if Lucasfilm were to say, look, this was a release but there is a super duper 6 film all singing all dancing pack coming 2006 I wouldn't care.
LOTR and New Line took that approach so you could make an informed choice.
as it is, Lowry got 1 month to sort the 3 films out, of course things are going to fall by the wayside and the very fact they only got a month indicates it was very much a snap decision by Lucasfilm. I can see the beancounters sitting there thinking, if we don't release the OT in 2004, then we won't get a double header out of it when we re-release it in 2005 with the prequel films as a box set.
the whole thing smacks of oppoturnism with no consideration for the material.
the supplements are good, but we all know there is a lot more material out there that wasn't included and could have been.
considering the amount of time lowry were given, they did quite well, but the quality control must have had one of those days where they look at the footage and say 'yeah, it'll do, who's gonna notice?' and to be honest, if you read web reviews of the DVD sets, that is indeed the case. everyone gushes about picture quality, sharpness of image, but neglects to mention what's been trashed as a result of it.