I love the flickering, pale, imperfect lightsabers in Star Wars.
That said, a recompositing of the original film elements for an OUT wouldn’t offend me, but I also don’t tend to think it is necessary.
Edit: Also, interesting you mentioned Mike. He mentions in one is his videos (I think his restoration of the Death Star approach), that his work approximates what recompositing would accomplish, noting that that would be ideal. Even a purist like Mike doesn’t shy away from improving upon the O-neg so long as the original photographic elements aren’t altered.
Edit 2: I believe this to be the link: