I liked star wars and I even liked those prequel films that everyone hates but George refusing to release the original version of his movies seems very petty.
The best movie in the first trilogy was the one Lucas had Kershner direct.
At this point it’s not really a George decision. Disney owns it. But I guess they’re following his wishes. It’s really interesting because there’s been way more changes to the movie than what gets talked about. The crawl was changed when a sequel got green lit. By the time the movie came out on VHS the siblings thing had happened, so some scenes got trimmed to remove now uncomfortable sexual tension between Luke and Leia. Then of course there’s all the changes for the 90s rerelease that are what people focus on. There is out on the internet in those corner you’re not supposed to hang around in a 4K restoration of the truly original, so it’s completely unavailable. But I do think Disney should put all the versions on +. It would be fun to have them all available, like the 5 Blade Runner version box set.
To appease the critics, Lucas did his best to make the issue disappear by removing the proof -- and thereby protected his immensely profitable Star Wars toy sales from boycotts by the gun control crowd and their allies in the news media.
Similarly, in later years, Spielberg expressed regret that in Raiders he had Indiana Jones pull out his gun and shoot a sword wielding adversary.
I am cynical enough to think that these adjustments and some cash to the gun control groups were negotiated behind the scenes.