Found this link on del.icio.us to an article where Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner generally approves of the changes made to his movie in the Special Editions.

What really struck me, though, was the following paragraph:

Kershner, who spoke at a recent press day for the DVD release of the Star Wars trilogy, said that he had to introduce philosophical content subtly when he initially worked on the film. That subtext was the key to the success of Empire, which is widely considered to be the best Star Wars movie. "I thought of myself as if I was living under communist Russia, ... where the writers and filmmakers always make two films—one for the censor and one for the audience who will understand what they are saying," Kershner said. "I did not think of it as science fiction. To me, it was a fable and a fairy tale. I wanted kids to love it, but I also wanted adults to find levels of meaning. There are many metaphorical concepts in it and many things that are symbolic, but I was more interested in the psychology of the characters. And I think that is what affects people."

And that is why Lucas shouldn't have been so self-indulgent and should have got someone else to direct the prequels. I still think he should have parceled them out between Joss Whedon and David Fincher. And maybe given the third to David Lynch, just to definitively piss everyone off. :)