I find it ironic that those who fell in Love with the 1997 versions cannot get those on dvd either, because lucas sees them as rought cuts just like he views the oot which was a finished movie trilogy despite his bullshit.
Actually the fans of that version get fucked over even worse because Unlike the oot which was released on dvd in a letterbox laserdisc transfer the 1997 version remains only on vhs and laserdisc.
I don't understand negative one's point. So because i have the trilogy on vhs, laserdisc and ced i should not ask for a restored version on dvd? Or how about a real restoration which would make the oot viable as a theatrical presentation via Robert Harrris suggestion. In robert harris own words a home video restoration is not a real restoration unless the negative had been restored and viable prints can be made for theatrical presentation. And a home video restoration is all fans have asked for and lucas will not even do that little for his fans.
I personally wish the negatives and original prints were not rotting in Lucas vaults because they could be lost for all time, a criminal offense. In the future the films will only be viable as a 1080P HD video transfer with all the bogus cgi additions. That is all lowry had access to by the way. no 4k or 2k scan was ever done. There is no evidance that any film prints or negatives are in existance unless Lucas allows someone into the vaults to document that.
The only evidance i can find is from around the special editions making and is called the anotomy of a dewback part 2 and shows the Lucas cold storage vault for all his films, and he says he has saved every peice of film of every movie he has done.
As robert harris has also suggested despite the criminal altering of the negative the technology is there to bring it back to its original state. The original scenes that are missing in the oneg would have to be replaced from someplace else. Like if Lucas still has those YCM technicolor seperations he talked about in the future of the movies book by siskel and ebert.
So i call bullshit on him saying that all film prints and negatives are destroyed. He would have had to be insane to have done this, that would be like a film museum destroying the original Mona Lisa. Not only that it would be against sane business practices since millions of people worldwide clamor for the original released films. Even the french who support lucas wholeheartedly and at cannes film festival bashed his decision to not have anamorphic versions on the 2006 release.
Only in Lucas version of reality which i call Bizarro world do fans have to track down heavily faded 35mm film prints that are 30 years old to watch the real star wars trilogy. This is beyond insane!
These CGi changes are generally done on video and then printed out onto a new film master, no other films i know of have had them cut into the physical original Negative. Someone out there should find out through Pacific Title and YCM LAboratories who worked on the 1997 restoration if the negative was really permanently altered or destroyed. Though i imagine Lucas had them sign a non disclosure agreement. It is very fascist to control the information on the state of the negative and keep it under wraps, Only communists or facists operate in this manner.