Packaging mix-up plagues Eyes Wide Shut

Two-disc set mistakenly claims to have both R and unrated versions

By Laurence Lerman -- Video Business, 10/26/2007

OCT. 26 | The packaging for Warner Home Video’s Oct. 23 two-disc special edition re-issue of Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut boasts that both the R-rated and unrated international versions of the film are contained in the two-disc set, but only the unrated version is actually offered. The incongruity has prompted a good deal of discussion and posts on cinema-themed online message boards by fans of the late director and his final film.

A spokeswoman for Warner told VB that “WHV has taken steps to correct any possible misunderstanding in the marketplace by affixing to the packaging stickers stating, 'This package contains ONLY the Unrated Version of Eyes Wide Shut' and 'Not Rated: Includes Unrated Version Only.'"

Warner also stated that, “WHV has made an immediate packaging change, and replenished collections and singles will have the corrected rating of the film Eyes Wide Shut.”

The current package carries an R rating, although the version of the film on the disc is not rated.

The title is available individually and as part of Warner's five-title, 10-disc Director’s Series: Stanley Kubrick.

The primary differences between the two versions can be found in the film’s notorious masked erotic ball scene. The original 1999 U.S. theatrical version contained digital cover-ups that were inserted into the finished film to obscure the sight of several on-screen sexual acts. This was done so the film would be granted an R rating by the Motion Picture Assn. of America, and it’s this version that has been released on earlier DVD versions of Eyes Wide Shut by Warner.

Other titles in the five-film, 10-disc collection—the third Kubrick DVD collection to be released by Warner in eight years—include 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, as well as the feature-length documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures.