Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[nowhereisaplace]

I also hope the include both versions of Day of the Fight and both versions of Fear and Desire.

[DimitriL]

I know this is a joke, but I fully expect at least the international cut of The Shining on 4K and stuff like original audio, etc., otherwise this is a complete waste of time and effort from Criterion for a bunch of stuff that has already been released on 4K. I know Criterion has disappointed with this kind of stuff occasionally, but if you get the chance to do this I have to imagine they do it right.

Is there anything else like this we can actually (reasonably) hope for? Would they include both versions of Eyes Wide Shut for completions sake?

One of the more consistent leaks has been that both versions of The Shining will be included. They were both completely valid cuts as far as Kubrick was concerned, so it would make sense. Their track record on original audio has been pretty terrific lately. (People were very happy when they didn’t just fix the audio for The Wiz on its second printing, but added the original audio as an option.)

Eyes Wide Shut is highly unlikely. The current cut is considered the one he would’ve approved, though I’m guessing the FX-treated footage will show up as part of a supplement.

[beamish14]

I mean, we’ve long sailed past Kubrick’s original intentions with Fear and Desire, so what’s the harm of including that reel’s worth of deleted scenes from 2001?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Kubrick wasn't even able to keep it from circulation when he was alive and now anyone who wants to watch it can just stream it free and clear (since it's public domain) from a bajillion online sources. At this point I'd say there's a reasonable argument that doing an "official" release is preferable to letting it continue to circulate exclusively in unauthorized editions. The deleted prologue to 2001 (and the original ending of The Shining, the pie fight scene from Strangelove, etc.) aren't in the same boat, as much as I'd love to see them myself.

[beamish14]

Kubrick wasn't even able to keep it from circulation when he was alive and now anyone who wants to watch it can just stream it free and clear (since it's public domain) from a bajillion online sources. At this point I'd say there's a reasonable argument that doing an "official" release is preferable to letting it continue to circulate exclusively in unauthorized editions. The deleted prologue to 2001 (and the original ending of The Shining, the pie fight scene from Strangelove, etc.) aren't in the same boat, as much as I'd love to see them myself.

I forgot about the pie fight. He showed it to Terry Southern in 1994, so it probably still exists

[Tuppence]

I know this is a joke, but I fully expect at least the international cut of The Shining on 4K and stuff like original audio, etc., otherwise this is a complete waste of time and effort from Criterion for a bunch of stuff that has already been released on 4K. I know Criterion has disappointed with this kind of stuff occasionally, but if you get the chance to do this I have to imagine they do it right.

The "international cut" of The Shining might be better thought of as Kubrick's preferred cut. In Lee Unkrich's book, Warner Bros executive Julian Senior quoted Kubrick as saying to him: "I think the movie was good, but I think some of the stuff I took out made the movie better." I've found people usually prefer whichever version they saw first though.

[Finch]

I wasn't keen on a Kubrick set but since David MacKenzie is encoding the entire set (fixing the one issue with Criterion's original Barry Lyndon 4k) and we're getting original audio on some of the Warner titles, I'm probably going to offload everything I already bought.

[nicolas]

So far, David only liked a post that linked to Criterion’s teaser. He’s probably involved in the set but he could be just as enthusiastic about it as most of us. The recipient of David’s like unsurprisingly saw it as a confirmation and spread the word accordingly. I also hope for a Barry Lyndon re-encode but I’ll believe it when I see it as there’d technically be no reason for them to re-do it unless they add an audio commentary.