negative1 said:more about the release:
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Although director Steven Spielberg eventually stepped in to make sure that both the 2-DVD and 3-DVD sets included the 1982 version, the studio only made this announcement at the last moment, after many had likely made their pre-orders for the box set online.
and so many people think Speilberg is great, when he does something
just as controversial, but no one seems to remember that, do they?
later
-1
Perhaps you didn't read your own post, or you didn't understand what you were quoting, but the 2002 DVD release DID in fact have both versions. And Spielberg didn't do anything controversial, he is the one who pushed the studio to include the original in the 2 disc set when originally it was only going to be in the three disc set.
It may seem to you like nobody seems to remember it, but that is probably only because the problem was fixed at the last minute before the DVD was shipped leaving no reason for anyone to still be talking about it. I remember the controversy very well, there was a lot of backlash at the idea of having to fork out tons of money on the ultimate edition just to get the original version of the film, it was a huge deal at the time, but like I said, because they realized it was such a big deal, they fixed the problem by including both versions. In other words, they decided they ought to please the fans and let them decide which version they want to watch, instead of making them watch the version they wanted them to see.
You could argue that George did the same thing with the 06 release, but he didn't really. If you have ever tried to watch the GOUT with a projector or on an HD TV it is so pixelated it feels like you are watching a damn youtube video in full screen. In a day and age where more and more people watch their DVDs on big widescreen TVs or with projectors, such a poor quality release holding to the quality standards of over ten years before is a meaningless gesture.