Jeffrey Nelson
Screenwriter
Looks like it's finally going to happen, a Blu-ray of Tobe Hooper's best film (sorry TCM fans). To paraphrase what I've written in other threads, it's far from being a guilty pleasure; it's one of my favorite horror films, period. Nothing guilty about it. The last great old-school British-style sci-fi/horror film, extremely reminiscent of Hammer's Quatermass films, with generous dollops of Dracula, 2001, ALIEN and Romero thrown in for good measure. Chock full of crackerjack Brit character actors, just the right mixture of straight-playing and dry wit, fabulous John Dykstra effects that still hold up twenty-five years later, and a stupendous Henry Mancini orchestral score. And, oh yes, I nearly forgot...lots of lovely bare female flesh in the form of Mathilda May, one of the most flawlessly beautiful women I've ever seen. Mmmmmmm...
I'll never understand the denigration heaped upon this film, even by horror fans; what more could a retro horror/sci-fi/monster movie fan possibly want? I'll defend it to the grave, I will, and perhaps beyond...muhuhuhahahaha...
So, what can we expect (or hope) to be included on this most welcome Blu-ray?
Let me get some extras comments out of the way first, before I get to the meat of the matter. At the very least, I'm hoping for:
The original theatrical trailer in full anamorphic widescreen format (the trailer included on the laserdisc is cropped 4:3, and I'm not sure if it's in widescreen on the DVD because I could never get the trailer to play)
The original vintage "Making Of" featurette that was shown on TV and also released on laserdisc as a double-feature with the "Making Of Invaders From Mars" (would be ideal if the cropped film clips in this could be replaced with anamorphic widescreen equivalent clips, but that would probably be asking too much)
Feature commentary by Tobe Hooper and whomever else might be available and/or practical
In the nice-to-have-but-not-essential department:
New interviews with cast and crew
The alternate re-edited U.S. opening title sequence
A rundown of differences between the three cuts of the film (WHAT? THREE cuts you say? Yep...three cuts. Read on...)
Now, for the meat of the matter...
The currently available 116-minute international version will be great to have on Blu in HD and the transfer Scream Factory's going to use apparently already exists and has been director-approved. HOWEVER...the original DIRECTOR'S CUT running 128 minutes is what this occasion truly calls for, if those extra twelve minutes still exist. Does anyone know? I'm absolutely dying to know what's in those still-missing minutes, as there are still a few plot holes that could possibly be plugged. If that footage could be located, might it be possible to integrate it back into the film, via seamless branching if nothing else, so that both cuts of the film could be viewed? Or at least, put these scenes on the disc as an extra? This is a vital missing piece of LIFEFORCE history, and the hardcore fans of this film (which hopefully number a few more than just me) would give their eyeteeth to see it. I know some would like to see the butchered U.S. theatrical version included as a separate cut, but in my opinion, the alternate title sequence would be enough to remind us of its inferiority, and if another version was to be included at all, the 128-minute original Director's Cut would be far more valuable to have, especially since you can get the U.S. theatrical cut on German DVD if you REALLY want it, though I can't imagine why anyone would.
Cliff and Co., I truly hope you can make my LIFEFORCE dreams come true.
From Wikipedia, regarding the original cut of the film:
______________________
The initial cut of Lifeforce as edited by Tobe Hooper was 128 mins long. This is 12 minutes longer than the final version which had several scenes cut, most of them taking place on the space shuttle Churchill. According to Nicholas Ball, who played the main British astronaut, Derebridge, it was felt that there was too much material in outer space and so the majority of the Churchill scenes were deleted. Also, most of Nicholas Ball's performance ended up on the cutting room floor according to an interview he gave on the UK talk show Wogan in 1985.
Patrick Stewart said in interviews that he was disappointed at the cuts made to the film and that Tobe Hooper was his favorite director to work with.
According to interviews with Bill Malin, who plays one of the male vampires, the film went over schedule during production. Because of this some important scenes were never shot, and the film was shut down at one time because the studio had simply run out of money.
Despite being credited on the US domestic cut, the following actors were deleted from that cut of the film: John Woodnutt, John Forbes-Robertson and Russell Sommers.
I'll never understand the denigration heaped upon this film, even by horror fans; what more could a retro horror/sci-fi/monster movie fan possibly want? I'll defend it to the grave, I will, and perhaps beyond...muhuhuhahahaha...
So, what can we expect (or hope) to be included on this most welcome Blu-ray?
Let me get some extras comments out of the way first, before I get to the meat of the matter. At the very least, I'm hoping for:
The original theatrical trailer in full anamorphic widescreen format (the trailer included on the laserdisc is cropped 4:3, and I'm not sure if it's in widescreen on the DVD because I could never get the trailer to play)
The original vintage "Making Of" featurette that was shown on TV and also released on laserdisc as a double-feature with the "Making Of Invaders From Mars" (would be ideal if the cropped film clips in this could be replaced with anamorphic widescreen equivalent clips, but that would probably be asking too much)
Feature commentary by Tobe Hooper and whomever else might be available and/or practical
In the nice-to-have-but-not-essential department:
New interviews with cast and crew
The alternate re-edited U.S. opening title sequence
A rundown of differences between the three cuts of the film (WHAT? THREE cuts you say? Yep...three cuts. Read on...)
Now, for the meat of the matter...
The currently available 116-minute international version will be great to have on Blu in HD and the transfer Scream Factory's going to use apparently already exists and has been director-approved. HOWEVER...the original DIRECTOR'S CUT running 128 minutes is what this occasion truly calls for, if those extra twelve minutes still exist. Does anyone know? I'm absolutely dying to know what's in those still-missing minutes, as there are still a few plot holes that could possibly be plugged. If that footage could be located, might it be possible to integrate it back into the film, via seamless branching if nothing else, so that both cuts of the film could be viewed? Or at least, put these scenes on the disc as an extra? This is a vital missing piece of LIFEFORCE history, and the hardcore fans of this film (which hopefully number a few more than just me) would give their eyeteeth to see it. I know some would like to see the butchered U.S. theatrical version included as a separate cut, but in my opinion, the alternate title sequence would be enough to remind us of its inferiority, and if another version was to be included at all, the 128-minute original Director's Cut would be far more valuable to have, especially since you can get the U.S. theatrical cut on German DVD if you REALLY want it, though I can't imagine why anyone would.
Cliff and Co., I truly hope you can make my LIFEFORCE dreams come true.
From Wikipedia, regarding the original cut of the film:
______________________
The initial cut of Lifeforce as edited by Tobe Hooper was 128 mins long. This is 12 minutes longer than the final version which had several scenes cut, most of them taking place on the space shuttle Churchill. According to Nicholas Ball, who played the main British astronaut, Derebridge, it was felt that there was too much material in outer space and so the majority of the Churchill scenes were deleted. Also, most of Nicholas Ball's performance ended up on the cutting room floor according to an interview he gave on the UK talk show Wogan in 1985.
Patrick Stewart said in interviews that he was disappointed at the cuts made to the film and that Tobe Hooper was his favorite director to work with.
According to interviews with Bill Malin, who plays one of the male vampires, the film went over schedule during production. Because of this some important scenes were never shot, and the film was shut down at one time because the studio had simply run out of money.
Despite being credited on the US domestic cut, the following actors were deleted from that cut of the film: John Woodnutt, John Forbes-Robertson and Russell Sommers.
