Why, no. No I don't feel beaten up. When these DVD's come out...and when I DO buy them...they will be the first Star Wars home video I have ever purchased.

If Episodes 1-3 were so bad (and I agree that they were bad) why did everyone buy them? If the special editions were such a travisty, then why buy them too? All I own is a DVD encode of the original Laser Disc letterbox set from 1989 and until now, I had no reason to hope I'd get anything better. No I do. I'm glad I waited. I'm glad that I don't own ANY Star Wars video and I'll be glad to put these DVD's on and watch them through again.

Did George Lucas really plan to release these all along? No. I don't think he did. He was deeply dissapointed by the original Star Wars. He has always said so. But I also think that he expected the special editions to win the hearts and minds of his fan base. I KNOW that he didn't expect the New Coke moment he created when he released the special editions to DVD. I feel that he is releasing these original cuts with a mild, bitter taste in his mouth. While I do feel that Lucasfilm does, to some degree, mete out their product, little by little to maximize their profits I don't believe that they expected the fan adherence to the original versions to be as strong as it was. And I believe that even George Lucas is capable of changing his mind.