SilverWook said:

I'm glad there wasn't a DVD I missed out on then!

The LDDB says the theatrical cut was out on LD in 1981. I'm pretty sure I saw VHS and Beta copies around before the SLV replaced it after '83. Paramount kept the catalog numbers the same.

The story circulating at the time the Letterbox LD's came out was that Robert Wise preferred the theatrical version. It was also rumored that the footage added to the 1983 ABC broadcast, (which became the SLV on video) had been tossed, making a widescreen version impossible.

Imagine the surprise when all those extra scenes popped up on disc 2 of the DE in widescreen!

And I hope you have seen my personal restoration of the SLV version, now in letterbox format for the first time ever.