Whatcha Watchin'?

if they could use their magic and deep pockets to make a deal with Harmy and release his editions, first for a run in theaters and then as an official blu-ray release, they would make soooooo muuuchhhh moneyyyyyy

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Iā€™d follow a different line of reasoning with Blade Runner, which also has too many versions

It was not a hit in the theaters, and developed into a cult film based on VHS rentals, I think

Accordingly Iā€™d give the ā€œinternational versionā€ in the video stores a lot of weight with that one

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My copy of Bladerunner has three discs:
one: final cut (2007)
two: original theatrical cut (1982), original international cut (1982) directorā€™s cut (1991)
three: work print and special features

for some reason, it doesnā€™t have the international directorā€™s cut. Maybe thereā€™s a menu option Iā€™ve overlooked.

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The ā€œinternational cutā€ is what everybody saw on video in the '80s

and the ā€œworkprintā€ is the only one Iā€™ve ever seen in a theater

so Iā€™m going to go with those two :+1: :+1:

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Iā€™m waiting for the ā€œOriginal International Final Directorā€™s Cut Work Print.ā€
This is the version that reveals that the owl is, in fact, not artificial and Deckard doesnā€™t like it.

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The difference with Blade Runner is that the vast majority of the changes are in editing, not in CGI overprints and replacing sounds which were already in the release version. I know they had Fordā€™s son do some scenes because of missing angles or whatever, but it wasnā€™t the fundamental change of giving Greedo lines he never had, making him shoot when he didnā€™t, putting storm troopers on beasts which didnā€™t exist in the original version, and on and on.

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You add voiceovers and a happy ending just to please the audiences who might be confused by the whole thing, and see what they reward you with?

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Dollface. All allegory, at double-time.

1 Like

I mostly agree, butā€¦ changes to bit characters, for me, were never a huge issueā€¦ throw in extra stormtroopers, extra x-wings, whateverā€¦ it may or may not be prettier, but as long as it doesnā€™t change the imbalance of the sidesā€¦

Changing a fundamental pivot point of a character, thoughā€¦ thatā€™s an issue. Especially when said character goes through the rest of the movie (and further ones) saying theyā€™re looking out for themselves. Putting Solo in a position where a bounty hunter has all but directly told him that heā€™s about to die, and then somehow claiming that itā€™s more true to the character that he not shoot first just makes the rest of his actions in the movie make very little sense. Thereā€™s any number of points of the original trilogy that rely on him being at least a somewhat ambiguous character, and shoehorning in that one ā€œself defenseā€ thing really minimizes the rest.

And using that absolutely stupid CGI jerk to the side, and then keeping it even though technology is so much better nowā€¦

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IIRC, the international cuts were bloodier than the domestic cuts. Which is not to say that you havenā€™t seen them-- just that two different levels of gore were prepared.

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I mean some of the recuts changed the film pretty substantially but I largely give it a pass since it was just rejiggering what was already there versus going in and digitally altering things.

I mean on the one hand I get that Lucas wanted to fix all the things that he never had the time and budget to get right originally. Things like hiding obvious wires, making the light sabers look better, and so on arenā€™t really things I can protest (although I understand the desire for ā€œpurityā€ since the originals with all their flaws have a charm of their own). But he just couldnā€™t stop there and kept messing with things that didnā€™t need messing with.

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So, two episodes into The Mandalorian, and Iā€™m on board. Good low-stakes adventures that tie into the larger picture. And that bountyā€¦

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image

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Yes! Especially when the justification is something like, ā€œwell we shot that scene, but it got edited outā€.

THINGS GET EDITED OUT FOR GOOD REASONS, GEORGE.

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Sad as it is, few actually want to see the ā€œdefinitiveā€ 4 hour cut of a film. For one that I really love I would, because Iā€™m a film nerd, but most donā€™t have the time or patience. Thereā€™s usually a good reason for leaving scenes out. I rarely watch the deleted scenes for a movie and think to myself, ā€œhot damn what were they thinking by leaving that out!ā€

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Finished watching two seasons of Shtisel, a well-acted Israeli show about a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) family in Jerusalem. The characters are human and relatable, especially the boundary-pushing by the younger generation, but the culture they are trying to navigate is (to me) as alien as anything on Star Trek.

Apparently this was a huge hit in Israel, even watched by Haredim, who arenā€™t supposed to have TVs.

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Totally agree, although I really would love to see the 5 hour version of Wim Wendersā€™ Until the End of the World. Having seen the cinematic release version, I think it would have worked much better as a miniseries.

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At least the miniseries version of Yor, the Hunter from the Future got a release.

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Not often you see that many phallic rock formations all in one place.

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We didnā€™t have anything to compare it to, but yes, the VHS version left nothing to the imagination

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