SilverWook said:

I don't think it's just movie theaters. There's just no appreciation for preserving "modern" structures in general. People will rally to save a 1950's style McDonald's, but would anyone care when the last 70's style one gets knocked down or remodeled into the current look?

They recently tore down an old Taco Bell in Calgary that still had the red, green, yellow colour scheme and had an ancient ad in the window for 69 cent tacos. I loved driving by it, because I had totally forgotten that Taco Bells all looked like that when I was taken there as a kid. It's a Tim Horton's now, which sounds like a joke but isn't.

There's also an "ancient" KFC on Seventeenth Avenue in downtown. It still has that amazing white wallpaper with the pastel pink and blue in the wispy brushstroke style with matching framed "artwork". Really takes you back. Kind of a shame they'll all be gone forever soon.

Anyway. I'm pretty sure the versions I saw first was the Faces set; those are the versions I remember from the Blockbusters and Hollywood Videos (also dead and gone) of the day, at least. I still have the image of Vader striding onto the Tantive IV burned into my brain. I believe I had paused it there to go talk to a friend who had knocked on the door. This would have been about 1995 or so. After that, I got the cropped standard-screen Special Editions for Christmas, and that's what I grew up with.

The first time I noticed the differences (despite watching the pre-movie mini-documentaries about the restoration process every time I watched the films) was when I watched the 1981(?) VHS version of Jedi at a friend's house. I remember not realizing until the end, and wondering out loud where the extended celebration was... but at the time I loved my SE. Hell, I didn't ever see the Sandperson Luke was talking about seeing by the Bantha until I saw my first fan edit. Once I got here, I never looked back.