>that Kubrick didn't have time to do a fine-cut. And Warners probably opted
>not to touch a frame. Much as it wasn't their idea to digitally alter the
>orgy scene. Kubrick had already done that. Unfortunately the Los Angelos
>(and now New York) critics are still loudly whining about the necessity for
>this. They have a valid point (re: MPAA) but the villian isn't Warner
>Brothers.


According to several reports, Warners probably did touch a frame, quite a
few of them.  General press fluff has it that Kubrick had finished the film
but they're obviously recycling each other's copy while more substantive
coverage has offered evidence (some drawn from the film itself) that it
actually wasn't finished completely.  J. Hoberman even passes along rumors
that Pollack or Spielberg may have had a hand in tidying up the film.  And
much of the defense of the altered orgy scene--such as the laughably obtuse
Kubrick crony on NPR--tends to rely on the point that Kubrick did it
himself which takes a concept of artistic integrity too far; Kubrick's
authorization doesn't make it acceptable.  The fact that this was not done
for European prints shows that the villains are Warner Brothers AND the
MPAA.
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Lang Thompson
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/wlt4

Full Alert Film Review (formerly World Cinema Review)
http://wlt4.home.mindspring.com/fafr.htm

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