It needs a new scan plain and simple. I think that some of these defects came from the original 1080 scan because the 97SE was used, and the SE wasn't anywhere near that dark or boosted-in fact many complained that it was lighter and softer than the originals.

Most every scan done nowadays is done at 2K. Major films are given a 4K scan and Warner does 8K for some of their ultra titles (North by Northwest, Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind) For a film of such importance, simply reusing a 1080p scan that was designed primarily to be adjusted for a SD release is inexcusable. The compression on the Blu-ray release will be better but they're still trying to polish a turd. You really need that higher quality source material because in almost any case the released version will have some compression and transfer issues.

The whole 2004 master needs to be burned. It's literally the worst and most botched master I've ever seen. No levels are right, everything got boosted and nothing looks like the original film. It says something that it is preferable to watch DVNR ridden interlaced video rather than this mess.

And if LFL says one more time that it's too expensive to scan film....it would have cost them less money to simply start from scratch with a new scan! Is Star Wars forever stuck at 1080p now? What happens after Blu-ray? Its not as if the crew of the SE 2.0 actually did their computer work at any higher resolution. So I wonder how those great 3D versions will look on a screen in only 1080p.