Its the same dillemma i keep bringing up over and over again: how does the existance of the OOT invalidate the SE? It doesn't, and obviously Lucas has realised this, or elese there wouldn't be the 2006 release. I really don't care if Lucas changes the SE more, if he replaces Yoda with CGI and replaces Chewbacca with Jar Jar (hey, that wouldn't change the story, right? the character would have the same lines and story function but would allow Lucas to realise his "vision" beyond man-in-suit capabilities of 1977). Honestly, they are indeed films he financed and/or directed himself and it is his right to change them as he wishes; i don't think anyone has debated this. The problem is the repression of the OOT, the notion that it "doesn't exist", or i guess now "didn't exist" since he has finally acknowledged it. When Ridley Scott re-cut Alien in 2003, he included the theatrical edition because it was a valid and much-loved film in its own right; when James Cameron released Aliens in 2003, he included the theatrical cut in addition to his directors cut because it is a valid and much-loved film in its own right; when Coppola recut Apocalypse Now, it was released with both versions because the original is a monumental and superior film than the expanded version; the same dual-inclusion was benefitted the entire LOTR trilogy, Terminator 2, Gladiator, and Dawn of the Dead was released in a 2004 boxset with all FOUR different versions of the film intact. Star Wars is not some horribly botched effort that failed, that met poor box office and critical confusion--unlike, for example, Alexander. Star Wars changed the world of Hollywood more than Casablanca and Godfather combined, it was the most successful and popular motion picture EVER MADE. To deny the world this film and then claim it doesn't exist is completely absurd, asinine and ludicrous. Obviously Lucas was dissapointed with trhe technical limitations he faced--in fact he lamented these things in 1977. No director will ever be satisfied with their work--a truism asserted with the SE itself, which was redone in 2004!! But to repress that original groundbreaking 1977 film in a completely absurd and egotistical logical paradox about artistic right is just fucking dumb.

Which brings me to another point, and another dillemma that i keep raising. The point of the SE, at least initially, was to "correct" or enhance the technical limitations of the special effects that prevented the film in 1977 from achieving the scale and dynamism that Lucas was shooting for. But the problem is that you can't really undo the historical context with which a movie is made with. Sure, the SE has some interesting additions, but the special effects are not much more advanced--the new Battle of Yavin, while still interesting and more dynamic, still looks phony and CG-ish in the new scenes, and really sticks out with the CG aesthetic of 1997. Look at Jabba--he looked like complete shit at the time, a horrible, CGI botch that did not do anything to advance the story other than ruining the pacing, and the technical level of this "enhancement" was so poor that it had to be redone AGAIN in 2004, in a version that looks different but not any more realistic, nor does it have continuity with ROTJ or TPM. My point is this: The SE has all the aesthtic and limitations of 1997 CGI technology in the same way that Star Wars has all the aesthtic and limitations of 1977 technology and AOTC 2002 technology. You can always tell. The films we call "timeless"--Star Wars and Wizard of Oz being the best avatars of this label--are not truely timeless. Oz has the musical format, aesthtic and vernacular of a late 30's Hollywood production, and its technical limitations are often obvious. Star Wars too is fairly timeless but it has certain technical limitations and aesthtics that date it from the late 70's; Attack of the Clones has the same clues that date it to the turn of the millennium. My point is that at a certain point you have to step back and realise that films are a product of their era and you just have to accept this. Now instead of having 1977 FX, Star Wars has 1977 and 1997 FX that are equally dated looking. If the film was redone from scratch today, in 50 years you would have people going "this looks so 2007." It just happens. You will never get it "timeless," in the true sense of the word. Star Wars is a monumental piece of cinema that has a very important place in history as a film released in the late 70's--just deal with it. Nothing has stopped people from enjoying Gone With the Wind or Wizard of Oz just because the films are not "modern" or whatever.

And finally, the SE is not even about fixing technical mistakes. Its now about changing story. The first SE, the 1997 one, was truely about simply updatinbg and enhancing the films, a sort of fun experiment to try out new CG technology and bring a new audience to the films. But since the prequels were made, Lucas went off about the originals not existing and wanting only the I-VI "Tragedy of Darth Vader" being available, and then he started tying the prequels to the originals by adding Naboo and Hayden Christenson, among other things, to the originals. The 1977-1983 trilogy is a completely different series from the I-VI Tragedy of Darth Vader that was completed in 2005, and Lucas is acknowledging this by hammering the dividing line between "originals" and "prequels" into oblivion--the prequels are not backstory, they are simply story, the first half of the saga, and the prequels are now changing the originals. The SE is not only about the films looking better, they are different films and and different experiences unto themselves.

Look, no one is saying Lucas doesnt have a right to do this, they are his movies, but just as if Merrian C. Cooper replaced Kong with a CGI model, the world is understanable outraged and perplexed by the exclusion of the OOT. Fuck Cooper's right to change his own film, we all acknowledge that and its his right, but for fucks sake dont surpress the original, one of the most important works of art history in the category of film. What i cant believe is that there are so many idiotic Star Wars fans that are going along with Lucas' idiocy and not challenging him (and even being confused about why so many are upset).