I'm 21 but I never really grew up with the original films. I saw what I now know to be one of the last tv airings of the original Return of the Jedi on Christmas Eve 1996 but that's about it. In 2003, I saw Star Wars from the Death Star rebel briefing scene with the CG schematic on to the end. I remember wondering how it was possible to have that ring in the Death Star explosion back when the film was made, it looked like a modern CG effect. Not that it looked bad but my dad said they made some recent changes to the film. I thought that was nuts, like it was said on the Q & A of the Back to the Future dvd, they didn't erase the wires because they didn't believe in doing it. I figured that was shared by everyone in filmmaking.
My first year in college, I finally watch A New Hope as part of an assignment for one of my classes. It was just before the '04 dvd release so I borrowed someone's '97 special edition tape. I was bored by the beginning doc where they talked about the changes. I remember thinking when they talked about Jabba "I thought Jabba the Hutt was a serious bad guy, wouldn't Han Solo get in big trouble for stepping on his tale?"
I had just read the book Eragon a month earlier so unfortunately, watching the actual movie felt like a cliche ridden lame rip off of something else, rather than how it is actually the other way around. One thing that annoyed me was how the good guys always hit their targets with the ray guns while the bad guys missed. Even if they were sitting across each other at the same table.
I'm excited to get the (full screen) dvd set that Christmas. I've never had the movies before so any version is fine with me. Besides, I'm more excited to see the supposed state of the art restoration. But from the start, somehow the movies just don't look right to me. I remember wondering if that is really how good they are supposed to look, something just seems unnatural.
After seeing Empire of Dreams which I thought was really good, I now understand the importance and significance of the original film and wish I could see that version. Eventually, I find this site and realize Lucas apparently intends to never release the originals again which I find unbelievable. I later am able to finally watch the original versions on vhs with a friend at college since our library fortunately had the faces set. And I enjoyed it so much better than either the '97 tape or the dvd set. Now aware of just how bad the colors are in the dvd's, I remember saying to my friend that I bet if Lucasfilm just ported the THX versions professionally to dvd, it would look much better than the bootlegs and even the current dvd set due to the bad colors. I suppose I should regret saying that now (I didn't realize how bad the smearing is) but actually, even on my family's widescreen tv, I think the official '06 versions look better because the colors are not screwed up. And it does look a lot better than the bootleg set I have as well.
Well I guess that wasn't short after all. But I think the important thing is that most people will be happy as long as the OOT gets a proper release. I actually enjoyed the prequels having rented the first 2 from my college's library in early '05 and then seen ep III in the theatre. I don't really care that much about whether the prequels could have been better or all that. They are finished and I assume pretty much the way Lucas intended for them to be. I believe Lucas would be forgiven and win back many if he just stated the next time the trilogy is released, it will include all versions like Ridley Scott did with Alien, Legend and now Blade Runner and Steven Spielberg did with E. T. and now with Close Encounters. That's all he needs to do and most of the bitterness towards him, the SE's and prequels will melt away. And I even think Lucas would feel like an idiot for not getting it right the first time.