Avengers (movie) Director's Cut

I know I'm opening up myself for staunch criticism here. However, if you, like me, are an Avengers fan and would like to see a release of a director's cut of the chopped up and gutted film from 1998 go and sign this petition:

http://pub21.bravenet.com/guestbook/1740824563

I for one enjoyed the movie even though plot holes were numerous. I just liked the chemistry of the actors and thought they did a good job re-enacting the Steed-Peel team's characteristicsfrom the cult '60's series. I hope a director's cut could possibly make the movie a little more liked, and I'm just curious to see what's missing! Please, don't tell me plot....

Well, I saw from the time I saw it in the theaters that the film had been cut to hell. While a director's cut probably wouldn't make the movie that much better, maybe it would make a little more sense.

Jason

I like The Avengers TV show a lot, but never did see the movie because I heard how terrible it was. But I'd support a director's cut of this movie, which I would hope would bring back some of that old Avengers flair.

What's missing are 90% of the effects work (and thus most of the budget) and a fair bit of plot exposition. I've read the script, and although I doubt there would be much improvement in a director's cut, I'd like to see the film recut from scratch by a competent editor.

The LAST thing I would want is a LONGER version of that awful movie. Chemistry? Thurman and Fiennes are lucky to have ever worked again. I am also a huge fan of THE AVENGERS but that was just torture.

I picked up the novelization released at the same time as the movie, and the full story is there.

Shuddering at the thought

I would like to see the full version, but only out of macabre fascination. For a long time I used the DVD as my demo/calibration disc because all you can do is concentrate on the sound and picture - there is nothing to distract you in the way of plot, dialogue or acting.

I was one of the very few people who saw this train wreck at the cinema. The film opened in the UK about a week or so after the States was inflicted with it and word had already spread about how awful it was. Now I was prepared to give it a go (heck, I can even find a good word or two for Pluto Nash). I swear this is no exaggeration - when the film started there were about 30 of us in the theatre; by the end, there were five of us left. I know there were five of us left because it was me and four friends. Comparing notes outside, we found that all of us had wanted to leave but feeling the bounds of friendship we felt we should stick it out because the others appeared to be enjoying it so much. This is what the great British reserve can lead you into doing.

Okay, thread crap over; yes, I really would like to see the director's cut if only to see if it actually made sense of the plot. I know the Avengers always had rather silly plots, but the movie as it stands takes the biscuit.

My best buddy and I were the only ones in the theater the day after it opened. We didn't pay for our tickets...the paper I was working at had freebies. So we went.

Wasted time, IMHO.

The only good result that came out of the movie is that it piqued my interest in finding copies of the original series. I didn't hate it when I saw it in theatres, but after watching episodes of the series, watching it again a couple months later was an awful experience.

I'd probably rent it, if only because as Jason Birzer says, the movie was obviously hacked to shreds. I remember reading The Gross by Variety's Peter Bart, which details the highs and lows of that summer's box office (I highly recommend it). Jeremiah Chechik, the film's director, had nothing but gripes for the suits over at WB because of their mishandling of the film. I'll try to find a copy and see what his exact words were.

I'd be surprised if Warner ever revisits anything that is in the bargain bin right now. I've seen Avengers for $5.88 many times so I think Warner is trying to get rid of it or forget it.

I've always wanted a director's cut of the film.

I mean, there is a scene where Peel and Steed are ina snowstorm, and they get into a phone booth, and they realise it's an entry into the enemy base. Peel just seems to know that all you do is pick up thae phone and say "How Now Brown Cow".

But where did that come from?

Now, the trailer starts with a completely different scene - a phone rings, Peel drives up, picks up the phone, and says "How Now Brown Cow".

That scene in the trailer suggests that there was actually an explanation at some point in the filmmaking process for how she knew about that code, but that it was cut from the film.

Add to that all the general awfulness of the editing, and it would really be interesting to see what the film was originally like. It couldn't be worse.

But I'm not going to sign the petition, (a) because internet petitions are worse than useless, (b) because even if they weren't, not enough people would sign it to make it appear worth the studio's while, and (c) because, as has been said, the studios will never bother to do one when the original cut barely sells, even as a bargain bin title.

