Uncut Version?

You're obviously lying. First of all, Kubrick never would have put his preferred cut of the film on VHS. Everyone knows that VHS tapes transmit demonic energies that cripple your brain cells and make you more susceptible to Illuminati reptile attacks. The actual longer cut of the film ran 6 hours and 66 minutes, due to Kubrick's pact with Satan and the Illuminati-Freemason-NWO reptiles. I should know, as I watched it on a deluxe Laserdisc copy back in May 1999, two months before the false flag Illuminati reptile version was "released" in "theaters." I cannot disclose how and where I obtained my copy, however, as my computer is currently being monitored by a psych-ward nurse who I have good reason to believe is a spy for the Freemasons.

That is just Lynch (correctly) "wondering" ...

Warners did not 'butcher' Kubrick's final cut of the film because (1) Kubrick died before he had completed the film ie there is/was no 'final cut', and (2) Warners did not directly interfere because Final Cut passed on to the Kubrick Estate (mainly made up of Jan Harlan and Christiane Kubrick) upon his death. Final Cut was written into Kubrick's contract with Warners, as the film was produced by Kubrick's own production company, not by Warners, as with most of his previous films.

The film was unfinished when Kubrick died, and the rough cut he had shown - sent to New York where it was viewed by Cruise, Kidman, Bob Daly and Terry Semel [the latter two from Warners] - shortly before he died was not a final cut. He had yet to add dialogue looping, much of the soundtrack, as well as shorten it by as much as 20 minutes, as numerous members of cast and crew and others repeatedly confirm. The film would likely have been, not two and a half hours long, but just over two hours long. Jan Harlan (Kubrick's brother-in-law), as executive producer and now having 'final cut' as executor of the Kubrick Estate, chose to leave the (visual) cut as it was, chose not to change the images, whether to add or subtract any. So all the visuals in the 'final cut' we see are the same as the earlier 'rough cut' (apart from the early US cinema release, where digital insertions were added to some of the Somerton scenes, but only in the US release to - bizarrely - get a lower censorship rating). What was added was sound, additional looping, soundtrack, sound effects, etc.

For instance, here's Michael Herr (screenwriter for Full Metal Jacket and who Kubrick had wanted to contribute to the script for Eyes Wide Shut) on the topic:

Then he called in extreme distress and said that he couldn’t possibly show me the movie in time for my deadline — there was looping to be done and the music wasn’t finished, lots of small technical fixes on color and sound; would I show work that wasn’t finished? He had to show it to Tom and Nicole because they had to sign nudity releases, and to Terry Semel and Bob Daly of Warner Bros., but he hated it that he had to, and I could hear it in his voice that he did. But once that screening was over, and the response to it was so strong, he relented.

From http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2010/04/kubrick-199908

He finished the actual process of filming, but he didn't finished editing. My view is that he would have tightened the film by as much as twenty minutes, shortening scenes without removing any one entirely. You just have to look at the film to see that many of the establishing shots looked botched and not edited properly. Arguably some of the voice over and flashbacks would have been altered too, like he did with Full Metal Jacket just before release. Kubrick recorded a full narration for the film, who knows how much more he would have taken out?

And we know that much of the music and sound work was done AFTER his death. Sound and music help pace and guide an editor, but Kubrick's film was in a weird position. His contract forbids anyone from cutting his film. He alone had final cut. So while his sound editor could lay down tracks and put in music, per his guidelines, they could not actually edit the footage. Usually music and imagery is edited in tandem, not so in "Eyes Wide Shut".

Considering that it was a summer release, and that Kubrick was notorious for tinkering with his films up until and even after previews and release, I think it is likely that he would have made many changes. Films aren't ever finished, they're walked away from. And Kubrick finds it harder than most to walk away.

Also, much of the sound work wasn't ready. Music, sound effects and voiceovers were put in by Nick Galt after Kubrick's death. Kubrick had just told Dominic Harlan how he wanted the Ligeti played, and after his death his family had to do a lot of tweaking on the film. For example they had to guess which version of "Strangers in the Night" to use because Kubrick had yet to finalise and select some of the music. And sound editor Paul Conway had to make numerous decisions based on nothing but Kubrick's notes. Details like where to start and stop music, what specific tracks to use, what telephone rings to use, etc. And then there's stuff like the colour correction, which was still being worked out.

But the thing that convinces me that it wasn't quite finished, is Michael Herr recounting a conversation he had with Kubrick just before the Warner screening. He asked him if he could see the film, and Kubrick answered that he wasn't comfortable yet, but that he HAD to show it to the execs and stars, and that it literally "pained" him to have to do so. Four days later and Kubrick dies. What are Warner going to do, release an unfinished film or fudge the truth a little? The release date was in the summer. You don't spend 2 years on a film and then rush the editing like that.

You don't hand a film over until it's finished. We know that the colour correction, music and sound mix definitely weren't finished. We know he was editing it the night before he died. We know he held a small screening 4 days before he died.

This screening was held, on a Tuesday, at the Time Warner building in New York. Kubrick sent a courier who personally hand delivered a print of the film. Immediately after the screening, that print was rushed back to England by the same courier. Warner received NO print that day. Only about 4 people (The Cruises and 2 Warner execs- Terry Semel and Bob Daly) were present at the screening. We know Michael Herr was at Kubrick's house later that day and asked to see the film. Kubrick tells him that the film isn't ready yet and that it "pains" him to have to show it to "these people". After the screening, Kubrick tells Terry Semel that the final cut will be 2 hours and 19 minutes long. What they saw that night was 2 hours and 39 minutes long.


Warner claims that what their producers saw that day was the final cut. But it was just a screening. Kubrick wasn't handing over prints. They left empty handed. He showed them a work in progress. If he was finished and happy with what he showed them, he wouldn't still be editing before he died.

Then when Kubrick dies, Warner runs the story that the print used for the screening was his final cut. At first they called it a "working final cut", implying that it was still a work in progress. Weeks later they insist that it was his "final cut" (after all, who wants to market an incomplete movie?). They spend the next 3 months consulting with the Kubrick estate on how to finish the music, sound loops and color etc.

They dabble with the idea of bringing another editor to trim the film (rumours of Spielberg and Cronenberg tweaking the editing are passed around), but Kubrick's contract specifically forbids this.

Weeks after Eyes Wide Shut was released, Ted Turner pushes Bob Daley and Terry Semel to resign from Warners, the rumour being that this was because they couldn't get Kubrick's film cut and edited.

Here is a device from Amazon that allows you to do it. I've done this before and it is rather easy.

http://www.amazon.com/VIDBOX-8-0-Deluxe-VHStoDVD/dp/B00ND0E7BW


I too am very interested in this VHS copy of a longer cut you speak of. Are you allowed to say how you procured this version?

has this ever been transferred to digital, if not I can work on it, I have post production house and would be interested to watch that copy

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