YES, when the film came out it was razor sharp, at least in the best theaters on opening day. Look at properly preserved prints on blu-ray such as "2001", which was made in 1968, and for which the blu-ray was sourced directly from a newly-minted 70mm print of the original film. It's as good or better than modern digital source material. A pristine 70mm print beats blu-ray hands down for detail, resolution, color, and sharpness. All those people who say that if we want the OOT we should want it looking like crap because that's how old films look simply don't know what they're talking about. Yes films get beat up with use, but that doesn't mean you should preserve the beat up version.
Some people say they want to see the film as THEY experienced it in a theater. To me, that's like saying I first saw it on YouTube so it should be preserved in YouTube quality. I want to see it in its original form as it was seen in an ideal theater projection with a pristine print. That is the original work of art at its most grand.
It sounds from your description like you would enjoy any of the theatrical preservations mentioned in this thread - DJ's or Harmy's. (When I saw Harmy's it practically made me cry - spooky how much it reminded me of when I was 17 and saw SW for the first time.) If you're really hard-core, you might get a kick out of mine too. None of them contain the CGI crap and other changes that make up the SE. Trust me, we share your values.