Lucas would release the OUT if enough people demanded it. He swore no one would ever see it again, but then thanks to all the bootlegs and this very website and its close-to-100,000 petition, he did put them on DVD. Regardless of the quality, that was a total dismantling about his "don't exist to me" stuff. And just this year he even said that maybe years down the road they would be restored, maybe. Which is a total 180 from 1997 when he said no one will ever remember the originals existed in 100 years. So it's possible, and it's happening. In that sense, the people that buy this thing in spite of not even caring that much for the SE are indeed part of the problem. But that's unfair, because there are ten million other people who like the SE, don't care or don't really even know how extensively the films are changed. In that sense, it's pretty much a moot point to try to guilt-trip someone for trying to make the most of a bad situation. What we really have to be doing is simply the same thing we have always done, which is to keep complaining and letting them know that we want the originals too, that there is also a significant number of fans that are disenfranchised. Because even in 2006 I would say that there was no fewer people who liked the SE, Lucas didn't have to acknowledge the OOT at all, but he did.
As to these changes, personally I have a hard time believing some of them could be real, just like in 2004, because I give Lucas too much credit. And just like 2004, my respect for him will die a little when the horrible truth is confirmed. Darth Vader ruining the climax of ROTJ with "Noooo!"? How is that really improbable. This is coming from the same man who not only thought that adding a creepy Hayden in the crescendo of the saga was a good idea but whom also already put that same "Nooooo" in one of the emotional climaxes of the prequels. I guess now the deal is sealed, I will never watch the SE of ROTJ ever again, unless I want a laugh.
Some of the changes I'm okay with. The Ewok eyes I would say are an improvement, if inconsistent. The Jabba door is a cool looking shot, although like any redone shot in the films it doesn't look like it belongs. The R2-in-the-rocks is dumb and inexplicable, and lazily done since the rocks disappear shots later, although the effect is at least convincing looking. And of course stuff like the fixed saber shots are a welcome change. This is much like in 2004, where they had a few additions that ruined the films but also a couple ones that were tasteful to one degree or another. Not one of them are necessary, but the damage is minimal in a lot of them.
But its completely bewildering, as was mentioned. Why on earth would you add a reflection on a window to the ESB matte painting--a trivial, invisible fix that no one would notice and no one complained about--but not fix the problems the 2004 version introduced in the first place?? They spend all this time adding small, useless things while ignoring the biggest, most glaring problems. Why fix one lightsaber shot when the shot that preceeds and follows it is also messed up? It just boggles my mind. It also boggles my mind how a professional sound designer could mix and add the effects that are in this. Obi Wan's howl was a joke when it came in the Sounds of Star Wars book but now we can't say it's a mistake or a test version. That's a final product. As bewildering as it is that Lucas could say, "yup, sounds good, much better than the old one"--it boggles my mind that a sound designer could create and present that in the first place. What the heck is going on at Lucasfilm these days?
Anyway, in a way I'm glad these Blu Rays are the most embarrassing version of the films yet. Maybe now people will actually start missing the original versions of the films. Its pretty hard to top the 2004 version, but lo and behold they seem to have done it. It's actually a bit sad that I am missing the 2004 version with its less intrusive changes. I would like to enjoy the films in high definition and I was actually starting to get a bit hopeful about this release. I am glad though that the films have become so butchered because I feel like Lucas may have finally crossed a line and pissed off the moderates. The extremists who buy anything will defend anything Lucas throws in there, no matter how bad, all those douchbags on bluray.com and TFN who have no life at all, but its the middle of the road people who can be honest and a bit critical, not really minding the SE but still having certain standards--that's where I think most fans of the series stand. They like the films, so of course they like the idea of a more high-tech version of them, and can forgive two or three bad changes. But seeing the reaction, it seems like even those guys are starting to facepalm themselves over the leaked changes. Maybe the tide will finally turn.