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DVD Talk review of 'Payback - The Director's Cut'

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DVD Talk review of 'Payback - The Director's Cut'

Old 04-05-07, 08:40 PM
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DVD Talk review of 'Payback - The Director's Cut'

I read Thomas Spurlin's DVD review of Payback - The Director's Cut at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=27248 and...
Parker, Porter, who's missing? Why, Walker, of course.
I know you know about Point Blank. Who could be a critic and NOT know about Point Blank.
"And," you say to yourself, "this review is about Payback, not the infinitely superior Point Blank, so let's take it on its own terms."
Sorry, no can do. Point Blank is out there, like a river of lava streaming towards Payback and after it passes no one will remember that this Gibson tripe ever seduced them into thinking there was anything worthwhile about it.
Point Blank stands there like the monolith from 2001, one of the towering achievements of 20th century cinema, neo-noir to its jet black core. Mystical and strange.
Absolutely without peer.
Old 04-06-07, 02:48 PM
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Is there a question in there, or just some free-form poetry?
Old 04-06-07, 03:12 PM
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He's probably just a disgruntled staff writer from Pitchfork Media.
Old 04-06-07, 03:16 PM
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I'll take Payback anyday over Point Blank. Too boring for me.
Old 04-06-07, 04:38 PM
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Point Blank is what you sum it up to be in those final sentences. It is a towering achievement in film.

Welcome, socrates.
Old 04-06-07, 07:03 PM
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Isn't it possible to just like them both?

Point Blank is the superior one of the two, true, but even it has its flaws (that existential wandering-around-an-empty-room stuff doesn't hold up very well). Payback isn't as good, but it is a fun ride.
Old 04-07-07, 04:25 PM
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i just saw "Straight Up" last night and thought it was great. i wasn't totally enamorate of the theatrical when i saw it, but i did love the ending of it. this new one has a completely different tone and ending making Porter much more craftier in his schemes than before and i loved that aspect. he didn't get his ass handed to him as much. i def. liked this new ending, but had to buy the old for the other ending.

also, i was surprised at the new interviews featurette. it had a recent Mel (i think during his "Apocalypto" production talking very candidly about this cut and contrasting to the old. didn't even know he did anything for this.

anyway, as others have said very good/different new effort, but keep the old at least for the ending.
Old 04-10-07, 12:11 AM
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The OP seems a bit loopy, but I was also surprised that both DVDtalk reviews for this release, which were otherwise very insightful and well-written, failed to cite Point Blank at all. It's hard to talk about Payback in any depth without at least mentioning its much superior precursor.

On a semi-related sidenote, there's a scene in Payback in which Gibson takes a gun from David Paymer, who comically switches from confident assailant to pleading victim in a split-second, that's almost directly lifted from a Bogart film, but I can't remember which one. I'm pretty sure it's either Dark Passage or High Sierra. Does anybody know for sure?
Old 04-19-07, 09:00 PM
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I thought the new Payback cut was average at best and I am surprised all the 3 reviewers enjoyed it.

I am also surprised so many enjoyed Point Blank, as viewing it with new eyes and no emotional connection resulted in a ridiculously boring movie with a few great scenes.

The theatrical cut of Payback is superior to both in every manner. Storytelling, action, etc...
Old 04-25-07, 03:58 AM
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Originally Posted by thelwig14
The theatrical cut of Payback is superior to both in every manner. Storytelling, action, etc...
I agree.
Old 09-03-10, 06:30 PM
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Re: DVD Talk review of 'Payback - The Director's Cut'

I just saw the "Straight Up" director's cut, and yeah... wow, it was very different. Usually a director's cut just brings in some scenes that didn't make it before, maybe an extended or occasionally an altered scene, but this was WAY different. Completely different music, whole different story progression, new ending...

And to be honest, I didn't care for it much. I see that this version is perhaps a bit artsier, or is designed to make the audience think more (now that there's no voiceover from Mel to explain what you're seeing), but I really missed Walker. And I really fell in love with the original score, which was changed to a drastic degree here. The weird thing was I was watching this with someone who had never seen the original, and I had told them a lot of my thoughts about the movie. Then after seeing this new version, I had to very awkwardly explain how vastly different from the original this version was.

I think the only comparison to extreme differences in the director's cut would be to point out the Director's Cuts of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogies, although in those instances I DO prefer the director's versions.

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