i may be way behind the times, because tonight is the first I've heard of all this nonsense about the original theatric versions not being available in anamorphic, but unmolested context.
I have the Fullscreen Version in the Gold/Copper Box, which I got right after Christmas of 2004. I remember watching and thinking to myself "I don't recall many of those scenes, celebrations, or songs" in that part of the movie. But I figured it had been so long since I seen the movies I just forgot or something.
So anyhow, was watching The Empire Strikes Back tonight on my brand new PS3, as I wanted to see how the upscaling worked on the built in Blu-Ray Player. Some of the completely digital scenes were fantastic looking, but the actualy film shots were terrible looking in upscale hd, too grainy. anyhow about the time the Abominal Snowman scene came up, I knew they never showed him eating the Tom-Tom and getting blood on his face, and then standing up and coming after Luke the way the SE Version did.
Now after finding all of this out, I'm livid. This was my favorite set of movies in the whole world. I used to have all 3 on VHS, and if I had known Lucas was gonna pull this bullshit, I'd have had my dad copy the VHS tapes to DVD with our DVD Recorder, and I'd have been satisfied with that, but now I don't even have those anymore, so I get to go out and waste $40 on this new 2008 release, just so I can have the originals, which will no doubt look like absolute crap on my HDTV and PS3 Blu-Ray.
sorry to bitch in my first post, but as I said I just found out all this crap tonight, because I was looking for the Original Release, but apparently that search is futile, because such a thing doesn't exist in a decent enough quality that keeps up with technology.
George Lucas had no right in my opinion to tamper with The Trilogy. he screwed a good thing up, and he broke a lot of Star Wars fans hearts by doing so. I know some people like all the new scenes, but he should have done it both ways, to keep everyone happy. what a sacrilege.
Guess we can only hope he makes it all right with a Blu-Ray release. IMO He should release an Original Theatre Version that is crystal clear but where no scenes have changed...meaning he didnt alter movie lines, character movements or music. Then he can release his stupid Special Edition versions. But whatever happens, he needs to make it right, because the Special Edition Fullscreen Version I have...sucks major ass.