Lazybones said:
I am, however, offended on principle with the "special edition" strategy (and I suspect it's deliberate, regardless of what they say about material being "unfinished"). I hated it with LotR, and see it as a cynical attempt to get diehard fans to purchase two copies of the same product.
It's all too common a strategy, I'm afraid. I first encountered it with Eidos computer games. The Tomb Raider series and Thief series in particular. They would release the game, withholding a couple cool levels, and then re-release it a few months later with the levels included, calling it the "Gold Edition."
How many times has Star Wars been released now? How about the Myst series of computer games? They somehow manage to re-release it every year, without adding any new content. I'm not quite sure how they manage it.
Can you imagine if you bought a book that you've been waiting for, only to have it re-published 6 months later with three "bonus" chapers, not included in the original?
I've seen tons of copies of the "regular" Fellowship of the Ring DVD at used DVD sales. Everybody went and bought it to get their LotR fix, then sold it when the Special Edition came out.
I'm wondering if there will be a Super Special Trilogy Special a few months after the Return of the King DVD is released, with the whole trilogy packaged together and more extras and just maybe a few more dozen minutes of movie.
Is there really any doubt?