I shelled out the dough for the DVD versions of the original trilogy and wanted to comment on them. I'll stick to A New Hope, since that's the movie I'm reviewing. Overall, I love it. Looks great, and they really did a good job on making use of the 5.1 audio - spaceships flying from behind your head to the front, from side to side, etc; atmospheric sounds from all directions.
Since, everyone mentions it, I'll also comment on the added scenes. They don't really bother me, it's just that they fall under the rule "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I don't feel the additional scenes add anything important to the film. Did we really need to see the panoramic view of Tatooine? I was able to suspend my disbelief when I originally saw the film without that shot and believed Luke lived on a planet other than earth. Was the scene with Jabba necessary? Didn't add anything we didn't already know or learn in the later films. The extra creature shots for atmosphere. Okay, so they're nice, but, again, don't really add to the believability or the plot. Why put them in? To repeat, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.". I know Lucas said that the way it is, is the way he envisioned it, but seeing as it was such a big hit, obviously lots of people were perfectly happy with it the way it was, which is why he should have just left it as is. Again, for the amount of time those extras last on screen, it doesn't really bother me. I just feel they were completely unnecessary and didn't add anything worthwhile to the story.
If you're thinking of buying them, I say go for it even if you don't like the extra scenes (if you've seen them before on the VHS versions or on TV). The quality of the DVD transfer is awesome and you won't be disappointed with that aspect of the films.
Since, everyone mentions it, I'll also comment on the added scenes. They don't really bother me, it's just that they fall under the rule "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I don't feel the additional scenes add anything important to the film. Did we really need to see the panoramic view of Tatooine? I was able to suspend my disbelief when I originally saw the film without that shot and believed Luke lived on a planet other than earth. Was the scene with Jabba necessary? Didn't add anything we didn't already know or learn in the later films. The extra creature shots for atmosphere. Okay, so they're nice, but, again, don't really add to the believability or the plot. Why put them in? To repeat, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.". I know Lucas said that the way it is, is the way he envisioned it, but seeing as it was such a big hit, obviously lots of people were perfectly happy with it the way it was, which is why he should have just left it as is. Again, for the amount of time those extras last on screen, it doesn't really bother me. I just feel they were completely unnecessary and didn't add anything worthwhile to the story.
If you're thinking of buying them, I say go for it even if you don't like the extra scenes (if you've seen them before on the VHS versions or on TV). The quality of the DVD transfer is awesome and you won't be disappointed with that aspect of the films.