I agree that the Criterion edition has darker scenes brightened - probably because it was released in the "cathod ray tube TV era"; but the brightning is not excessive - and, at the contrary, the brighter scenes are darkened...
And, most important, color grading is different from both 35th BD and THX DVD - even if sometimes it is similar to one or another, often is different from both, so... is the Criterion LD color grading "truer" than 35th BD or THX DVD? Don't know... Should it be used as color reference for a color regrading? I think so... it could be considered a third point of view!