S_Matt said
The fact that some matte lines would end up harder to see and in some cases vanish altogether would be a pleasant side effect. You can't limit the use of technology to clean and improve films just because some people used it badly before. One should also consider that there were no computers capable of frame by frame painting out of dirt and scratches and selective color correction not just of whole frames, but *parts* of the frame too, in 1977. Should they be restricted to photochemical repairs (which can only do so much)?
I actually think you misunderstood our continuation of your car analogy.
You are still talking about using modern special effects technology on an old film. I can see how some of you would like that, but some of us like to see our films in the context of their time. It isn't that some people used it "badly before". By saying those effects were poorly done is putting in into the context of our time. That technology evolved, certainly we can do it better today, but back then that is what they had to work with. That is what I want to see.
I was once watching one of the Star Wars films with someone and they exclaimed "Wow, that is amazing they could do these effect back in the 80's". Total facepalm moment! The thing is, they were right! The effects the Star Wars films had at there time were ground breaking and amazing, and was a big part of the reason the films were as popular as they were, no one had seen anything like it before. Only this person that made that exclamation wasn't seeing those amazing effects that impressed people back in the late 70's and early 80's, they were seeing 1997 special effects.
I want to see those original effect as the original audience saw them, flaws and all. I don't consider the fact that redoing them with today's technology and having the matte lines harder to see or disappear altogether a pleasant side effect any more than I'd consider souping up a vintage car with modern parts or a newer faster engine to be a pleasant side effect. I want the experience of driving that vintage car as close to the experience that people got from driving back when it first came out, I might have to crank the windows up and down, and it doesn't have power steering or anti-lock breaks, but that is a big part of what the car was. Change those things and it is a very different car.