Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

Had the changes been made 2 or 3 years later (say, in 1979), they would have been viewed by most as creative tweaks. The fact that they were made 20 years later is what is so unprecedented and what also makes the changes so glaringly out of place.

I understand what you're saying here, but even if the changes had been made within 2-3 years I don't think they would've been greeted all that favorably.

When Spielberg released the "Special Edition" of Close Encounters in 1980 with re-edits and added effects the response was uniformly negative. Especially when it soon became clear that the unaltered 1977 cut was gone forever.

On Topic: Watching Despecialized on my big-ass HDTV with the lights low and the sound up never fails to send me back to summer '77, sitting in the packed Glenwood Theatre and experiencing Star Wars for the first time.

Thanks so much Harmy for this astounding gift of time travel.