I’ve heard rumors that he’s reshot more footage for them, and is going so far as to CGIing in Whatsname’s face over the actor who played Annakin in Jedi. I’ve also heard that he’s going to be fixing the whole “Greedo shooting first” crap. No, I’m not really buying any of this, and I’m wondering if Lucas has actually said what he’s going to do, and if there really are leaked shots of the some of the changes. I have a friend who swears all of this is true, but considering his thoughts on other matters, I’m highly doubtful, and I’d like to be able to tell him to shut up about this stuff if it’s not accurate.
There is a picture making its way around the net that shows Hayden grafted into the final shot of RotJ, but it’s very obviously a fake.
This appeared on AICN, so take it for what it’s worth (you’ll have to scroll down a bit).
That’s the one I was talking about. AICN is so full of shit sometimes.
Well, that looks pretty subpar for Lucas’s work, but then again, his suckification factor has really started to increase lately (Howard the Duck should have served as a warning to us all.).
Sometimes?
My bad. All the time. 
Given that the original trilogy will be released on DVD on Sept. 21, I think we’re pretty much done with any changes to the films. The DVD set will include only the “special edition” rereleases, which, aside from the useless Jabba scene in ANH and Greedo shooting first in the same film, actually cleaned up the movies quite a bit and added some nice, subtle improvements.
Didn’t they also change the whole ending scene to ROTJ?
Nope, gotta disagree there, pal. A lot of the crap added to S[sub]uper[/sub] E[sub]xcrement[/sub] versions, was simply that: crap. Yeah, cleaing up the FX was nice, but I could have done without all the added creatures, and I would have liked for Lucas to have put back some of the things which he took out after the initial 1977 release.
Yeah, smackfu, he added shots of folks around the empire celebrating the death of Vader and the Emperor (guess they were watching the Empire News Network). Sadly, however, he didn’t include the ewok holocaust.
Royally f*cking it up?
I happen to know absolutely for certain that they shot a scene of the proper Emperor Palpatine to replace the shot in the exisitng Empire Strikes Back hologram. However, whether that shot will actually be included in the September DVD release is not confirmed. It may never appear, or there may be a Superduper Complete Saga DVD Set sometime in the near future that may have it in instead.
There’s a fair assumption made that, if that particular Emperor superficial alteration will be done, then there will also be other changes made, the thought being that a couple of people have been steadily working on the films ever since the Special Editions, fixing up light sabres, replacing Jabba the Hutt in Ep.IV to match the one in Eps I and VI, basically making some of the dodgier fixes in the Special Editions somewhat better, etc.
There has been no official confirmation of this anywhere, but there has actually been unofficial denial (from people who have been known to hide the truth before).
A trailer for the DVD release has just been posted in the Members Area of the Official SW Site, and they very carefully a) don’t mention they’re the Special Edition versions, b) don’t show any of the contentious shots that are likely to be upgraded (as above), and c) suggest that there are still some ‘surprises’ yet to be announced about the DVD content.
So, in a word: ambiguous.
Finally someone who agrees!
They added scenes of celebration throughout the galaxy and changed the musical score to something that I feel fits the mood much better and made the ending bittersweet.
It’s my understanding that Lucas isn’t doing anything with the original trilogy, since he claims that the footage for it doesn’t even exist any more. But I’d rather not know what he’s doing with the Special (in the sense of Olympics) Edition trilogy.
That’s probably because to Lucas, there is no such thing as “Special Edition” versions. According to him, the original editions simply no longer exist. He sees no reason to refer to the updated versions as “Special”, since they’re the only ones.
Next thing you know, he will tell us we’ve ALWAYS been at war with East Asia. 
We’ve only one choice, then: Lock Lucas in a room where he’s forced to watch The Star Wars Holiday Special over and over again until he gives in to our demands to release the original films in pristine condition. If that doesn’t work, then we’ll use Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Um, am I the ONLY one who’s looking forward o a Lucas-Kasden commentary?
I love a good commentary. I’m really not sure the George Lucas commentary will be stellar, but I do look forward to hearing what he hs to say. He’s never done it.
it’ll prolly be a dull bucket of Shite. ( DID I say that) ? I love George Lucas…he just blew a cool franchize to hell…(Harumph)
Dude…
No, seriously… DUDE…
That’s just uncalled for. Despite his many transgressions, George Lucas is still a human being.
Besides, for all we know he might actually get ideas for Ep. III from that movie. 