msycamore said:

It's just Lucas' hamfisted and embarrassing attempt to connect all the films with each other. In fact, this goes all the way back to his retitling of the first film in 1981.

I actually never gave the alterations enough thought to realize this, but at least for many of the major changes, it's true. However, I think that if you do accept the idea of altering movies to tie them in better with one another, you can still reject the idea of altering movies to tie them in better with crappy other movies. So that's where the "97 is best" opinion can arise.

Although frankly I do have to agree with Frink. If you're already on board with the film alteration train for the first fifty miles, I honestly can't see how you can very well complain about another inch and a half.