theprequelsrule said:
Quite frankly, I would trust the judgement of the senior film crew from 1976; the cutting of these scenes were for the best.
I think that following the droids almost completely uninterrupted for the first 30 minutes or so was one of the most bold and unique decisions made in the film.
Certainly no argument from me regarding the 1977 film. There isn't a single thing I'd change. Being introduced to the universe through the droids was very cerebral. With no substantial dialogue for so long, we're left to take in the strangeness of this new world without having it explained**. I thought it worked perfectly.
My point with the added scenes in the NPR version was that I feel like Luke is introduced appropriately. Now that I know the story, the additional depth is welcomed. It's my go-to. I like the deeper story. A fan edit would be interesting alright, but not a must-have. For a first timer - Star Wars77 should always be the introduction.
**That mystery and imagination-driven aspect was clearly a fluke for Lucas. He quickly abandoned that style completely and went into uber-explanation mode. I've said it before, I'll say it again - he's a very poor story teller. He got lucky in 1977.