Yeah, I can believe that Lucas himself doesn't want to release the original versions. They are, however, in my opinion of historical significance. They should be preserved.
I do have the original versions myself in a format that I can no longer watch. VHS.
One day, I'm hopeful the original versions will be made available again.
UKFilmNerd@feddit.uk 3 days ago
Lucas is known to be pack rat, he keeps everything. Did you know there’s a version of Star Wars that doesn’t use bluescreen for the travelling shots.
They tried using rear protection, think 70s TV shows when two people were travelling in a car and chatting, for Luke talking while driving his land speeder and possibly the shots in the falcon cockpit.
He’s got all this stuff and more. Every time there’s a new Star Wars documentary from Lucasfilm, it’s amazing seeing new behind the scenes footage even after all this time.
There’s deleted scenes from Indiana Jones films that have never seen the light of day for example.