hairy_hen said:

If the '97 wampa had been digital, it would have been '97 CGI Jabba level of bad.

Instead, it's merely 'meh'. It doesn't need to be there, and it also looks nothing like the one from the original version, which creates an irritating visual discontinuity; but overall it's more of a nuisance than something that actually ruins the film.

Of greater concern is the fact that the sound editing done to accommodate the change was very sloppy, resulting in the sound effects going out of synch with the picture. You can hear Luke cutting himself out of the ice before he is actually seen to do so, and his lightsaber is heard to deactivate even while it obviously remains lit onscreen.

I completely agree, I grew up with only the 2004 dvds and always had problems with the visual difference and audio errors. Is it possible that only the theatrical re-release of the SE had this and not the laserdisc/vhs versions?