“George doesn’t like these versions”
As David Markland pointed out to me, and which is now all over the web, the much-anticipated original theatrical editions of the Star Wars trilogy to be released in September (in two-disc editions with the 2004 versions on disc one and the original editions on disc two), should be anything but anticipated.
The grim details can be read here.
This also makes my very early post about fan editions (read it here) all the more poignant, even ironic, for me.
I still maintain the statement in my recent post that being a Star Wars fan has become a political thing, making something which once was pure entertainment and imagination now complicated and partisan (love the prequels/hate the prequels, love Lucas/hate Lucas, etc). The dismissive and unsympathetic treatment we fans now almost daily get at the hands of Lucasfilm only makes the politics more intense, more upsetting.
Lucas has complained in recent years (sorry, can’t provide a citation offhand) that he feels he’s become the very disembodied corporate tyrant he once rebelled so passionately against.
George, I couldn’t agree with you more.