Funny, they are tiptoeing around what actually happened and never once mention Stephen Spielberg being the one responsible for delivering the final film that we see today.
Originally there was a four and a half hour version screened to a handful of executives on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. This is the version that is way more damming but even Kubrick knew would never see the light of day. Kubrick then was instructed to bring something back that was more digestible and under two hours for audiences. He edited it down to a two and a half hour version - not including the credit crawl. This version was then screened to a bigger audience of executives at the Warner Brothers Lot. These executives didn’t care for the two and a half hour version and argued with Kubrick to trim it down. But in that request was the true meaning of why the executives needed it to be cut down… it exposed the truth too much.
Days later Kubrick was dead and Spielberg was brought in to “clean it up” for theatrical release. Spielberg’s version is a watered down mess that even Kubrick’s family knows better than to argue wasn’t his original vision.
Roger claims to have an on the set shooting script. He could easily have one because it was fairly common for those to get sold on the second hand market. But he definitely doesn’t have an actors version aka Kubrick’s, Cruise or Kidman’s which are closely guarded and contain different scenes that some crew or even secondary actors don’t have access to to prevent leaks. So as much as I applaud Avery for exposing the truth to EWS they really didn’t drill down into Spielberg being a part of the finished film edit. Understandably so, these guys like breathing fresh air daily. And Spielberg, well…
Funny, they are tiptoeing around what actually happened and never once mention Stephen Spielberg being the one responsible for delivering the final film that we see today.
Originally there was a four and a half hour version screened to a handful of executives on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. This is the version that is way more damming but even Kubrick knew would never see the light of day. Kubrick then was instructed to bring something back that was more digestible and under two hours for audiences. He edited it down to a two and a half hour version - not including the credit crawl. This version was then screened to a bigger audience of executives at the Warner Brothers Lot. These executives didn’t care for the two and a half hour version and argued with Kubrick to trim it down. But in that request was the true meaning of why the executives needed it to be cut down… it exposed the truth too much.
Days later Kubrick was dead and Spielberg was brought in to “clean it up” for theatrical release. Spielberg’s version is a watered down mess that even Kubrick’s family knows better than to argue wasn’t his original vision.
Roger claims to have an on the set shooting script. He could easily have one because it was fairly common for those to get sold on the second hand market. But he definitely doesn’t have an actors version aka Kubrick’s, Cruise or Kidman’s which are closely guarded and contain different scenes that some crew or even secondary actors don’t have access to to prevent leaks. So as much as I applaud Avery for exposing the truth to EWS they really didn’t drill down into Spielberg being a part of the finished film edit. Understandably so, these guys like breathing fresh air daily. And Spielberg, well…
Spielberg has always given me the creeps. The way his films always have a kid playing the hero feels like grooming.