DVD Review HTF REVIEW: "Almost Famous - Untitled - The Bootleg Cut" (1 Viewer)

[Tina_H_V]

Great!!!! At long last!!!!!!!!!!! The wait is finally over!!!!!! Now, I can finally pick this one up at long last!!!!! Tuesday is around the corner and I patiently await its arrival so this one can be added to my DTS arsenal!!!!!!! Even if the bootleg director's extended version is Dolby Digital only, FINE!!!!!!!! There will still be DTS here ANYWAY and there is an awful lot to like about this one.
Besides, Stillwater is a band I would have listened to from that era, anyhow, which was a fun one for me. 1973 was one of the most favorite years of my life. This shall further sweeten those memories of that fun time for me some more.
Throw in the incoming Onkyo TX-DS797 and one could easily say, patience is about to be rewarded on many fronts and counts!!!! :b

 

[Tim RH]

The film was #1 on Roger "Movie Guru" Ebert's Best Films of the Year 2000 list, which pretty much means "must have" to me.

Big fan of Dark City, are you?

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Okay. So, now the question is given Best Buy's lousy recent track record will they have this disc on Tuesday or not? Perhaps I should order from Digital Eyes just to be safe.

 

[Matt Birchall]

We recieved craploads of them today at my Best Buy.
(And yes, "craploads" is the official term.)
-mwb-

 

[Christian Preischl]

Hi,

Big fan of Dark City, are you?

Haven't even seen it yet. I'm scared to look too far back into Ebert's Best of lists as my budget is strained enough as it is. (The fact that he did an audio commentary on the DVD made me think more than once about getting it, however.)
Anyway, in the case of Almost Famous it really _is_ a no brainer for me. I was interested in it anyway, and that, combined with the fact that it's #1 on his list, makes it an easy buy.
Chris

 

[Ryan Peter]

Is Best Buy running a special price on it, Matt?

 

[Matt Birchall]

Is Best Buy running a special price on it, Matt?

Ask me that again on Sunday, and I'll be happy to tell you.

Regular price is $27.99. . .
-mwb-

 

[Ken Stuart]

Please use the spoiler options, guys. I haven't seen the film yet

Outside of the initial review at the beginning of this thread (by the site owner), there haven't been any spoilers - unless you consider any detail, no matter how incosequential, to be a spoiler.

Actually, around fifteen years ago, I stopped reading reviews prior to seeing a film, because I've never seen one that didn't have spoilers...

 

[Michael Dueppen]

I absolutely agree that this is one exceptionally great movie. I bought the original DVD because of Ron's review and I really hate rebuying discs. But I might just have to get this disc.

 

[Jim Benard]

I can't believe that HBO premiers this great flick last week in 4x3. If that doesn't help drive up the DVD sales I don't know what will.

 

[Carlo_M]

I too will be picking AF:BC on release date, I loved this movie and will gladly pick up the 2nd edition, especially since the studio let us know early on that it was coming.

Big fan of Dark City, are you?

Huge fan. And one of the few "Ebert Best Movie of The Year" choices that I wholeheartedly agree with.

 

[Dean DeMass]

I just finished watching "Untitled" and the Best Film of 2000 just became one of my Top 10 favorite films of all time! I loved the Theatrical Cut, but the Director's Cut is 10 times better. I don't want to give anything away since there are people who have yet to see this film at all, but trust me, you will want to watch disc 1. I pretty much was able to pick out the extra material and any extra screen time for Jason Lee and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is always a good thing. I only watched a few of the extras (b-sides, Lester Bangs interview, and the Love Comes and Goes video). The version played in the video is actually the demo from Nancy Wilson and it is pretty good. Also, after watching the brief interview with Lester Bangs, Phillip Hoffman really nailed the part. He really knows how to nail his roles.
I am looking forward to listening to the commentary, watching the entire concert, and jamming Fever Dog on the way to work!
Great job Dreamworks.
I give this DVD :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: out of 5 stars.
BTW, whoever made the hubs for this cardboard DVD holder should be given an award. Very nicely done.
-Dean-

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Been reading up on some reviews of Untitled (which WILL be on my DVD shelf this time tomorrow) and I'm really psyched. This one is easily one of the best movies of the past few years, and I'm not at all surprised that it has earned legions of fans since it hit home video.

If only this movie had made more money in the theaters...

 

[Nate Anderson]

It's amazing...the Untitled cut of the film (it's actually entitled "Untitled" with a new title card and all.) is a much fuller and more amazing film.

I love this movie...and Untitled is even better.

More to follow after I finish looking at the rest of the disc. I must say though, the transfer on Untitled is better than the one on Almost Famous.

 

[Tim RH]

I must say though, the transfer on Untitled is better than the one on Almost Famous.

I noticed that too, but I thought it must have just been my imagination.

On another note, I think somebody forgot to include the outer box "sleeve" for the DVD packaging, a la FIGHT CLUB and MAGNOLIA.

 

[Nate Anderson]

Okay...I have just finished watching Untitled, and I must say that I feel its a much richer film, with all the additions working for the film.

I plan to watch the entire film with the commentary on later in the week. I played it on certain key scenes, if more so to see what Cameron's mom's reaction was. It was really interesting to have both on the track together.

Favortie exchange:

Cameron's Mom: "You know, Roger Ebert said this was the best movie of the year, and I gotta agree with him."

Cameron: "And people wonder why I still hang out with my mom!"

