I believe there is a new Blu Ray coming which will include the theatrical cut.
I prefer the Turner cut. The opening is brilliant in that and I’m fine with most of the extensions. It adds back the ‘something’ which I felt was missing from the theatrical cut (which I saw first).
The 2005 version is a mess. The opening scene is much better in the Turner version and the rest of the 2005 version is largely the theatrical edit.
What about the version on the special edition DVD? Isn’t that the Turner preview version? If it is, I’m surprised they remaster it for the new Blu-ray.
The Special Edition DVD from 2005 has the 1st preview aka the Turner on one disc, and a newly made version on the other. This 2005 cut aka as the Seydor cut is a combination of the theatrical version with the missing scenes (bar one) added.
The new Blu will contain the theatrical version, the 2nd preview version and a 50th anniversary version, which might be a rethinking of this 2005 cut done by Paul Seydor and Roger Spottiswoode, one of the original editors.
It seems Criterion was not able to get the rights for the Turner for this new set.
I think I would prefer it to have the Turner with the 2 missing scenes added, the longest possible version with the available material.
That’s a real shame. It’s my favourite version of the film. Maybe we can hope for a Warner Archive Blu-ray.