I am very glad that the original version of the "Star Wars" trilogy is FINALLY being issued on DVD. I was disappointed to see that the packaging reads "limited edition". It should be the special editions that have limited release.

First, the original versions are the ones that the vast majority of the public are familiar with. In the early 1980's when "The Empire Strikes Back" was among a handful of movies shown in Russia, it was the original, not the "special edition". It was also the original version of "Star Wars" that made Lucas "something over a billion dollars" (quote from THE CREATIVE IMPULSE).

People, including myself, want to see the film we grew up with. I don't want to see a revised edition of "It's a Wonderful Life" or "The Wizard of Oz". OK, if someone made a "special edition" I might be curious to see what was changed or added, but next year I'd want to see the original.

Second, what's so great about ANY of the special edition changes?...

"Star Wars" features a scene with Han Solo when he says to Jabba "don't send one of these twerps". One of the twerps he is referring to (because he is standing there) is Boba Fett. If Fett is a twerp, so much for all of the Boba fans and the waste of time in Episode II to tell his backstory.

"The Empire Strikes Back" now features a more violent wompa ice creature sequence. I was OK with the original scene when I was six, but I don't know how present six-years-old would take to this scene: "Why did my hero wound that animal?"

"Return of the Jedi" is the most messed with. We have "Jedi Rocks", an attempt to please music styles of 1997 instead of 1983. That scene features too many Muppets in the band and a gross Sy Snootles. The original was hot! (OK, that was a joke).

Next, we have the sarlacc scene. Had I fallen asleep? Did I walk into a re-release screening of "Little Shop of Horrors"? Was there going to be another song? Was the sarlacc going to say to Jabba: "Feed me, Morris, feed me!"

Then the worst, Luke looking at the Jedi spirits and seeing a kid a few years younger them him smiling back where his Daddy used to be. That makes me very angry, very angry, indeed.

However, forget that the original versions made history (and money) and forget that from 1977-1996 generations grew up with it, the most valid reason for celebrating the original versions and leaving the special editions in the past, a nice memory of the film being nationally re-released, is because Lucas should not feel that the "Star Wars" films need any improvement.

"Star Wars" (and its sequels) are CLASS-ICS! Like "Gone with the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "It's a Wonderful Life", "To Kill a Mockingbird", and "The Yearling" they need absolutely no improvement. If "old school" effects keep me (or anyone) from enjoying one of the most fantastic stories ever brought to screen than the point has sourly been missed.

I once heard a reviewer say that if "Return of the Jedi" had been Lucas going over storyboards with us, it would have been a blockbuster.

So go buy those original versions when they arrive at amaon.com and your local Wal-Mart!