grisan said: A restoration only makes sense... if it will be available to them and the future generations. Would you restore a painting to its former glory if it will just be hidden in a storage closet and never be shown in a museum?
The answer is: Yes, of course I would, because you never say never. You don't know what the future holds. Perhaps Lucas will change his mind. Perhaps after he's gone the estate will free it up. Who knows? But if the film isn't restored, then you've got nothing. The assets needed to restore the film are deteriorating every day; they won't last forever. If you have a chance to restore the film now, you take it, no matter what, because the chance won't come again.
That's the logistical, practical reason to do a restoration now, regardless of whether it gets distributed or not. But even that's not the best of reasons... the best reason is for principle's sake. You don't value that, which is why you don't have what you want. The idea of this being about bragging rights is so infantile I almost don't want to address it, but if that's what matters to you, you can be assured your attitude is why you don't have them, either.
_Mike