Mike isn’t trying to create a faithful duplicate of the original. He is trying to restore the best picture that he can from the sources he has. He is basically doing what Lucas should have done in 97.
Right. And he’s doing so without a single frame or pixel coming from the SE. All of the pixels used to repair are coming from other original 35mm prints. I don’t think there is any question that it’s a restoration. I see how “preservation” could be more debatable and vague. But he’s definitely restoring Star Wars.