You could certainly make the resistor value smaller than 470 ohm, but what is the power rating (and the surge withstanding capability) of that resistor.
Suppose that a capacitor fails in short-circuit mode. Do you want the resistor to possibly fail, too?
Aside from a small space and cost penalty, is there any other downside to including a current limiting resistor between the bridge output and the caps?
That is why I recommend against using that resistor in the first place. If a cap shorts out (and flames up) then the bridge rectifier will likely "burn up" and self distruct. That's my "fuse". If you want protection, install a fuse on the input to the bridge rectifier.
