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Info Wanted & Help: looking for... The lost footage of 2001

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 (Edited)

It is my understanding that Kubrick cut about 20 mintues of footage from 2001. I believe it was mostly scenes from the beginning that would explain the science around the movie or something. And then there were a few short scenes onboard the Discovery. Does anyone have this or know where to find it?

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I don't think its ever been released on any video format.

I'd also like to see the extended ending of Kubrick's "The Shining" too, but like with 2001 I don't think its available to the public on any video release.
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Yeah, I didn't think it had ever been publically released, but I thought that somewhere a copy of the footage might have leaked or something.
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There's a rumored special edition of 2001 coming next year on DVD, so perhaps it may finally include some of the extra scenes Kubrick cut from the film during those first couple of weeks of its initial theatrical run.
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Cool! Where did you hear this at? I really wonder though, if it will actually have the extra scenes, because I've heard that Kubrick asked that the film not be released with any type of features like that, other than the basic trailers.
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Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Cool! Where did you hear this at? I really wonder though, if it will actually have the extra scenes, because I've heard that Kubrick asked that the film not be released with any type of features like that, other than the basic trailers.



I think Warner Brothers hinted at the possibility in one of their HTF chats way back in 2004, so the rumored special edition was expected to pop up sometime this year, but now it's looking like it would have to be in 2006 instead. If that doesn't pan out, then I bet we'll see a nice HD-DVD version in 2008 for its 40th anniversary. There's no way WB will pass up a milestone date like that for this movie and not milk the fans for a few more bucks with a new re-release. Then again, they missed the chance to do a 25th anniversary special edition of The Shining this year...
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HD in 2006, for the 40th anniversary, would be their best bet.
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Okay, okay, about this, let me get things clear.

When the initial release of 2001 was recieved poorly by critics, Kubrick decided to trim the movie in 20 minutes, and add a few things, to make it less confusing and faster. Very few people watched the movie on its original form, and there is absolutely NO existing copies of those trims today. Here is what he has taken out (as far as I can remember reading about):

* More scenes from Dawn of Men. The apes slowly get into that lake for the second time. On the current edit, the apes show up at the middle of the atack.

* More scenes on board of Discovery, showing Dave and Frank's life on the ship, including Dave playing on a blue-keyed piano. This cut is noticeable on the jump by the soundtrack (cuts exactly when Hal is shown).

* Frank preparing for his space walk.

* More scenes on the "bedroom". Dave walks around a bit more on the room while in his spacesuit, looking around. He picks up some food bars, and later notices a slipper at the bed (this is barely visible on the current edit). Then he moves towards the bathroom. If you watch the current edit, you'll see how he moves AWAY from the bathroom, and then, a moment later, he is walking towards it.

Here is what he added:

* Titles for Discovery 18 months later, and Jupter and beoynd the infinite.

* A small cut showing the black monolith when the ape is holding the bone, to show up the connection between the two.


Keep in mind that Kubrick shot TWO HOURS of film for every MINUTE shown on screen today, so there is a lot of material who didn't end up at the movie at all (Dave playing a psychedelic board game with Hal, Dr. Floyd doing a tour at the moon base, black and white interviews with scientists in today's New York City, the aliens, and so on)
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Thanks for the info. But, are you sure the footage isn't stored away at some production company now?
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Arthur C Clark, Douglas Trumbull, Kubrick himself and his relatives, and Warner executives had clearly stated a number of times that the trims are completely lost, with no surviving copies, along with all the extra film he shot. There is absolutely nothing left besides the movie we have now.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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there is a Making of 2001 released on Uk R2 DVD. I have it and it is pretty good.



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Cool. Would there happen to be any of this unseen footage in that?
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Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Cool. Would there happen to be any of this unseen footage in that?

Are you stupid? Didn't Rik, who is something of a Kubrick/2001 expert (especially when compared to your newbie ass) just said that everything is completely lost?

War does not make one great.

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Originally posted by: Yoda Is Your Father
Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Cool. Would there happen to be any of this unseen footage in that?

Are you fucking stupid? Didn't Rik, who is something of a Kubrick/2001 expert (especially when compared to your newbie ass) just said that everything is completely lost?


Hey, easy...

While everything is lost, there is always hope that, someday, someone MIGHT find a copy of the trims in usable condition, although I doubt it. There was a rumor that Kubrick had some rushes footage which contained some of the lost footage, but aparently it is either lost or completely deteriorated.

