It would make more sense to have digital files stored on some generic random-access storage media rather than HDCAM-SR or whatever other proprietary physical format becomes popular. Keep it online, maintain it, upgrade it and back it up. As storage technologies change, so will your storage array. That way you don't have to worry about physical format obsolescence.

That said, it still makes sense to hang onto the film as a backup. But it has to be pointed out how much the original film deteriorated over 37 years. And I'm pretty sure they'd moved from celluloid to polyester by that point. Actually, they apparently didn't commonly move to polyester until the 1990s, so maybe that actually makes sense.