The Exorcist: Is there a difference between these two cuts of the 1973 film? (3 Viewers)

[Cranston37+]

Hell, even Linda Blair was a local girl.

Alright - this is a perfect time to tell my "Linda Blair Story" as I call it.

Mid '90's. I'm in high school. It's around Halloween time when they do a lot of those Halloween themed attractions with haunted houses, hay rides, etc.

A friend and I go to one that was in its first (and as happens last) year. There was nobody at this thing. I mean it's absolutely empty.

Linda Blair is there to sign autographs. She's sitting at a picnic table by herself so my friend and I go up to get her autograph. Because there's not a soul there we end up just talking to her for a good long while.

Behind us is a small stage and out comes Tiny Tim. He lived in the area (suburban Minneapolis) because his wife lived there. He looks out and sees just the 3 of us at a picnic table. He shrugs his shoulders, says in that high pitched voice of his "alright, I guess it's just you guys," and brings out the ukulele.

And there I sat with Linda freaking Blair getting a private performance of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim.

Best $10 I ever spent

 

[Vincent_P]

I agree, unfortunately. Although I like some of the additions to the newer cut, the added digital Pazuzu faces really pull me out of the film and don't work nearly as well as the couple of quick flashes that were in the original. The one where Karras' mother is walking up out of the subway unsettles me to this day.

I wish that Blatty had been able to finish his original vision for what became Exorcist III, rather than being forced to add in an unnecessary exorcism and an out-of-place Jason Miller...

Oh, I disagree completely. I think the reshot "Patient X" scenes with a mix of both Miller and Brad Douriff work FAR better than the original version of those scenes with just Brad Douriff. And while the exorcism scene is definitely over-the-top, the ending Blatty had shot was utterly anticlimactic. The film just sputters to a close in that original LEGION cut.

Vincent

 

[Brian Kidd]

Oh, I disagree completely. I think the reshot "Patient X" scenes with a mix of both Miller and Brad Douriff work FAR better than the original version of those scenes with just Brad Douriff. And while the exorcism scene is definitely over-the-top, the ending Blatty had shot was utterly anticlimactic. The film just sputters to a close in that original LEGION cut.

Vincent

While it was great seeing Jason Miller on screen again, I still think that only having Douriff would have worked better, but to each their own. It's hard for me to feel like I can judge what we got on the last home video release as "Legion" because it simply wasn't finished. I think that with completed post-production and some more editing, it could have been pretty great. I do agree that the original ending wasn't as exciting as what we got with the Exorcist III cut, but I also feel like the original novel was more of a slow burn. It would have been difficult to translate that to the screen in a way that would meet the expectations of a general movie audience (and perhaps simply wouldn't have been possible at all.) I still quite enjoyed Exorcist III when it came out. I just felt that, having read the novel first, it was lacking in some ways. I'm just glad that I finally got to see at least the rough cut of Blatty's original vision. That's something I never thought I would ever get to do.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Alright - this is a perfect time to tell my "Linda Blair Story" as I call it.

Mid '90's. I'm in high school. It's around Halloween time when they do a lot of those Halloween themed attractions with haunted houses, hay rides, etc.

A friend and I go to one that was in its first (and as happens last) year. There was nobody at this thing. I mean it's absolutely empty.

Linda Blair is there to sign autographs. She's sitting at a picnic table by herself so my friend and I go up to get her autograph. Because there's not a soul there we end up just talking to her for a good long while.

Behind us is a small stage and out comes Tiny Tim. He lived in the area (suburban Minneapolis) because his wife lived there. He looks out and sees just the 3 of us at a picnic table. He shrugs his shoulders, says in that high pitched voice of his "alright, I guess it's just you guys," and brings out the ukulele.

And there I sat with Linda freaking Blair getting a private performance of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim.

Best $10 I ever spent

You know, it's the weird moments in our lives that stick with us. That sounds like an awesome way to spend an evening.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thank you Cranston37 for easing my concern regarding this thread's posts being deleted.

 

[JohnRice]

By the way, I love Friedkin and this always cracks me up...



I don't know if Refn was yanking Friedkin's chain with his "masterpiece" crap but what he gets as a response from Friedkin is priceless. I believe on Marc Maron's podcast when he was interviewing Friedkin he does intentionally goad Friedkin with a comment about Refn's films being masterpieces and Friedkin says something like "What? What are you talking about? That's shit. Sorry, if you're listening Nick, but it's shit."