And now I gotta go and get a copy of Led Zepplin IV (I realize it's a crime that I don't have it already...) so I can watch the cut Stairway scene the way it was supposed to be seen.

 

[Matthew_S]

Have to agree with most of the comments regarding untitled. Seldom do director's cuts impress me, but this is definitely one of them. (Blade Runner being another off the top of my head) I've seen the original cut enough to be able to pick out the new footage and i believe it adds to the film. There are some great new scenes and just little added nuances. If you liked almost famous, get this disc!

 

[StephenT]

I watched it last night, and I enjoyed it very much. Did anyone else notice that sometimes it looked like different takes were used than in the original cut? Maybe the additional lines in some scenes just threw me off, but it seemed to me like there were a lot of different takes. Also with additional scenes there were different music cues here and there. I even think I heard a lot of different and new foley sounds. Different overdubs were apparent too. It seemed like I could hear some background conversations a lot clearer in some cases.

Did the layer change look as horrible to everyone else? It seemed to pause overlong, and it was very conspicuous.

I think this cut is properly labeled a "bootleg." It's for the real fans of the film like a Dylan bootleg is something only a Dylanphile would want. I don't think the longer cut is edited as well, and I swear there are different takes in there that sometimes aren't as good as the original though they include more dialogue. However, I need to do a side by side comparison to be sure. I'm just going on the fact some of the lines sounded different to me with different inflection on some words. I could just be crazy.

Since I love this movie I really like having the longer cut, and it's the one I'll always watch from now on. However, if I'm introducing the movie to someone I'll show them the original cut. I just think it's not just shorter but tighter with better editing. If they like it as much as I, I'll show them the untitled cut. Like I said I think it's for the true fans who just want more of such a great film.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I can't believe that HBO premiers this great flick last week in 4x3.

Well, except for a glitch in the HD feed on that first showing, it has been in high definition, widescreen, and DD 5.1 on HBO-HD.

(You can even see this downconverted on standard televisions if you have Dish Network and the Dish 6000 receiver.)

Great flick...what I've seen of Untitled is outstanding.

- Steve

 

[Jason Whyte]

***This post contains spoilers regarding to "Untitled." If you haven't watched this new cut yet, then you may want to skip my post. Thanks --JW***
I was very impressed with this new disc. This is all Crowe's DVD, and he certainly has put a lot of work into it.
What's interesting about "Untitled" is it is a completely new cut of the film, not just added scenes, as there are trims from the theatrical cut and many scenes are reedited. One example is our introduction to 15 year old William -- we see an alternate scene where he walks outside of his school infront of a billboard saying "William Miller is too young to drive or fuck!" then cutting to him over the ledge reading Creem; in the theatrical cut it shows an alternate shot of William walking out to the ledge as "Tommy" pulsates over the soundtrack.
My thoughts on "Untitled" as a film are nothing but admirable. It's a more fully fleshed out film, as it lets us get to know the characters more and has a great deal of humanity. Crowe has always been known for giving even the smallest character three dimensions, like Stillwater's geeky new manager Dennis (Jimmy Fallon) who, in a new scene, holds out two hands, one shut, one with a lighter. "As long as you can't see what's in this hand, you'll always want it more."
Just take another new scene where William and Lester first meet, they talk and part ways, and the two of them just stand there in the empty streets of San Diego. "Do you need a ride?" William asks, and Lester snaps back, "No man, I took the bus!"
Overall, "Untitled" is more complete and open version of "Almost Famous", however I was also happy to see the theatrical cut on there as well, which in its own right is an amazing edit and made my Top 10 of 2000. I'm glad to discover that this new version is a more complete story and not just extended music sequences, but having the theatrical cut there seals this film's history.
Another benefit on this disc is having the screenplay on disc two. I've had the book for over a year now, have read it twice and lent it out to a few friends, and it's not in the greatest condition anymore, so I'm glad to have a permanent copy available.
I also beamed over the "Stairway To Heaven" sequence. Since the music rights are unavailable, Crowe has an interesting trick up his sleeve: go find your own copy and cue it up, and then watch for the onscreen prompt. (Trust me, it's funny.) For some reason I couldn't find my copy of Led Zep IV (I think my dad has it) so I simply downloaded the MP3, and cranked it and cued the scene. HEAVEN. We watch for eight minutes as William, Anita's boyfriend, William's teacher and counsellor listen to the music. This scene would have NEVER made it into the final cut even if the music rights were cleared, but I loved it anyway.
Now, onto my only gripe: the sound level for "Untitled" seems much lower than the theatrical cut, both on disc 2 and on my previous Dreamworks DVD. I had my levels exactly the same as I switched discs and couldn't believe how much louder the theatrical cut was. Picturewise, I found "Untitled" to look a little bit sharper and having stronger colors.
Missing from the original disc is the production featurette and the Fever Dog music video. I kind of liked the featurette and will most likely hang on to the old disc for that.
If you loved "Almost Famous," this disc is for you. If you slightly liked "Almost Famous" and know nothing about the 70's, this disc is still for you. Hell, if you didn't like "Almost Famous," but are wondering how the new cut compares, this disc is for you. If you flat out hated "Almost Famous," then something is wrong with ya, and this disc is for you anyway. Like "Harry Potter" made feel like a kid again, I felt transported right back to 1973 with Cameron Crowe's "Untitled." And I wasn't even born until 1979.
Jay