Since Warner has acceded to the director's wishes for DVD presentation, I will not debate the point any further. In fact, I would venture to say that previous editions look like absolute rubbish by comparison. Obviously, there was some digital tweaking of the image to remove blemishes from the film elements, since this twenty plus year old movie now looks perfectly pristine. Certainly, the film stocks and production design choices that were implemented in 1980 effect how the colors appear on the DVD- those hotel carpets look pretty ghastly. Flesh tones generally look accurate, but the film's variable lighting situations do have a noticeable effect.
Blacks are very solid and there is good level of shadow detail to be found in the image.
The climatic scene in the hedge maze greatly benefits from the improved detail, depth and reduction in appreciable film grain. Clean dual layer authoring keeps digital compression artifacts from becoming noticeable. The 5.1 channel mix isn't overdone and seems to be maintaining a reverence for the intentions of the film's monaural soundtrack. Music gets the biggest boost from the remix, which utilizes the original stereo musical recordings. Additionally, the music extends into the rear channels, which serves to enhance the track's musical presence.