Nighthawks... (1 Viewer)

[Adam Scott]

Does anyone know if this DVD has ever been rereleased by Universal with the restored club scene which is missing the crucial music by the Stones, when Stallone and Williams are shooting it out with Hauer? Without this music clip, the whole feel of the scene -- and film, in my opinion -- is altered for the worse. From my understanding, Universal never looped the original music in for this scene on their DVD release and left generic "bullshit" in its place....has this been corrected yet?

 

[Bob Cashill]

I looked for reviews, but the DVD doesn't seem to have been revised since it appeared in 2004.

 

[Adam Scott]

Thank you Bob, I have read this too...but Im wondering if the Goodtimes version is still available with the correct music, and if Universal ever corrected the scene and reissued the disc....

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

The Goodtimes disc is no longer in print, but it is cheaply available used and new from various Amazon sellers. This is how I got a copy a few years back. My feeling is that Universal still does not have the rights to use the music (which includes several other tunes in addition to "Brown Sugar") and that the Goodtimes disc was somehow able to slip through with the soundtrack intact. Use of the Stones' back catalog is not cheap these days and Universal has probably deemed Nighthawks too obscure to warrant the extra cost. Universal has been good about restoring the soundtracks to previously altered films such as The Thing, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jaws, 16 Candles, and Weird Science. I'm not sure if Where the Buffalo Roam or Cheech and Chong's Next Movie have been corrected. The Anchor Bay issue of Blue Collar remains rescored.

 

[Ted Kontos]

I believe the other missing track beside "Brown Sugar" is Keith Emerson's version of "I'm a Man" (the Spencer Davis song), which plays during the building tension of Hauer's ID. The movie suffers greatly without it. I picked up my used Goodtimes copy a year ago at a store in Warwick, RI. Full screen (I believe open matte), but one of the few cases where I'll sacrifice OAR for Original Soundtrack.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

There are a few other missing tracks which were detailed in a posting on the old Mobius boards. The most noticeable omissions are indeed "Brown Sugar" and "I'm A Man," but there are two or three other replaced songs.

 

[Adam Scott]

Thanks Guys,

Yes indeed the two tracks that are monumental and missing from the Universal release, as I have heard, is Brown Sugar and Im a Man, both which segway and intermix during Hauer's club shootout scene -- absolutely monumental in setting up the feel of that part, and the film suffers greatly without it.

So, the overall word on this is that Universal has not reissued this with the missing songs, and the Goodtimes version can be found at Amazon, CDnow.com etc? What are the specifications on that version (I normally dislike the quality of anything that comes out of the Goodtimes stable)....is it Dolby 5.1, stereo, mono, what? Anamorphic?

 

[Bob Cashill]

It's fullscreen and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, according to the Amazon listing. But, hey, you can get it for $3.50.

 

[Ted Kontos]

Please be aware that there are 2 Goodtimes releases, one in a snapper case and the other in a keepcase. I remember reading that the snapper case contains the original songs (at least mine did). I believe the "error" was caught for the later keepcase release, so beware if you're buying used!

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

To further add to the confusion, my disc came housed in a keepcase, but still has the original music intact. Luck of the draw, I guess...

 

[Adam Scott]

"It's fullscreen and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono"

Now that is truly saddening....

Thanks for the info.

 

[Adam Scott]

Thanks for the heads up Ted...this is getting utterly confusing....to the point that this title is not even worth the effort at this point; it wasnt a do-or-die-have title for me.