I loved this line from the end of the second article...
Quote
Lucas doesn't owe you anything so don't hate him.
How the hell does the dipshit author of this article figure that Lucas doesn't owe us anything?!? We made him who he is. Without the fans, he's just another hack director doing BS studio B-grade projects. Without our money and our devotion, Lucas would have been nothing. Read that carefully... N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
I don't hate Lucas, I just don't respect his decision and his claim that we don't need the OT because it's not how he envisioned it. Why did he release it then? What kind of director releases a half finished project? And if you want to go back and retool it, fine, go ahead and do it. You have that right. But we have the right to see the version that we grew up to love and existed for two decades before your first set of touch ups.
SW:ANH is on the AFI Top 100 list as one of the best films ever made. But the name is followed by "1977" not "1997". And this list was put out after the SEs came out. So that alone should tell you which version is better.