YanniD said:

Harmy said:

I do believe they could do better than this, seeing as how I'm using old LD masters for many shots and the whole thing is still a bit of a patch-work.

Would a 4K transfer of a Technicolor print be the definitive original version?

Is George Lucas the only obstacle to accomplishing this?

Realize that a Technicolor print is several generations removed from the negative. Also realize that there are several steps between the original negative and a release print. After the negative is cut, you make an Interpositive or IP and then you make an Internegative or IN. It is from the IN that you make release prints. Then there's another step called separation masters, in which the original negative is printed on three different strips of B&W film that represent the RBG spectrum of the original color negative (b&w film is much more stable than color film).

Each of these elements exist in various forms, and a decent restoration could be achieved of the original version without having to go scanning a release print.