I saw this film in the theater and loved it. Sure- plot holes- chopped up, etc. But it was as fun as any other popcorn film I've ever seen. Love the car chase with mechanical wasps and the action sequence with the care bear suits is a riot. Uma looks hot. Fiennes is cool. And Connery is a loon.
I have the DVD and have watched it several times. I showed it to my girlfriend just the other week and she fell asleep. What is it that's so bad about this film that people write it off?
I should add- I also enjoyed waterworld and Last Action Hero. None of these films are classics in the classic sense- just stupid fun. I don't consider them a waste of time.
To each his own.

Unfortunately, it seems the bad reception the '98 film received has doomed chances of future Avengers projects, which is a shame because it's a great show and a great property.

Lets face it, even a great directors cut of the movie is not going to sell enough copies to revive any interest in the Avengers on the studio level.

We have the TV DVDs, which despite the bulky packaging from A&E, are pretty darned good.

Rain or shine, it's all mine.

The full script does fill in a lot of the so-called plot holes.

It explains why although Emma is a suspect, they don't actually think she was the intruder (which explains why they partner her with Steed, something that seems totally stupid in the actual film)

It also explains a lot about the password and the facility, and Emma's background.

It also explains who Steed knows which Emma is which from the kiss.

There were a few other "holes" plugged by the proper script, but I can't remember them all at the moment. I'm sure a website somewhere will list them all.

(I actually saw the movie after reading the script book, so I guess the movie seemed better to me, I didn't really notice a lot of the plot holes when viewing).

I love the Avengers movie...I really never liked the show (lol...i know) Thurman and Fiennes were perfectly cast in my opinion....Ralph Fiennes was just great beyond words in the role IMHO. If they can constantly recut and resell the turd Highlander 2....there must be a way to get out a directors cut of The Avengers

There used to be a terrific web page that outlined the original plot of the film, and showed photographic evidence of the deleted scenes, culled from various sources (the trailer, set photo's, etc).

Sadly, it seems to be long-gone.

Here's an archived link, without many the photo's!

Avengersland

I would love to see the director's cut. I read the movie got cut due to a poor test screening.

Sean Connery in a teddy bear suit. Nuff said.

I liked the first 5 or 10 mins of the film when it was just Steed. Fiennes was cool. Uma seemed way too psychotic and not sexy enough to be Emma Peel. A far cry from Diana Rigg. They'e have been better off putting Andrea Parker (of The Pretender fame) in the role.

Would be interesting to see if a director's cut could improve on that trainwreck at all.

I've passed it up in the 5.88 bin. That says a lot. I mighe even buy Van Helsing for that. Then again...

You fool! That's the best bit!

I just thought the chemistry between Fiennes and Thurman wasn't even remotely close to the magic that Macnee and Rigg had, and if the interplay between Steed and Peel doesn't work, then it's not the Avengers.

Great link, Julian..but I'm afraid I found myself dozing off halfway through the SYNOPSIS, which doesn't bode well for my interest in a new version. Good luck to all who want it though!

After finding a library copy of the aforementioned Bart book, it fills in a lot of the film's production details.

Apparently the film got greenlit without the heads of WB even reading the script, and when they saw the original cut... unhappy would be an understatement. With three big stars, WB had figured on it being a Bond-type summer action flick and slotted it into a June release date. Instead, it was 'highly stylized, somewhat surreal and distinctly nonlinear', something along the lines of the show Chechik grew up with.

So, not exactly brimming with confidence, the studio researchers decided to test the film with a 'working-class audience' in Phoenix, and well, you know the results. The film gets recut and dumped to August, and the Avengers property has been dormant ever since.

I am officially intrigued in seeing that cut now...

Thank's big time for the laugh!

Ugh, what "good" word or two would that be?!?!?!?!?
It's over?

Good golly! How long would this 'Mother' be???
Or, are you saying 90% of the FX in a shot, were never completed?

Are you talking movies, cause DVD's of the TV show were released well after this film tanked, I mean, left the theaters?

