Yesterday I revisited Harlan's version of 'City' through the IDW graphic novel. I really had forgotten how perfectly realized the imagery was rendered in this illustrated adaption, from the landscape of the alien planet to Kirk, Spock, Rand and Edith Keeler (all who looked like the actors who portrayed them). Notably, I had forgotten that Ellison himself made an appearance, as the man who fought at Verdun, Trooper (which apparently was always Harlan's intent that he should portray the character - probably one of the myriad reasons he was so pissed at Roddenberry about the finished product).
Years before the graphic novel was created, I bought Ellison's version of the story which was published by White Wolf back in 1996 (which also included his acerbic accounting of how the rift between him and Gene developed). While I appreciated the differences in his teleplay versus what we ultimately saw on TV, it wasn't until I read the graphic novel for the first time that I truly appreciated how brilliant the original version was.
And looking at the scenes set on the Guardian planet, I'm not sure why most of that couldn't have been accomplished with matte paintings, thus matching Harlan's grand scale for the story while staying within budget (which was GR's major reason why the story was re-written, by the Great Bird himself). The scenes set back in the 1930s did not differ significantly from what was filmed, so it had to be the planet's surface (and the giant Guardians) that would've put the episode over budget. While we take it for granted today what can be accomplished visually with GCI, they still did a lot of great work with mattes back in TOS and could've done something very similar with 'City'.
In any event, to anyone who hasn't had the chance to read this version of what is arguably one of Trek's all-time greatest episodes, I highly recommend it.
Not 100% accurate but close enough. 