The interesting thing is that Kubrick issued instructions to a few theaters which already got copies of the movie, instructing them how to make those cuts, so they could show those while the new, officially edited copies didn't arrive. It has been discussed that some theaters could have kept some of those trims, but it is highly improbable. They would be in such a bad condition they wouldn't be usable, and theaters back then didn't kept those trims, as such procedure was common.

Officially, there are no copies at all. While the original print is preserved, it's the one we see today. There are very rare still photos of some of those scenes (Frank's preparation, Dave playing pantominos, more Dawn of Men scenes, Floyd taking the tour).

Ash595, this DVD seems to be very interesting. Does it adress the lost trims in any way?
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Originally posted by: shabbyblue
I'd also like to see the extended ending of Kubrick's "The Shining" too, but like with 2001 I don't think its available to the public on any video release.


By the way, the extended ending for Shining was cut after the first theatrical release, and IS still around, although not included into the film anymore. It might be possible there is some rare LD edition with that scene, I don't know.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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I would really like to see them, but, as I said before, I doubt they would put them on the DVD, given Kubrick's wishes.
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Ash595, this DVD seems to be very interesting. Does it adress the lost trims in any way?


No. I don't remember anything about the lost footage in this DVD. Sorry

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There are two different cuts of The Shining available on DVD, I've only ever seen the apparently 'Kubrick approved' version which has been shown numerous times on UK tv whilst there's a longer cut available from the US, my brother bought this DVD and has subsequently lost it which is annoying because I haven't seen it yet.
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That's right. There's an US cut, which is longer than the "rest of the world" cut. Oh well, we got our revenge for "Eyes Wide Shut", the US version is censored.

But he was talking about the original ending, in which Danny and his mother are told that they were not able to find Jack's corpse, and the hotel owner comes to Danny and give him that ball that appeared mysteriously in the hotel. Then, it cuts to the picture in the wall, but with a longer shot of that. This ending was on the original theatrical release, but cut by Kubrick from all later releases. It is still around, I belive it is possible to find it.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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It's a safe bet it's all sitting in Stanley's film vault. I wish that Kubrick exhibition would tour the U.S.!
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Where were you in '77?

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Yeah, I doubt that the original negatives of the cut segments were actually lost. They MUST be in a film vault somewhere, unless Kubrick purposefully had them destroyed like he did all of the film's sets.
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Jan Harlan was interviewed for finnish movie magazine and he said that a new documentary was being prepared by him for a new dvd box set due in future (a date was not specified). during the interview he also hinted that there is reel after reel of footage still in the kubrick estate warehouse and that the director had EVERYTHING saved. now, this doesn´t necesseraly mean that there is still a original cut of 2001 in that collection.

Taschen published a great book this year called The Stanley Kubrick Archives and the first printing had a 12 frame strip of the 70mm film from the directors own copy along with a rare unpublished interview on cd. if that was the ONLY copy that kubrick had there could it have been the original version? who knows but there might be a remote - if not impossible - chance that there are few cells on that book that show cut images. i know, i know, it is impossible!!! but i had to check my copy anyways... it has 12 frames of dave in the pod showing him downwards the knobs and readouts.

my bet is that the cut scenes are lost. but, more stills - lots of stills - are there waiting to be published. newsgroup dissgussions had a guy few years ago that had seen the original version and i might have that transcript somewhere on cd-rom. he remembered those scenes vividly although he saw it once. there are number of books of kubrick´s 2001 out there and some of them have these cut scenes described in detail. you might want to check those out (it´s good to read a book instead of staring a monitor all day long - as i do).

but please don´t ask me to find that cd-rom right now. i have over 3000 cds and dvds and those are not as well cataloqued as one might have hoped... sorry. i do remember a website that also had the transcript, but i have been unable to re-find it to this day.
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Oh, there are lots of stills photos of the missing scenes, including some stills we have no idea of what scene that would be (like one showing Dave and Frank in b&w, showing their futuristic wrist watches). But the cut scenes are pretty much lost. I bet Kubrick even take measures to make sure they kept lost, I mean, he BURNED all the stage and 99% of the props so they wouldn't be used by anyone else or sold by fans (only some stuff like those red chairs and a helmet are still around).
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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hi i just noticed that the scene in 2010 the novel not the movie with the chinese probe THE Tsien as turns out was actually filmed
IT appears in an early teaser trailer see for you self trailer
you think the scene with THE Tsien still exists?!!!!
thanks catofong
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