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. He is trying to achieve a 4k quality image and doing so from a 70’s print that wasn’t intended for such high definition viewing requires that he address things most of us can’t even see because they would show up as noticeable flaws ar 4k.
The movie was shot and screened in 35mm but intended to be seen at a lower resolution?