AntcuFaalb said:

kk650: ESB came after they stopped making IB Technicolor prints and before Kodak started making LPP prints. Basically, all ESB prints are on shitty likely-to-fade film stocks.

So we have IB Technicolor for SW and LPP for RotJ. ESB was made in the transition period with no stable fade-free options available.

Yeah, that is pretty much right, just really bad timing as far as film technology went.

There were a few prints struck on better stock for a re-release around the time of Return of the Jedi, but they are nearly impossible to find.