To me it didn't feel like one long movie though, more like 2 seperate movies with some of the same characters, but the tone is completely different in 2 then it is in 1.
For the two disc set I think he's re-editing it into one movie, but not just by joining them at the middle. I think there is actual reorganizing of scenes all over the place.
for example you never see Bill in Vol1, though you do hear his voice from time to time. But he's all over Vol2.
I think in SE they should evenly distribute him across the 4 hours. That kind of stuff