And the VHS sets were out about a month after the movie disappeared... just new/updated Avengers in general. It doesn't have to be another film, a new TV show might have had potential.

I'll admit I'm an Avengers fan, and I was looking forward to the movie when it was coming out. I picked up both the making-of book and the screenplay from Titan Books and in spite of some misgivings I waited to see the movie.

Misgivings: Ralph Fiennes is a fine actor. He makes a terrific Nazi. He gives great Lounge Lizard. John Steed he isn't. He's too thin, doesn't suit a bowler (derby if you prefer) and he lacks that perky geniality that Patrick Macnee's got. That "You'll pay for that" line when he fends off the darts with his bowler is too outraged school bully. Macnee's Steed would have raised both eyebrows and said: "I'd hate to have been stuck with those!"

Uma - look at her in Kill Bill - she looks amazing. Look at her in her Emmapeelers - she's a skinny biker chick. Diana Rigg only wore leathers once, and they didn't look right on her. The Emmapeelers were early tracksuits, and she only wore them on occasion. Diana Rigg also had that mischievous air. Uma floated through the movie with a slightly stunned air - like the director whacked her in the back of the head with the script at the start of each scene.

Connery - steals every movie he's in. You want him to win even when he's the baddy, so you wind up with mixed feelings in his battle with Fiennes. He was brought on board by his golfing buddy producer of the movie as the big star name. Big Star Mistake. If he'd been playing Steed and Fiennes playing the baddie I'd have bought it.

The script - very erudite, very stylish. Written by somebody trying to sell how witty, stylish and erudite he is. There's a lot of visual plot exposition and storyline excised from the final print, which has been hacked to ribbons.

The effects - with the exception of the disappointing big bang at the climax, all the big pyrotechnics involved in the Prospero project (not least in the missing opening teaser) are cut. All of it was shot, because there are bits of the missing material in the theatrical trailer, and there are production stills as well. The missing effects might only add up to maybe ten minutes of screen time tops, but they're most of the effects work completed for the movie and a great chunk of the budget.

I'd say in its initial cut, the movie came in around 100 - 110 minutes rather than the 86 it wound up at, if the script is anything to go by.

I swear I read an interview with her a couple months later in People magazine where she mentioned that they actually sewed her into the leather costume. She was still bitching about how tight that was... I know that would give me a 'slightly stunned' air.

Thinking back on it, Fiennes seemed like a good choice, having not seen the show at the time. But the humor and genial (good term) nature in Macnee's Steed stuck out like a sore thumb when I had a chance to compare the two weeks later.

I would say it made a HUGE lasting impression!

So what would you say to someone who is a fan of the original show and has never seen this movie? Is it worth the $9 and/or 90 minutes?

It depends, Sam. Many posters here who are fans of the original loathe the movie. I don't fall into that category. Even without the lost scenes, I found it fun. Of course there are plot holes so huge you can drive a truck through, hence my desire for a director's cut dvd. I am a HUGE fan of the old series (esp the Rigg episodes)and I love the movie. Just keep in mind that no matter how hard anyone tries, it would be very difficult, in my opinion, to replicate the dynamics that Macnee and Rigg displayed together. To me, that is what made the Avengers tv series great. That being said, I thought Thurman and Fiennes did a great job with the material they had, at least from a character interaction standpoint, and that is what I liked about the movie. Also, about the Connery teddy bear suit thing. I just chalked that up to quirkiness. The old series had some very unusual things in it as well (maybe just not that weird, though!). Perhaps a rental would be best before you buy, but the dvd can be had for around 10 bucks, and at the very least you get Uma in a leather catsuit for about an hour if you hate the movie!

I would have been in college when I first saw that and a bit less cynical than I am today, but it was the first time watching a movie that I shook my head "no" at the start of a scene. I kept thinking "What the hell is this? Did they change reels to the wrong movie? I hear Sean Connery, but what's this shit?"

As it is now, they'd have been best to cut it to 5 or 10 mins and market it as a short film, "Steed."

Funny, the mention of more FX being in the previews. I remember that the preview for the film was very impressive. I was actually looking forward to sequels based on the preview for what ended up being only one bad film.