The Lost Cut- Alternate versions of movies (1 Viewer)

[Brian Kidd]

Clive Barker had assembled a longer cut of NIGHTBREED that was then pretty severely edited by Morgan Creek. There have been rumors on and off ever since that he would like to release his version of it, but it has never come to fruition. It's a shame. The film, though flawed, is quite interesting even in its current state.

 

[David_Blackwell]

I would love to see a longer cut of Nightbreed

Be Seeing You,
David Blackwell
(off to look for info on the longer cut)

 

[TheLongshot]

That would be rather difficult, since often editing decisions are made well before the final animation happens.

Jason

 

[Ruz-El]

I think "The Black Cauldron" was one of the first Disney films to be cut based on test audience reactions, or at least after final animation was complete.

I heard that Braveheart was cut to get a MPAA rating (the original cut was supposedly NC-17 for violence and gore.) I remember Mel Gibson saying as much in the press when it came out. I'd love to see it.

 

[Nicholas Vargo]

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned "I'll Do Anything."

I wonder how many of you know that this film, which stars Nick Nolte, Julie Kavner, Tracey Ullmann, Albert Brooks, and is directed by James L. Brooks, was supposed to be a musical in the tradition of "Singin' in the Rain" until the musical version of the film was test screened in front of an audience and they absolutely hated it. The movie after the screening deleted all of the musical numbers and reshot some scenes to fill those gaps and that was the final result. It was a major disaster.

Still, I'd kill to see the original version of the film, as it may have be better then what it turned out to be.

 

[Patrick McCart]

The original version of "The Thief and the Cobbler" directed by animation master, Richard Williams.

By the early 1990's, roughly 85% of the film was fully completed animation. However, since it wasn't completed in time, the Completion Bond Company seized the film and had it re-cut to make it more "marketable."

This resulted in lots of scenes being chopped up, the remaining 15% not being animated, and NEW music numbers added by the Don Bluth's studio. Also, completely new audio was given, save for a few parts (especially Vincent Price's part as Zig-Zag). Matthew Broderick, Johnathan Winters were brought in to voice Tack (the cobbler) and the Thief....who were both meant to be mute throughout the film (no lip movement, even!) Jennifer Beals re-dubbed the voice of Princess Yum-Yum... often not even close to what the original dialogue was (and often this new dialogue was just rants about feminism).

Sadly, I think some parts of the audio are lost forever. Donald Pleasence and Sean Connery originally performed some of the character's voices, but their tracks are gone.

Thankfully, it looks like Disney (who now owns it via Miramax) found all the "lost" scenes and apparently had Eric Golberg direct the remaining 15% of the film now that Richard Williams has retired from animation (but continues to teach and write on animation). This was probably one of the projects Roy Disney was supporting... so there's no telling of what has come of it.

I've seen several pieces of the film that were cut or unfinished and they're beautiful. There are a lot of scenes in the film that literally look like they were shot with cranes and dollies. Even cooler, it was shot in Panavision... making it one of the few 2.35:1 animated films.

 

[Magnus Nord]

I remember hearing rumours long ago about a VERY VERY long version of Armageddon, could there be any truth to this?

 

[James T]

I'd like to see the original version of Batman Forever. It's suppose to be a darker version that leans towards an R-rating.

Batman & Robin....you'd have to buy a new script and new cast to fix that movie.

 

[David_Blackwell]

It looks like the earlier cut of Batman and Robin was darker with Bruce Wayne's girlfriend meeting a tragic fate at the hands of Poison Ivy.


Be Seeing You,
David Blackwell

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

I remember reading somewhere that Annie Hall was originally a comic murder mystery with a romance as a subplot. Woody Allen apparently decided the romance was stronger than the murder, and so cut it out of the film.
(I don't know that I believe that - it seems too much of a deviation from the film we know, but if it were true, that is one cut I would love to see. Does anyone else know anything about this?)

The Avengers is one film that, while a bad film, I suspect would be a bit better had it not been cut to shreds. At least it might have made sense. I remember at the time there was some plot point that I never understood. After seeing it, I read an interview with one of the stars, and they were talking about their character and in so doing they actually explained this plot point that made no sense in the film.

My favourite example of the impact of the cuts made to the film is the scene where they're hiding from the snowstorm in the phone box, and they know it's an elevator into the bad guy's lair. Emma Peel picks up the phone, says "How Now Brown Cow", and the elevator starts. How did she know to say that?
Of course, in the trailer, we've seen a completely different scene where Emma Peel drives up to a ringing phone box in the middle of nowhere, and answers with the phrase "How Now Brown Cow".
So, judging by the trailer, there was at least one scene filmed that suggests the presence of a scene explaining this plot point. It's a pity they decided not to explain it in the film itself.

