I like the 4K77 and 4K83 versions. There’s a purity to the presentation there. It feels tactile and welcoming. And I think Sanjuro’s colors look real nice. Shoot, I even enjoy the heck out of the ESB Grindhouse despite all the noise and damage. The Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays often look far too managed and manipulated - and not particularly well. Harmy’s and the D+ versions are very impressive. But they’re built on those Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays so their flaws are often baked in, and with all the tricks used to “despecialize” them, it can feel like I’m watching a magic trick. I keep wondering how they pulled it off. I’ve been largely watching 4K content for a few years now, so Harmy’s in 720p doesn’t really cut it. I’m happy he’s working on a 4K version, but the D+ versions basically serve the same purpose. And if I want to watch the real original versions, I can just watch 4K77, 4K83 and hopefully 4K80 soon.
Have you seen the cleanup of the grindhouse version of ESB? Now that looks fantastic. It’s been my preferred version since before 4k77/83. I believe it was done by Dremaster if I remember right.