George Lucas RUINED the original Star Wars trilogy in 1997

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2004)

You know what sucks? George Lucas let his fame go to his head. A Director should be punished if he/she goes back, after the theatrical and numerous VHS releases, and changes the damn film. That is just plain retarded. Unless there is something horribly wrong with the original cut (which there WASN'T), you shouldn't go back and change it. ESPECIALLY 20 years LATER!! That is just plain bad-logic. Of course, the scenes you go change are gonna stick out like a sore thumb, like they do.
You know what else? The new computer graphics stuck into the 1977 Star Wars are terrible!! They look sooo fake, even faker than the so called "bad" special effects they were trying to cover up. And the NEW song at the end of Return of the Jedi? Oh MY GOD, what was that? It hurt me to watch that in the theater. It even hurt me more that the new DVD release of the trilogy will not include, EVEN AS A BONUS, the original, untouched scenes.
In the words of a Lucas rep: "The official definitive versions are the 1997 special editions. That's the version the artist, in this case George Lucas (news), intended to be seen,"
I'm now glad I kept an original Star Wars trilogy VHS set, sealed and unplayed.
I understand that he created the films and therefore has the final decision, but he forgot that MILLIONS of kids grew up on those original films for over 20 years now. And now, to have some screwed up version of the film as our ONLY choice to watch?? It's like Lucas sold us out to make a few bucks in 1997. Hey, I love technology as much as the next, but when you go back and screw with a piece of historic nostalgia like that, you are screwing with all the fans too.
But, the great thing is, his newest Star Wars movies (episode 1 and 2) have both sucked, big time. This is his karma for screwing with the original films. The computer graphics are so cheesy that most of the time it looks like a cartoon and the story lines have lost their original glory. The Lord of The Rings trilogy has far exceeded the new Star Wars films in terms of quality, special effects, acting, casting, just about everything.
If Lucas has any ounce of a brain, he completely re-filmed his upcoming Star Wars film, re-casted the entire cast, re-written the script (with much needed help), and hired WETA digital instead of ILM to do the graphics. But, I highly doubt that. Chances are, the final installment of Star Wars will suck too.
Thanks George Lucas, for ruining what was once a beautiful thing.