Luca$hFilm have not only withheld Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi from DVD release but they have also prevented all public screenings in cinemas. Luca$h has the right to do that and I couldn't dispute that. But am I prepared to accept that we can never again see the version of each film that people saw in 1977, 1980 and 1983? No, I'm not.
The DVDs that have just been released are very poor quality. I don't think that a company like Luca$hFilm has any excuse for that. With 4:3 displays being phased out and high definition in the ascendancy, these releases will very soon give a depressing viewing expeience to their owners, while other movies from the same time enjoy a loving transfer to DVD and then HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.
A mere two years after Star Wars came Alien. Director Ridley Scott has recently made a Director's Cut of this movie. His definitive version, if you will. But he has made no attempt to suppress the original cut. Both were given excellent treatment in recent individual and box-set releases. Blade Runner (1982) is set to receive the same respect on the Ultimate Edition release due soon. This will include the original theatrical cut, the 1992 "Director's" Cut (which Ridley Scott did not, actually, participate in) and a new cut that Scott has made. Again, his definitive version.
In recent years, Peter Jackson has not suppressed the original theatrical cuts of the LOTR movies, despite having made other versions.
I will not be satisfied until Luca$hFilm allows audiences to see all versions of their films in cinemas and at home on a level playing-field with other films of their times. Their current policies and releases are not allowing this and, therefore, are preventing audiences from fully appreciating the films' positions in and impact on film history.