I found a couple more good-looking images of film cells from ANH. Again, there is less light traveling through these frames than there would be on a film projector, so I adjusted the brightness/contrast levels to bring out the colors. I made absolutely no hue/saturation adjustments.

The more I look at good images of these film cells, the more I realize that 1.) they came from an unfaded source, and 2.) they fully retain the original '77 color timing.

The print from which these film cells were cut seems to be low-fade, and I'm still perplexed about the lack of sound striping on every single ANH cell I've seen. Was this print struck specifically for the film cells? Did LFL or Fox happen to have a low-fade, unstriped 70mm print lying around?

Prints with the original color timing were still being screened as late as 1994, so later interpositives and print masters most likely still exist in the vaults. They may be grainy, they may be dirty, and they may be worn, but any later IPs/print masters/whatever were probably on low-fade stock and still retain the original color.

I understand that these elements were obviously too many generations removed from the source to have been usable in the SE restoration, but Lucas' implications that absolutely nothing of the original version exists in good quality is a load of Bantha poodoo.