The Complete Kubrick

[nicolas]

Getting the international cut in 4K is the biggest plus of the set for me. It’s the cut I’ve watched first and always preferred to the US version for the reason Newman stated and its more organic buildup of tension. I never got the impression that the film is incomplete either, which is hard to believe with 25 minutes “missing.” Looking forward to revisiting that cut after almost a decade.

[Tuppence]

Yes, there's no difficulty understanding any of the characters' backstories in the international cut. When I finally saw the US version for the first time, I was shocked by how redundant and borderline graceless a lot of the exposition within the extra material seemed (the child psychologist scene certainly, but also Jack's "deja vu" conversation during breakfast was particularly egregious). I find the film is much more concentrated and intense in the international version.