'Star Wars: Special Edition': George Lucas Explains Changes for Trilogy's 1997 Re-Release (Flashback)
George Lucas decided to re-release the original in theaters, he didn’t just want to insert deleted scenes and add more elevators to Cloud City. Putting his space opera trilogy back in cineplexes was also a gift to the new generation of fans who were too young or perhaps not even born yet when debuted. “If you do want to see it with the emotional impact that it was meant to have… you have to see it on a big screen,” Lucas explained to ET’s Leonard Maltin at Skywalker Ranch in January of 1997.