Windtalkers: Director's Edition..... 3-Disc Set....20 Min. Extended Cut..... May 20th (1 Viewer)

[Yumbo]

looked fine to me. I'll have to check again later today, but I'll bet they're burnt in.

MGM, shock horror?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Just curious, does this version use the original burned in subtitles? I know the original used palyer generated subs. Hopefully, they corrected this.

You hope correctly...

 

[MichaelO]

You hope correctly...

Well, that's good to hear. Thanks for letting me know!

I didn't particularly think this movie was all that special but I will probably pick it up for the additional 20 minutes, perhaps those additions helped the story. Not to mention the extras look pretty good.

 

[Yumbo]

the only extra I was interested in was the interview with composer James Horner (disc 2 - 5 mins).

the rest is EPK stuff really; the multi-angle feature I think is the most useless thing flogged about.

yup - hope no more. they are burnt in, location and dialogue.

enjoy!

 

[Ben Motley]

Personally, I think most of the disdain for this film stems from a subconscious resentment that it's an action flick rather than an in depth sociological study of the code talkers. People don't come right out and say that, but that's about the only way I can explain the outright open hostility toward this film. I believe it goes so much further than what is on screen, and has so much more to do with what isn't on screen. I believe people feel that the producers and Woo didn't treat the subject matter with as much respect they think it should garner. While I would love to see an in depth PBS documentary on the subject, I knew what I was in for when I went to see Windtalkers, and was quite happy with the results. It did seem that they could have spent a little more time in the character development department though, and I'm betting that's what the extra 20+ minutes in this edition is all about.

Windtalkers is a go in my book.

 

[Ben Motley]

Ooh, very cool about the burned in subs too! I'm glad I held off.

 

[Larry P]

can anybody think of other examples of a box office (not to mention critical) bomb that got such a lavish DVD? i mean this movie didn't even sit especially well with videophiles.

How about Bulletproof Monk? I believe MGM announced a special edition for it before it was even released. Then it went on to flop badly.

I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of really good films that MGM/UA has put out in the past few years. They've put out very few in comparison with the other major studios. So they have to try to create their own hype for their underachieving films. They want to trick the unsuspecting DVD buyer into thinking Bulletproof Monk was a great movie that people liked. After all if it warranted a "special edition" than it must be liked, right?

I understand why MGM feels they have to do this, but what's going to happen is that the consumers are going to become savvy to their marketing strategy and thus the MGM Special Edition banner will become meaningless to people.

 

[Ben Motley]

I'm not sure how much it actually took at the box office, but everybody seemed to loathe From Hell when it came out... then it got an impressive SE on dvd.

Planet of the Apes was dreadful, still is, and look at the SE it got.

I'm sure there are others, but my mind is blank now.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

There are plenty of flicks that perform poorly that get nice DVDs, just as some hits get crappy treatment. Maid In Manhattan did pretty well at the BO but the DVD includes almost nothing.

Planet of the Apes was dreadful, still is, and look at the SE it got.

Just because you don't like a movie doesn't mean others also hate it. Apes did pretty well at the BO - it was a big event movie that moved lots of DVDs, so it made perfect sense for it to get a special edition...

 

[Ben Motley]

Oops, I meant to say that Apes was a critical failure, not box office failure. :b

The same can be said of critical failures Armegeddon, Pearl Harbor, etc., that got great treatment on dvd.

 

[TysonK]

I decided to buy the windtalkers set along with Dances with Wolves at a low price of $35 at Best Buy. I have to admit, the packaging for the Windtalkers is amazing. Not at elaborate at Pearl Harbor Vista but definitely nice. Is it me, but does anybody also feel that the Dances with Wolves packaging could have been better.

 

[BarryS]

There's no justice at all in the world when Windtalkers gets a 3-disc edition and Adaptation is a bare-bones release.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Personally, I think most of the disdain for this film stems from a subconscious resentment that it's an action flick rather than an in depth sociological study of the code talkers.

Ben Motley,
I thought the "disdain", came from the movie being 'about' the Cage character, as opposed to the Windtalkers.

 

[Ben Motley]

Um, that's kinda what I said Ed - did I not come across? I may have left out the "It's all about the Nic" bit, but I figured that would be understood, being that the critique is that people were upset that the movie wasn't "an in depth sociological study of the code talkers", meaning that it didn't focus much on the code talkers. I agree with what you say, but it's really just the other side of the same coin. It's due to the excessive attention given Nic's character that the windtalkers don't get fully developed.

I'll strive to be more verbose in the future so we don't have these misunderstandings.

And please, just call me Ben.

 

[Joshua_Y]

Picked up the new Windtalkers set today...havent watched any of it yet...but the packaging is just goregous! Thanks MGM...giving a movie the treatment it deserves...IMO

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Glad too be on a first name bases with you, Ben.
And were on the proverbial same page, as well!

 

[Ben Motley]

Coolness Ed!

Joshua, when you get the time, would you please come back and post whether you felt the additional minutes added much in character or story development, or if it was just more action filler? I'll probably still pick the set up regardless, as I don't have the first release.

It would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Joshua_Y]

I watched it last night...and this version really feels like a Woo movie...the Theatrical version...for whatever reason...just never quite felt like a John Woo film...the added material makes it a lot better IMO...I'd say about 10min. of it is extended battle footage which really brings them to life more...and the other 10min. focuses on all the characters...theres 2 scenes with Enders at the beginning that were added...and little bits and pieces added throughout that really give it the feel that its really Woo's cut...I love it...watched the extras last night too...and I didnt really see how it was worth 2 discs...it would have easily fit on a single disc...but thats no biggie...theres some damned good stuff on here!

 

[Bill J]

I just finished watching the extended version as well. I haven't seen the theatrical cut for almost a year, so it was a little difficult to tell what was new.

It seemed like most of the footage was added to the battle sequence right before
Slater gets killed.

There wasn't really any improvement in terms of character development. Although one scene was added in which Cage and a nurse talking about "how the world was a beautiful place." I believe part of that scene was in the trailer, but not present at all in the theatrical cut.

I don't recall there being any new scenes with the codetalkers.

Overall, the director's cut is basically the same as the theatrical in my opinion. I only noticed the changes because I was looking for them. So if you didn't like the original version of the film I do not recommend purchasing this DVD.

 

[Ben Motley]

Thanks for the input, both Josh and you too Bill.

While Josh's comments make me want to get the dvd all the more, Bill's cautions me not to try and convince Windtalkah-hataz to give the new dvd a chance.