doubleofive,
Respectfully, I wouldn't say that it's completely different, but that's just my point of view. What I mean is, in both instances, the goal is to overcome the SE in the most natural way possible. I interpret the objective you discuss (when you say "what I feel this project is") as a technical one, to completely match the OT, shot by shot, as closely as possible. My only point would be that what inspired this project in the first place was emotions. Emotions that were formed watching the OT, and emotions that were formed by watching the SE changes upon that OT.
To me, the feel the final product has is every bit as important as the technical side, and the satisfaction in watching it comes from how natural it is in it's attempt to recreate the OT. The SE changes were so offensive because they were obvious, out of place, and unnecessary. Honestly, the slow motion frames in the proposed clips have the same effect on me. But, like you, I am absolutely confident in Harmy's judgement to find the right compromise between the technique and feel, and am not worried about it.
I know others have different points of view built from their own experiences, which it is not my place to argue with. I can only share mine and how I understand them. I don't mean to get too much ruckus going over a minor detail which I am sure will be just fine in the end.
-DT