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I was thinking of 1776 as well. I have that LD (a Pioneer Special Edition) and it was one of my most exciting finds on video. It cost a bloody fortune, but it was worth it. That one may be hard to find, but Columbia later released the same version on LD (though probably without the commentary) and that one may still be available here and there. I found a copy for my sister a couple of years ago for $15.
The story is that the film was shown in its full 3-hour version for just a few days worth of previews. Then Jack Warner pulled it and ordered it trimmed to just a little over 2 hours. He claimed it was so it could show more times daily and make more money, but it was believed by some that, as a conservative, he was offended by the song "Cool Considerate Men." He had the cuts made without the director's (Peter Hunt's) knowledge and ordered the negatives destroyed. Fortunately, the editor saved the cuts and took them home, and someone found the original stereo soundtrack. It was a restoration on the order of A Star Is Born, and the result is fantastic even if the cut portions don't look so good. There's about one minute of missing footage and a couple of minutes in black and white that were pulled from a work print, but it's still incredible to see the whole thing in its Panavision OAR.
If it were released on DVD (and it should be) I don't see why they couldn't use the full version. I bet that modern equipment could make it look even better.
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