclined to release a set that at least comes up to some sembelance of an industry standard.