 

[Ernest Rister]

"That would be rather difficult, since often editing decisions are made well before the final animation happens. Jason"

Jason, The Black Cauldron was mostly completed when Eisner and Katzenberg took over. When Katzenberg was hired, he screened the films then in production, and he took it upon himself to order changes in Cauldron. Roy Disney called him personally after receiving complaints. "What are you doing?" Roy asked. "Trying to fix this thing." Katzenberg replied.

In a story that is now legendary in animation circles regarding Cauldron, as Katzenberg sat down to start editing the film, he asked where the coverage was for the scene he wanted to work on.

I bet you even he gets a chuckle out of that one, today, since hand-drawn animation doesn't have coverage.

Anyway, Katzenberg eventually trimmed (reportedly) two minutes of animation, including some shots of skeletal violence in the last reel. Because the cuts came so late in the production, the score for the film had already been completed, and thus, Katzenberg's edits in the climactic scenes can be "heard", since they interrupt music cues and cymbal crashes. If you have the CD of the score, you can also become acquainted with the original version of the "Cauldron-Born" sequence, making the edits even more noticeable when you finally see the film.

The Black Cauldron is by no means a great film (or even a good film), but I have affection for it and some day I'd like to see the version the Disney artists had prepared before Mr. Katzenberg decided to edit the film. I have suspicions that the film was edited in an effort to try to win a G rating, since I've read claims by one historian that Katzenberg's changes were an effort to "relieve the darkness" of the film.

Best to you, Jason

------

Other films I'd like to see uncut:

Intolerance
The Lost World (and no, not the Spielberg film)
Lost Horizon
Metropolis

 

[Mike Guyder]

As horrible as Smokey and the Bandit part 3 is according to IMDB the film was first known as Smokey is the Bandit and that preview audiences got confused as to what was happening in the picture. So Jerry Reed was asked back to play The Bandit. At least Burt Reynolds did a cameo at the end.

 

[Brian Kidd]

David Blackwell,

If it is floating about, then it's news to Barker. As late as last year, he was still trying to get Fox to look for the cut footage in their vaults. I think maybe you're mistaken.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Brian, I will go check up and do some research to doublecheck. Over the years, I have bought two bootleg video catalogs (never bought anything- just bought it to see what stuff and different versions that weren't available in the US at that time), and I thought saw a longer version of Nightbreed listed in one of those catalogs. I could be mistaken and confusing it with a longer version of another horror movie (like Dust Devil which is only available ina edited version in the US). I checked one catalog and now I have to dig up the other one.

I think what you're refferring to is the 126 minute cut of the movie that FOX had Barker cut down.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0100260/alternateversions

Be Seeing You,
David Blackwell

 

[Bill Williams]

I remember reading in the Guinness Book of World Records about a film called * * * * that was made some years back that the original cut lasted 24 hours - and believe me, when the Guinness Book of World Records mentions something of that nature, it's hard to be anything but fact. The film was then edited down into a 90+ minute form and retitled The Loves of Ondine. That would have to be the mother of all lost cuts, next to Greed!

 

[Larry Geller]

Woodstock originally had a 6 hour cut that was supposed to tour campuses across the country. This was reported in Rolling Stone, but the idea was dropped. I don't know if the cut was ever actually completed.

 

[MarcusUdeh]

Gremlins 2: The New Batch(1990)
Originally a little over 2 hours, was cut down by Steven Spielberg to a 107m final theatrical release

 

[David_Blackwell]

Resurecting an old thread since the original version of Exorcist: The Beginning retitled Dominion (an Exorcist Prequel) has made it to DVD and a new cut of Superman 2 is being considered. Also almost 30 minutes of deleted scenes is on the Star Trek: Nemesis CE DVD and it looks like an extended cut of Event Horizon won't happen (but some deleted scenes will show up on the DVD). KINGDOM OF HEAVEN will get an extended cut next year on DVD (and so will FANTASTIC FOUR I hear)

Any movies with longer versions that should be shown? I would love to see Mel Gibson revisit Braveheart (a friend of mind once told me the first cut ran to six hours) for a longer cut or even just have deleted scenes for a new SE DVD.

 

[todd s]

I hope we see the extended cut of Waterworld. Their was good stuff put back in.

I liked the ending where....Where you see the woman and girl looking out onto the Mariner leaving. They see a plaque in the ground saying they are on Mt.Everest.

 

[mattCR]

Bis Ans Ende Der Welt (Until the End of the World) is one of the greatest SciFi releases ever in it's 6 hour form, which you can now get from in a box set (issued in Italy). But, the US version, at slightly over 2 hrs (I believe, 2hrs, 12 minutes) is so botched up that it's hard to follow and doesn't have the same consistent narrative.