I simply don't accept that all the changes he made were to make the movies as he originally intended them. Many of these changes could have been done in the original; you don't need CGI to make Luke scream as he falls down the shaft (that particulr addition makes me cringe; isn't it the same scream that the emperor made as he fell down the shaft in ROTJ? How cheap is that? Or maybe the emperor is Lukes grandfather...) Personally I think many of the changes in the SE were superficial, like he felt he needed to make enough changes and add enough new "stuff" to justify calling it the Special Edition, especially in ROTJ; I mean, it makes sense to some degree that he couldn't do much of what he wanted to in ANH as technology/budget were limited, but by the time ROTJ was made he had plenty of dough and the effects were pretty much flawless IMHO. Certainly the scenes using models looked more 'real' to me than the CGI stuff, which you could spot immediately even if you never saw the originals.
BTW as far as the explosions being realistic is concerned, I don't think it's an issue, if you want things to be as they would in real life for a start you would have to get rid of most of the sound effects as everyone knows sound doesn't carry in space. Actually the "ring" was one of the few additions I liked, but for me that isn't the issue. I don't think GL should go back and rewrite the Star Wars novel and cut out all the bits he doesn't like anymore, add in all the bits he wants now and hold a public book burning to destroy all the first editions; the book is the way it is and if I want to read it that way I should be able to. I want the original movies as they were in DVD format, simple as that. I have the VHS versions but the quality simply isn't as good as the DVD format. I don't care about "special features", interveiws, screen savers or any of that stuff, I just want to be able to watch the starwars movies I like in the best format currently available. Mr Lucas doesn't have to watch them if he doesn't want to.
Personally I am going to boycott the DVD if it is just the SE. Not just as a protest but because I really don't like it, I would rather watch the good version on VHS. But even if you do like the SE but still want to see the original on DVD one day, maybe you will consider boycotting to. It may be the only way to convince him to change his mind.