Montana Smith said:
I've no problem with seeing deleted scenes in isolation, just as long as George doesn't start tinkering with the story again.
Agreed. I felt the same way about the Jabba scene. I'm glad I got a chance to see it, but I don't think it has a place in the completed film.
I always felt that the Luke/Biggs scene, and Camy, should have been in. They were in the original comic adptation, along with Han meeting Jabba (who looked a bit like Ponda Baba), so they always felt like they were missing.
I would have no problem if the Biggs/Anchorhead material was put back into the film, as it does give us a little bit more character development about Luke and a smidgen more backstory about the SW universe at large, specifically about the Empire Vs. Rebellion.
And getting to know Biggs as a real character instead of just Pilot #7 definitely adds a nice dimension to the final battle.
However, when I first saw the Jabba scene, I was disappointed at how useless it was and very glad it was not originally included.
There is absolutely no new information in that scene at all and, in fact, much of the dialogue sounds almost verbatim from the Greedo scene. It's just useless and repetitive and adds nothing to the story.
It also ruins the reveal of the Millenium Falcon, which, in the original cut is first show in a lovely longshot from Luke's POV as he rounds the corner and sees the whole ship in all its glory for the first time.
Those of us who have seen the movies dozens of times growing up probably never consider what it is like to have seen them for the first time. But, again, I think it's important to consider those who have never seen the movie and maintain the secrets and surprises as they were originally intended.