movieking

I also just watched it (and posted about it on the DVD Talk Forum) and really enjoyed it. While having Ashton Kutcher in it definitely was not a selling point to me, the thing that caused me to skip it in theatres was that it was apparently on the shelf so long. Typically, that is the kiss of death for movies.

talemyn

I just watched this on Friday (the DC) and was stunned at how much I enjoyed it. I thought the acting was very good and particularly liked the young Evan. There were times when I sort of forgot and that is not the type of thing that I usually let slip buy me . . . but his performance had me completely buying into it.

Unfortunately because it was a 2-day rental, I didnt have time to watch the theatrical version. Anyone care to "spoiler" the differences between the two for me?

Matthew Chmiel

In the theatrical version:

talemyn

Thanks, Matt . . .

Based on that, I think I like the way the DC turns out. Someday I'll watch the original for comparison.

Trigger

that's pretty much how I felt about the DC ending... too telegraphed. I did like both endings and versions though - i think i'll probably show people the theatrical cut however.

Groucho

I didn't have to research it. I read the other thread, and then happened to read this one next. The irony was too much for me not to notice.

harosa

I rented this from Netflix to see the Director's Cut ( I saw it in theatres already) and was suprised thay they apparently get a different pressing of the movie made just for them because the disc wasnt a flipper to be able to see the Theatrical version.

Zee

This was such an odd movie-watching experience for me. I rented it the other night, and from the beginning was pretty impressed with the production values...the sound, especially. Every time Evan "went back," my entire living room shook, it was amazing.

The first quarter of the movie or so was also nicely done, I thought. I have a lot of tolerance for violence in movies and an especially strong stomach, but I found myself audibly gasping again and again during the initial flashback sequence. They sure packed plenty of punches into the first twenty minutes or so...however, I also wasn't impressed with the child acting (except for the young Tommy, which I guess I'm alone in), particularly the youngest Evan. Every time we saw the kids again after the first long set of flashbacks, the movie lost something for me.

My biggest problem with the movie is that Evan's character is never actually established. It seems like we only get to know him for a few minutes before he goes back for the first time, and then he's someone completely different (and in panic/stress mode for the rest of the movie). I thought Kutcher did a nice enough job with the material he had...all he had to do, really, was look scared out of his mind the entire film. The other adult actors were fine, save for Evan's mother. Smart is a bit wooden, but again, her material wasn't all that wonderful.

I guess I was also disappointed in how broad the changes that Evan made were. "The Butterfly Effect" is in reference to how something extremely small--the crushing of a simple butterfly, for example--could change the course of the future. The things that Evan change were such gigantic events in his life that it made it easy to predict how things would be different...I was hoping that the differences in the flashbacks would be more subtle, so that the changes in the present would have more of an impact.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the movie (mostly because my home theater system loved it). I would recommend it for its entertainment-value, but it is still extremely flawed in performance, pacing, and execution of character development and plot. Worth the rental, at least.

Tarantino

Evan Treborn

Evant Reborn

cortan

interesting observation....any thoughts on this




I just watched this tonight(directors cut) and thought it was really well done and original. I have always been fascinated by movies that deal with time and consequences and how small decisions can greatly affect the course of ones life.

I checked out the original ending too and I definately prefer the DC version. I especially liked the way they allude to Evan's mothers' other children that died in her womb might have actually done what He did and prevented their own births to make the problems of the grandfather and the father after him die with THEM. (Now THAT is a run on sentence).

Anyone else get that same impression from the DC ending?

talemyn

I actually hadn't made that connection, but I like it as an option. Good catch!

Rival11

Damn, didn't catch that.............good stuff

SomeVoices

Damn, all this talk is making me want to see the DC now!

DonnachaOne

Well, I haven't seen "That 70's Show" in years and I didn't see this movie in theaters. So when I rented The Butterfly Effect, I popped in the director's cut.

It started out TERRIBLE - such a rushed setup with cliched actions - but eventually righted its course. Ashton wasn't bad at all - I was surprised! I found the ending to be quite fitting.

The IMDb trivia's great, isn't it?

neiname

Check out the infinifilm part, it has the ending of the theatrical in chapter 55 or so.

Rival11

wathced the theatrical ending tonight............thank god they put out the directors cut, the "happy go lucky ending" sucked.

Trigger

****Spoilers ahead, son!*****

It had certainly crossed my mind - in fact, I thought perhaps the glaring mistake of the number of stillborn children was intentional to this effect... When his mother is telling him about the stillbirths, she says there were two before him... but as he's killing himself in her womb and we hear him going through events in his mind and they replay what she says to him - only this time she says there were three stillborn children before him... making him number four instead of number three. It could be a continuity error, but it's a pretty big one to make unintentionally.

Rival11

Didn't catch that but it sounds very interesting, I will have to go back and check it out.

Fok

I prefered the original ending actually, kinda left the story open in a way (even though the DC was pretty good).

cross

Yeah, thanks for the info too. I saw the DC myself and was wondering how the theatrical ended up too.

I think I liked the way the DC ended turns out too. Kinda gives a theory why the 1st 2 pregancies also ended up in still births. Perhaps all of the father's childern had Ashton's special ability and once did live their own lives, but in the end they all figure out that never existing is better for everyone so they erase themselves from history (i.e. DC ending)

Then I promptly put in Back to the Future Part 3 and hummed "Back in Time."

The Antipodean

Have to say the DC was a better ending for me, too.

Verbal Gorilla

The problem I have with the movie, both versions is the assumption that Haily and her brother would be alright simply without evan. That is the way it turned out to be, but with Evan gone, a lot more would change and they would still have a sick POS father.

Rival11

You are correct to a point:

johnglass

Just caught this tonight, another from me.

A few questions for anyone that might know (*SPOILERS*):

1) I was lead to believe that Evan's brain trauma was caused by the flushing of old and adding of new memories (or something to that affect). But after the theatrical ending it appears he had no ill effects of the time travel at all. Is there something I missed, or is his dain still bramaged?

2) The doctor told him that everything was in his mind- the time travel, the alternate futures he had (personally I think I would have liked this ending, that he created all these worlds in his head as a way of dealing with killing the girl). I was under the impression that he lost all of his memories of the other alternate lifes and gained the memories he would have had every time he "jumped". If this is the case he wouldn't have known about the alternate worlds to tell the doctor. Am I missing something else here, or just looking too deep into it?

Tarantino

Hopefully he lost the memories in the alternate lives, because !