thestar.com

In the original movie released in 1977, Solo fires a lethal ray gun blast at an unsuspecting Greedo, in the celebrated Cantina scene. For the film's 1997 re-release, [George Lucas] manipulated it so that Greedo fires first and Solo second, making the exchange an act of self-defence by Solo rather than murder. Lucas said he wanted Solo to look like more of a good guy.

Around the same time Lucas was monkeying with the Star Wars trilogy, renaming and numbering each movie like some kind of mad Sesame Street exercise, Steven Spielberg was busy bowdlerizing E.T., to make Earthlings look less threatening to alien visitors. He digitally altered the scene where FBI agents aim guns at little E.T., replacing the weapons with walkie-talkies. His excuse, laudable in intent if not in execution, was that he'd become a father since he first released the film in 1982, and he couldn't tolerate guns in a movie made primarily for children.

To do as Lucas did up until now, denying fans DVD versions of original editions of films they cherish, was something unworthy of a Jedi master. And it seems many fans really do miss those old movies - a poll yesterday on the Internet Movie Database showed 41 per cent of more than 8,000 respondents are planning to buy the new/old Star Wars trilogy on DVD, compared with 32 per cent who are happy with the special edition version. (An additional 26.5 per cent couldn't care less.)