Which made me laugh out loud because I think Friedkin thought for a moment that Maron was not joking.

How do you interpret Refn in that clip? Either he's yanking Friedkin's chain, or he's totally narcissistic. I have no idea which one it is.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

How do you interpret Refn in that clip? Either he's yanking Friedkin's chain, or he's totally narcissistic. I have no idea which one it is.

Can't it be both?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

How do you interpret Refn in that clip? Either he's yanking Friedkin's chain, or he's totally narcissistic. I have no idea which one it is.

I'm not sure, I kind of think he was joking. I've seen Refn talk about his own work as being awful, or fearing that it was awful, and I have seen him blow his own horn. He is sort of an odd character. I know he worships Friedkin and I am certain he wanted Friedkin to say something nice about his work...that was not the way to get him to do so. I would lean a little bit toward since he was speaking to one of his heroes he was joking but hilariously Billy did not take it that way and let him have it. I do think Refn wants to say odd stuff and seem provocative but he can be a bit clumsy doing it.

If Refn was serious, he certainly got what was coming to him.

For the record I do like Refn's films but I do find them to be exorcises in style where great moments sit side by side with goofy ones. I appreciate his efforts though and that he is making the movies he wants to make.

I don't think I would call anything Refn has done so far a "masterpiece" but I think Drive is a really good movie and I love Valhalla Rising and Bronson. The Neon Demon was a lot of fun as a spin on the vampire genre.

 

[JohnRice]

I don't think I would call anything Refn has done so far a "masterpiece" but I think Drive is a really good movie and I love Valhalla Rising and Bronson. The Neon Demon was a lot of fun as a spin on the vampire genre.

Of all his own movies to tout, the fact he chose Only God Forgives, which has to be his least accessible movie, seems like he wasn't entirely serious.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Today, "The Version You've Never Seen" pops up as a recently added title in my Vudu library. I now have three different HD digitals in my Vudu library. The 'Theatrical", "Extended Director's Cut" and "The Version You've Never Seen". On iTunes, I have two versions, but not "The Version You've Never Seen". I don't think iTunes carries "The Version You've Never Seen" as Vudu appears to be the only one that has all three film versions. On MoviesAnywhere, they have two versions, "Theatrical" and "The Version You've Never Seen". I checked my Vudu history and it does show "The Version You've Never Seen" added to my Vudu library today without any charges. It's probably due to Ultraviolet being down now. By the way, "The Version You've Never Seen" and "Extended Director's Cut" have the exact run time down to the seconds.

This also happened to me. I think it may be another of Vudu and/or MA's weird software glitches. I also have two copies of The Wild Bunch in Vudu, one labeled "The Director's Cut" and one not. However, the one that's labeled as regular is actually the director's cut; it's just a standard-def, PAL-NTSC transfer of it. (The non-director's cut of The Wild Bunch hasn't been available anywhere in decades.)

As for The Exorcist, I still vastly prefer the original version. The more I've learned about film editing, the more I understand how shrewd those cuts were. The extended ending is especially awful.

I also don't particularly like the sound design on the extended version; I feel like they went overboard in many scenes. The one that stands out to me is when Damien sees his mother in Regan's bedroom. It's virtually silent in the original version, and quite haunting. In the extended, there's a cacophony of hospital noises which are super distracting.

 

[Cranston37+]

As for The Exorcist, I still vastly prefer the original version. The more I've learned about film editing, the more I understand how shrewd those cuts were. The extended ending is especially awful.

IMO, the extended ending was necessary.

William Peter Blatty wrote 3 books, "The Ninth Configuration," "The Exorcist," and "Legion," that were meant to be tied together by the same theme - with all the evil in the world, there is a God and there is good.

Without the extended ending, which is the ending of the book, the whole point of the story is completely lost. You are left with the evil part but not the good part.

It's also the set-up for Kinderman and Fr. Dyer forming a relationship that carries into "The Exorcist 3" ("Legion"). Without it, they never even meet...

 

[Bryan Tuck]

IMO, the extended ending was necessary.

William Peter Blatty wrote 3 books, "The Ninth Configuration," "The Exorcist," and "Legion," that were meant to be tied together by the same theme - with all the evil in the world, there is a God and there is good.

Without the extended ending, which is the ending of the book, the whole point of the story is completely lost. You are left with the evil part but not the good part.

