Editing Eyes Wide Shut (section)

===Studio censorship and classification===
Citing contractual obligations to deliver an [[R rating (Motion Picture Association)|R rating]], Warner Bros. digitally altered the orgy for the film's American release by [[censorship|blocking out]] graphic sexuality using additional figures to obscure the view in order to avoid an adults-only [[NC-17]] rating that would have limited its financial viability. This alteration antagonized both film critics and cinephiles,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/072899eyes-movie.html |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard | work=The New York Times | title=Critics Assail Ratings Board Over 'Eyes Wide Shut' | access-date=November 9, 2012 | archive-date=May 30, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530041334/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/film/072899eyes-movie.html | url-status=live}}</ref> who argued that Kubrick had never been shy about ratings (''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' was [[A Clockwork Orange (film)#Controversies|originally given]] an [[X-rated|X rating]]). The unrated version of ''Eyes Wide Shut'' was released in the United States on October 23, 2007, on [[DVD]], [[HD DVD]] and [[Blu-ray]] formats.

[[Roger Ebert]] heavily criticized the technique of using digital images to mask the action. In his positive review of the film, he said it "should not have been done at all" and it is "symbolic of the moral hypocrisy of the rating system that it would force a great director to compromise his vision, while by the same process making his adult film more accessible to young viewers."<ref name="Ebert">{{cite web|last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Eyes Wide Shut |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/eyes-wide-shut-1999 |date=July 16, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925034240/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19990716%2FREVIEWS%2F907160302%2F1023 |archive-date=September 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Although Ebert has been frequently cited as calling the standard North American R-rated version the "[[Austin Powers (film series)|Austin Powers]]" version of ''Eyes Wide Shut'' – referring to two scenes in ''[[Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery]]'' in which, through camera angles and coincidences, full frontal nudity is blocked from view in a comical way<ref name=ReelViews/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/07.15.99/eyeswideshut-9928.html |work=[[Metro Silicon Valley]] |title=Adulterers Only |last=von Busack |first=Richard |author-link=Richard von Busack
|date=July 15, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606225445/http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/07.15.99/eyeswideshut-9928.html |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmblather.com/review.php?n=eyeswideshut |website=FilmBlather |title=Eyes Wide Shut (1999) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923052226/http://filmblather.com/review.php?n=eyeswideshut |archive-date=September 23, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> – his review stated that this joke referred to an early rough draft of the altered scene, never publicly released.<ref name="Ebert" />