Oh absolutely----but one forgets that Coppola re-edited both Godfather I and II into one movie which was aired over 3 or 4 successive nights on NBC in 1977-----in the pre-home video world ---- that was as good as redefining how the Godfather would be presented to an audience(the vast majority of which had no access to the new Betamax format or the more conventional Umatic video systems----the Theatrical edit of the Godfather on VHS would not become available until circa 1980/81)

You do insist on missing the point, don't you?

The Godfather situation isn't remotely parallel to the Star Wars situation. From 1977 to 1980 is only three years. By contrast, it has now been fifteen years since the Special Editions of Star Wars, and no decent transfer of the originals. Moreover, it's been, what, twenty-nine years since the "A New Hope" caption was added to Star Wars? And still no decent transfer of the pre-caption crawl, either. Additionally, Coppola made no concerted effort to suppress the originals of his films, which is what everyone is upset with George for in the first place.

You're comparing apples and oranges.