I disagree; I think that point is expressed by Damien's sacrifice, and Chris's exchange with Dyer. I don't need an awkwardly acted scene with a detective and priest talking about catching a movie together to drive it home any further.

It works in the book, as Kinderman had a bigger role and spent more time with Damien. But in the film, it feels extraneous.

It's also the set-up for Kinderman and Fr. Dyer forming a relationship that carries into "The Exorcist 3" ("Legion"). Without it, they never even meet...

It's not a huge leap to imagine that they did, and that it was less awkward than what we saw.

But either way, in 1973, long before the novel "Legion" or the movie "Exorcist 3" came out, I think cutting the scene was the right call. It's a little like the Jabba the Hutt scene in the Special Edition of Star Wars. It's sort of related to what came later, but the scene itself is awkward and repetitive in the movie it's in, and there is enough context to imply what the scene conveyed, so it's unnecessary.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Cranston37+]

I disagree; I think that point is expressed by Damien's sacrifice, and Chris's exchange with Dyer. I don't need an awkwardly acted scene with a detective and priest talking about catching a movie together to drive it home any further.

It works in the book, as Kinderman had a bigger role and spent more time with Damien. But in the film, it feels extraneous.

It's not a huge leap to imagine that they did, and that it was less awkward than what we saw.

But either way, in 1973, long before the novel "Legion" or the movie "Exorcist 3" came out, I think cutting the scene was the right call. It's a little like the Jabba the Hutt scene in the Special Edition of Star Wars. It's sort of related to what came later, but the scene itself is awkward and repetitive in the movie it's in, and there is enough context to imply what the scene conveyed, so it's unnecessary.

Hope that makes sense.

Nothing wrong with any of that.

I'd say the fact that it's debated decades later is a sign of its strength

 

[Robert Crawford]

This also happened to me. I think it may be another of Vudu and/or MA's weird software glitches. I also have two copies of The Wild Bunch in Vudu, one labeled "The Director's Cut" and one not. However, the one that's labeled as regular is actually the director's cut; it's just a standard-def, PAL-NTSC transfer of it. (The non-director's cut of The Wild Bunch hasn't been available anywhere in decades.)

As for The Exorcist, I still vastly prefer the original version. The more I've learned about film editing, the more I understand how shrewd those cuts were. The extended ending is especially awful.

I also don't particularly like the sound design on the extended version; I feel like they went overboard in many scenes. The one that stands out to me is when Damien sees his mother in Regan's bedroom. It's virtually silent in the original version, and quite haunting. In the extended, there's a cacophony of hospital noises which are super distracting.

Bryan,

The same thing happened with me in regard to "The Wild Bunch" too on Vudu. Two digital streams, one is in SD and the other is HD.

As to "The Exorcist", I'm going to try to watch all three versions in October. I'll start with the original, then the Version You've Never Seen and lastly the extended director's cut. I'm going to watch them separately so it will most likely be one version each week until all three are completed.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Nothing wrong with any of that.

I'd say the fact that it's debated decades later is a sign of its strength

I also appreciate that both versions are readily available to those with a preference for either. (Or I guess all three if we count the minor modification between "TVYNS" and the "Director's Cut.")

 

[Cranston37+]

As to "The Exorcist", I'm going to try to watch all three versions in October. I'll start with the original, then the Version You've Never Seen and lastly the extended director's cut. I'm going to watch them separately so it will most likely be one version each week until all three are completed.

Have you ever done The Exorcist 3/Legion?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Have you ever done The Exorcist 3/Legion?

I never liked the other Exorcist movies.

 

[darkrock17]

Have you ever done The Exorcist 3/Legion?

I never liked the other Exorcist movies.

3 is the better sequel in the series and is regarded by most fans as the true sequel to the original. Heretic was WB making a fast buck and using Linda as she was under contract with them as well.

 

[Robert Crawford]

3 is the better sequel in the series and is regarded by most fans as the true sequel to the original. Heretic was WB making a fast buck and using Linda as she was under contract with them as well.

I already know that, but I still don't like that film enough to buy it on disc.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

3 is the better sequel in the series and is regarded by most fans as the true sequel to the original. Heretic was WB making a fast buck and using Linda as she was under contract with them as well.

Not a very "fast" buck since "Heretic" didn't come out until 4 years after the original.

It's a terrible movie, but I don't think it can be accused of being a rapid turnaround sequel meant to strike when the fire was hot...