"Given the source" being the key phrase here. If we forget the whole letterboxing issue, that is.
From what I've read people here generally acknowledge that considering the source the GOUT could've ended up worse, and that it's the best LD transfer available, but the reason they complain is that the GOUT should've never been sourced from an ancient LD transfer to begin with.
Not to mention that fan transfers are one thing, but an official release is a different matter altogether. The GOUT would've been great for a fan effort, but as it stands it's quite terrible. And useful for obvious reasons.