a) The Laserdiscs were heavily processed through a grain removal filter, since all optical shots are grain-free but heavily "mushy" looking.
b) The GOUT has all the grain the original transfer print had, which was removed for the Laserdisc. It looks more like film.
Now what a great release this could have been using a modern film scanner and a reasonable well surviving print. But at least, with the release of this DVD, the foot is now in the door...