Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - 8 Reasons It Will Be The Best Yet
7. An Expanded World
If theres one thing that the Special Editions can be criticised for, it is for the CGI. Even though it is state of the art, it still looked out of place against the makeup that was, lest we forget, state of the art at the time. But if you look past that you can see what Lucas long term goal for the series is.
This is a whole universe (or galaxy) that we are seeing through the eyes of the Skywalkers. As with the expanded scenes in the Special Editions, expect the prequels to relish in showing us a whole world, not just their immediate place.
And lets not forget that many of these changes could likely be there to allow for the events of the prequels, which well come on to later. So while changes were made to the original, they were there for an overall greater purpose, and show us where Lucas is heading.