The good, the bad, & the ugly Extended Version
 

Is the upcoming CE dvd only going to have the extended cut of the movie or will the original also be on there?

and to follow that up, for fans of the movie...

if it is just the extended and you could only get one version which would be recommended?

cheers,
flakes.

it is only the extended...no original...couldn;t answer the next question since you can have both. The original disc can be had well under ten dollars most anywhere.

Buy the box set for under 25 and you'll have the other films.

i say we all buy this just so they know we want these movies and we get fistful of dynamite before year end

I would get the original version.

Great film..and the original mono soundmix is terrific. It has some bits that were revamped in the 5.1,namely the gunfire is replaced with cannonball effects..so its loud & bombastic..but gone is the original cool 'weez' sound the guns made originally,which also made spaghetti westers so unique and fun.

Also then pick up the SE for the extra features and extended version of the film for completists sake.

This DVD is the original Italian version.

The old DVD featured the shortened International cut.

I'm so looking forward to finally seeing the extended cut in mono as Leone intended.

I thought I read that the extended version had to be redubbed because no audio existed for the deleted scenes. For this reason the first release is truer to the original cinematic release IMHO...

No, you're wrong. This DVD is a new version that has had any remaining deleted scenes that were in good enough quality to use inserted back into the film. New English dialogue was recorded for those scenes. This has absolutely nothing to do with the original Italian version - heck, it's in no way the Italian version because it is dubbed in English! This is a new special edition with a few deleted scenes stuck back in it. That's it.

uh,. there is the italian dub and this is about as close as we will ever come to a true italian uncut version.

Oh, I didn't realize the Italian dub was on there too. That's cool (although I don't think I'd ever watch that). Still, it's by no means the original version. It's a newly-made extended edition.

this DVD is one of the best ever in terms of packaging...extras...restoration...and just overall coolness...I got it last week...its incredible! This is the best cut of them all...and its actually the closest to the original cut that premiered in Rome...

You're making it sound like they've made some brand new cut by taking scenes left on the cutting room floor. This is not so. The scenes were in the original Italian premiere but were cut by distributors. This release is the closest we're going to get to Leone's original version.

I got mine today - how do you take off the damn paper glued on the back? With the lotr TTT EE it was also glued on and i ended up leaving this huge white strip glued to the back. How do you take these things off your DVDs, or do you leave them on...?

Ferret

Hey Ferret,

Usually I leave mine on there, since it has a lot of info on product detail, specs, etc.

The glued on paper also annoys me (especially with my Memento Limited Edition dvd), because it seems like it may be able to tear easily.

I just deal with it, though, because I'd rather have it there than to have nothing at all.

I got this today as well, and I have to agree that the packaging looks really clean, and great.

did anyone else have packaging problems. the sticky glue stuff that was holding on the back specs, I took off, and now I have this weird air bubble looking thing where the glue was.

also as much as I love the packaging, wish they would've glossed the white coloring on the back of the DVD, as to protect it from fingerprints.

I picked this one up today as well. I like the packaging and all the extras you get. I would of been very happy....up until I heard those gun shot effects! They sound horrible. The music and other effects come through nicely but when they re-did the gun shot effects they ruined them. Even at the beginning with Tuco jumping through the glass...sounds to new I guess. For someone who has watched this so many times it's dissapointing! I guess I'll stick to the old version. The transfer wasn't half bad and at least I get to hear those cool sound effects!

If the gunshots are at all different, it is not pleasing to my ears. I too have watched this movie countless times and love the gunshots. Changing the gunshots would be like changing his cigar from a ratty little cigarillo to a maduro robusto.

:thmbsdwn:

Exactly and it bothers me too much because this is one of my fav films and I've watched it to many times for it to be changed. Even the new scences with the over dubbing bothers me. I'm sticking to the older version. That's just my opinon.

Seems to me that a lot of bitching goes on around here because the director cannot or refuses deliver what he originally delivered or the studio refuses to deliver what the director wanted.

Collectors, as well as most people (I would think) want to see and hear exactly what they did when they saw it in the theater or want to see and here what others saw in the theater at the time.

Not bitching.. just an opinon. I just don't know why they can't leave well enough alone?

Hey, I'm bitching.

;)

yeah, I guess maybe I am a little bit too.

Well, Leone's dead, so it's not like it's his choice anymore.

His film was butchered when it first ran in the U.S., against the director's wishes. Just because people are used to the butchered cut version doesn't mean that that's the "right" version.

MGM is to be commended for finally trying to do right by this film - but of course it was they who butchered it to begin with.

Yeah, I had a problem with the specs page on the back as well. Except on my copy when I tried to remove it I ended up tearing a chunk of the back glossy stuff off. There's an air bubble elsewhere on the back as well, but I'm much more pissed about the tear.

Actually, it was Leone himself who was behind the 161m export version. This is why no English dubbing existed for the additional scenes: Leone never had Mickey Knox prepare and dub those scenes. MGM (UA at the time, actually) didn't butcher a thing. The film suffered severe cuts in the UK, but this has nothing to do with the original 161m US release. It was released in the US just as Leone prepared it. Whether he preferred the film at the 175m Italian premiere length or the 161 export length isn't clear.

DJ

Maybe because the old version was incomplete and this is closer to Leone's original vision?

If you want the old gunshot sounds, the Italian mono track is right there on the disc.

I for one am glad they made this version, and it's been my most anticipated release of the year so far. I saw this cut in a theater, and I preferred it over the older, shorter cut.