Well, let’s suppose that someone decided, because it had not been done yet (again, supposing), to do a restoration of Gone With The Wind, himself. Now it turns out this fellow isn’t actually a fan of this movie because it doesn’t suit his personal tastes, he doesn’t care much for war/drama, etc. (however you wish to categorize the story) films. But he does recognize that it’s a very important film in the history of film making and so on, and feels it’s his duty as a film enthusiast with at least some of the skills needed to take up this challenge and restore it as well as he is able, using the best sources he can find. Mike doesn’t have to be a huge fan of films like Star Wars for him to recognize how important a film it is. In fact, it’s all the more impressive how he put such an enormous effort into this, even though it’s not quite his type of movie. =)
As to George Lucas. I read about a fan sometime back that was able to get invited to an event where George would be. I think it cost money, it might have been a ticket that was auctioned off for charity or whatever. Anyhow, he got to attend and he met George. He complimented him on his film-making and how much he enjoyed Star Wars and so on. Then, like a true Star Wars fan, he took the opportunity to ask George something like, “Hey, why not just also release the original Star Wars trilogy unaltered?”. George’s answer was along the lines of rolling his eyes and saying that they were his films, etc. George simply prefers the altered versions, apparently because they more seamlessly blend (Hayden, etc.) with the prequels and so on. Which I can see what he means, even if many of us fans would like at least the option to see the trilogy unaltered in the best possible quality. But George was quite clear in his answer, he wants the latest version of the Special Editions to be the ones that are on store shelves now. This clear response directly to a fan when asked, combined with the not subtle hints given by others at Lucasfilm, etc., makes it nearly certain that the reason the unaltered trilogy has not been fully restored (at least publicly) and released in a box set is because George doesn’t want it to be. And as much as I wish he would change his mind on that, I can respect that as an artist he wants his various alterations and also the way the two trilogies blend together now to be what is being offered for sale at this time. Even though I strongly disagree with some of those changes. Maybe he will change his mind, but for now, fan restorations are the only option. Fortunately, with the film scans now available for replacing altered scenes, those can be very good indeed.
well said, my friend 😃