Will there EVER be a "Death Becomes Her" SE? (1 Viewer)

[Richard Michael Clark]

This movie is 10 years old now and I thought there was to be a SE? (I distinctly recall it being mentioned when the SE of titles like "My Best Friend'd Wedding" were announced! - that was 2 years ago!).

I'd love to see the alt ending with Tracey Ulman in the mountain cabin and I'd love an anamorphic transfer and a commentary with the writers! (forget Zemekis as his commentaries are sooooo dull!)

So, does anyone know anything about this and if we will ever see a decent DVD presentation?

cheers
Rich

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Zemeckis apparantly refuses to let the deleted scenes out

they would have done a Signature Series SE laserdisc in the early 90s

There is also a lot more deleted than just the end, and if you can find Laurent Bozereau's WONDERFUL book "The Cutting Room Floor" all the scenes are detailed, the only way to see any hint of the scenes is the trailer (I have the WS R4 DVD and it is on there, i dont know about the R1)

I have to say that I really like Zemeckis commentaries!

I feel about this movie the way many of you do about star wars, which honestly i couldnt care less about lol. SW fans at least they will be released in some form at some point. If this movie ever has an SE with the scenes in any form I will be VERY surprised

A Zemeckis change of heart is what stands in the way...

 

[PaulP]

Zemeckis is very fond of Special Editions. Even his "Used Cars" received a good enough presentation. He is one of my favorite directors, and the fact that he doesn't want us to see the deleted footage upsets me. I thought he'd be the least likely guy to not want to have a Special Edition of his film. All we need is an anamorphic transfer, commentary, and the deleted stuff (perhaps they can be easter eggs, therefore not exacly part of the package).

Some other Zemeckis films should also get the SE tratment, mainly "Romancing the Stone", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".

Come on, Bob!

 

[Thomas T]

I've seen the original cut of Death Becomes Her and it is superior to the released version though I like that one too. All of Tracey Ullmann's scenes were with Bruce Willis so I suppose Zemeckis thought they slowed the pace of the film down.

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

cheers guys!
oh well, maybe one day it'll happen!
Is it too much to get an anamorphic re-issue do you think?
Gonna have to find that book as well! thanks, Moe

 

[Derek Miner]

Zemeckis apparantly refuses to let the deleted scenes out

Where was this said?

Count me in as a Zemeckis fan as well who would kill for an SE of I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND or DEATH BECOMES HER.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

In the book where the scenes are discussed, that is what RZ has to say about it.

The biggest difference outside Tracey Ullman is that originally Madeline and Helen NEVER DETERIORATE.

the audience apparantly thought "whats so bad about living forever"

The scene where they start peeling at the house is reshoot.

some of the other cuts were:

the scene at the bar with toni (ullman) where ernest watched the film where madeline is strangled and a drunk passes out

three scenes with Jonathan Silverman as Madeline's agent

another scene with Dakota

the wedding at the beginning was MUCH longer

the scene at the morgue, retrieving madeline

a day missing in the timeline, where ernest goes to helen to say hes reconciled with madeline (she thinks hes snapped since Mad is dead) the maid finds Mad in the refrigerator, then are given a years salary and told Ernest and Mad are moving, Ernest tries to get madeline up the stairs (a photo of this is on the jacket) and then drops her down them.

then the original ending, Ernest goes to toni with the potion, then the drunk from before dies. after learning of Ernest's escape, M+H go to Toni's bar, where toni tells them that the dead drunk is actually ernest.

the search then ends and you cut to 27 years later. Ernest and toni are old and happy, and mad and hel are miserable and perfect....

I love this movie, but id much rather see THAT version....

 

[Derek Miner]

I re-read Laurent Bouzereau's book, and I couldn't find any indication that Zemeckis would never want the deleted material from DEATH BECOMES HER to be seen. The inclusion of deleted material on the upcoming BACK TO THE FUTURE set leads me to believe that a DVD special edition would be an acceptable place to include the DEATH BECOMES HER footage. In fact, a separate featurette detailing the additions and subtractions per test audience reactions would be fascinating. I don't think there's nearly enough attention given to how various changes can affect audience perception (the best example being the "studio" cut of BRAZIL on Criterion's DVD).

 

[Veli-Matti Reitti]

Is the avaliable R1 version even in widescreen? Everywhere i've looked it simply says P&S.

 

[Bingo]

That's correct. R1 is ONLY P&S....

 

[Moe Dickstein]

yes, i have the R4 version which is widescreen.

youre right about the book, but i know i read that zemeckis will not release the material somehwere. many of the BTTF scenes were shown YEARS ago on the secrets of BTTF bonus tape and there isnt any bitterness there with test screenings etc, like there is with DBH