Note to self, Superdaddy is an old timer

Yup, rumor has it I saw Doctor Dolittle and Star Wars during their original theatrical releases.

And Doctor Dolittle had this guy named Harrison in it, not Murphy.

About goddamn fucking time we get this cut. Now I hope to not be confused by that bit in the middle. That weird cut in the middle that left out stuff.

I'm in!!!!!!

Way too long for me. I did sit through the 229 minute cut and I liked it, although I can't remember anything about it.

The 139 minute cut was released on VHS (and maybe on Beta) back in the 80s. Fortunately that was, as far as I know, the first and last time.

I read through this entire thread (including my own post) and the whole time I was thinking this was Once Upon A Time In The West, and I couldn't figure out what could have been missing from that movie. Needless to say I'm now very excited for this and hope a proper Blu-ray is released in the US.

ive seen the short version show up on one of the Encore networks

I'd like to see that version at least once, but so far have not run across that rare vhs release.

Why do you want to see the short cut? Are you trying to learn how to ruin great films?

As someone that loves the 229 minute cut, I would like to see the short version out of some sort of morbid curiosity.

This is the only Leone i have not seen from my fav director (except for Colossus of Rhodes) and was prepared to view it... but with this news, life is SO GOOD now.

Colossus of Rhodes is amazing. In fact I need to see that one again soon.

I remember seeing the movie on VHS back when I was younger. May have even seen it on TV and it was the shorter cut. I liked it, but never really loved. Then I saw the 229min cut and thought it was amazing. I can't wait to see this new cut on the big screen.

And I'm also old enough to remember seeing a few movies at the theater with intermissions. A longer cut won't be hard for me to sit through. Hell, if I could sit through Gods and Generals, I can sit through anything.

I just am curious to see exactly how that version plays. Since I've only ever heard of it, but never actually seen it. Curiosity got the best of me, and I think it should be made available with the other versions. At best, it's an interesting curiosity in how editing can drastically affect a film. So there is some merit to that version being available even if it is awful.

Yeah. As much as I'm disgusted by what they did to Leone's craft. I wouldn't mind looking at that shitty version as a object of study. Kind of like Blade Runner's multiple cuts.

That reminds me i have the 3 disc Brazil criterion collection set. On Disc 3 they have the 94 minute cut of the film. I still haven't gotten around to watching the butchered cut.

It's a fucking headache but I'm glad I saw it so that I could understand his rage, Gilliam's that is.

Blade Runner is a different story. Each cut has something to recommend it. That's not the case with the butchered cut of OUATIA.

I did watch the Love Conquers All cut of Brazil on the Criterion disc, but only with the commentary which discusses specific changes and their effect on the overall picture.

I'm glad I read this thread. I was just about to pull the trigger on the Blu-ray. The longer cut sounds intriguing.

Hopefully we'll get a detailed review of the new footage after the Cannes premiere. I really want to see this.

Interesting comment on the short version:

http://filmfreakcentral.net/dvdrevie...einamerica.htm

Any news on this?

Sidenote:

Rewatched the existing long cut yesterday. This really is one of my favorite movies of all time, I've probably watched it 20 times at this point. The performances of Woods and De Niro, non-linear but clear construction and perfect gangster dialogue are all obvious highpoints, but to me it's the smaller things that make this movie a masterpiece:

1. The score is simply amazing. The theme that Morricone uses when the older Noodles sees the picture of alder Deborah on Moe's wall, goes into the bathroom, looks through the hole in the wall and it flashes back to Deborah dancing is one of the best musical cues in any movie ever. Throughout, the combination of pan flutes and orchestra touches my heart. Amazing stuff.

2. The set designs are wonderfully evocative. The speakeasy, Moe's restaurant, Noodle's tenament, the streets, rooftops and alleyways, that amazing opium den, the constant background of faded hand-painted signs on brick walls... all are subtly detailed and completely believable. This is the best depiction of 1920 New York on film, IMO.

3. The costume designs. The boys' rags, the 30's zoot suits and fedoras, the orthodox Jewish workers in the restaurant, the flappers, the beach scene. All are simply perfect. Maybe Miller's Crossing matches it, but this is best dressed depiction of the prohibition era I've seen.

This is a movie that gets better the more you watch it. The deliberate ambiguity and mystery becomes deeper and mroe involving. Noodle and Max's friendship (brotherhood? repressed homosexual urges?) becomes deeper and the betrayal more painful. Plot details slot into place and you pick up subtle hints of what's to come earlier. It's slightly pretentious, slightly too long and definitely a bit messy, but no other genre movie I can think of provokes such strong feelings of nostalgia and loss.

I've always had mixed feelings about this film. I thought the child actors were much better cast than the adult actors. I saw it when the New York Film Festival premiered the longer cut back in 1984. And I have the long cut on a two-tape VHS edition from Warner Home Video and I'm sure I've seen that at least once. But I don't know about another 40 minutes. It just gets harder and harder for me to sit through long movies. I walked out of THE MASTER at the two-hour mark because I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to force myself to sit through all of THE GREAT GATSBY (two-and-a-half-hours) but it took a great deal of effort. And it was no fun.

The same for home viewing. When I watched HEAVEN'S GATE (the long cut) on VHS last year, it took a whole afternoon to get through it (I can't remember the exact number of hours it took). It was a chore. When I watched both parts of RED CLIFF (John Woo's cut) four years ago, it took an entire Sunday (12 noon to 9:30 PM) to get through a five hour running time. At a certain point, the discomfort just undermines the enjoyment of it. (I know, I should have watched the second part on another day.) In contrast, I watched a two-and-a-half-hour movie at home yesterday that just happened to be a great movie (MARIE ANTOINETTE, 1938) and one I'd never seen before--and I was engrossed throughout. I did have to take a couple of bathroom breaks and a snack break during it, but my energy level held up because I started early and it wasn't TOO long. But if it had been a three-hour movie, it would have been a little harder.

This is why I like anime TV series (shorter goals--you can choose to watch one, two, three, or four episodes in one sitting, depending on your energy level and approach of mealtimes) and kung fu movies (average length: 90 minutes).

And this from a guy who used to sit through 9 hours of Clint Eastwood westerns when Times Square theaters ran quadruple bills of the "Man with No Name" trilogy (speaking of Leone) and HANG 'EM HIGH.