How can you tell whether a cinema film is being shown in its original uncut version?
I think it’s really bad how good cinema films are ruined by editing.
I realise that originals are no longer shown at all.
I’m talking about Hollywood blockbusters. Not about any series.
Or am I wrong and can’t find the originals?
Jaunegap89 Or am I wrong and can’t find the originals?
Most of the time, when it’s done well, a long version adds a bit of depth to a film’s secondary characters which helps us to better understand their actions and thus better understand the film’s plot and themes. For example: Kingdom of Heaven or Batman V. Superman.
A long version can also provide an additional sequence. In some cases this sequence adds absolutely nothing to the film and the long version is of no interest other than to spend more time in the film’s universe (example: Sucker Punch). In the case of Abyss, on the other hand, the long version (now the official and best-known version, I think) adds the sequence in which Ed Harris interacts with the aliens in their spaceship. This sequence completely changes the meaning of the aliens’ intervention compared to the original version and completely changes the theme of the film.
The length of a film refers to the (aesthetic) problem of the length of what is called a film, as it results from the shooting and editing operations chosen and carried out by the so-called “director”. So-called ‘long’ versions are versions of a film whose length has been restored, after it had been ‘shortened’ by the production on the pretext that the length initially chosen, judged to be excessive, risked frightening or annoying viewers. A case in point is the 1980 film “Heaven’s Gate” by American director Michael Cimino. Its initial ’director’s cut’ was 360 minutes (out of 200 hours of rushes); this was reduced by the producers to 150′ for theatrical release, which did not save the film and did not prevent United Artists, which had produced it, from going bankrupt. In 2012, under friendly pressure from his colleagues Coppola and Scorsese, Cimino agreed to rework his film and re-release a new “director’s cut” of 3 hours 40 minutes (with a new cut and digital remastering), enabling the general public to discover or rediscover an exceptional film, as close as possible to its creator’s vision, and to appreciate it at last in all its lost and rediscovered beauty and critical force. In conclusion: what is at stake in the (strategic) question of the length of a film is the meaning, the quality of time - or rather duration - as a creative filmmaker thinks the story (scenario) he wants to tell, by playing technically and artistically (filming, editing) on the sensitive keyboard of time and movement of the image.
Blade Runner is a film that is constantly being remodelled. In fact, there are currently 7 different versions, from the first broadcast version (Broadcast Cut) to the final cut (Final Cut).
The original cut, the one shown in cinemas in 1982, is a perfect illustration of artistic integrity… disrupted by studio interference.
In many ways, the cinematic landscape hasn’t changed in 40 years - the studios are still as stupid as ever.
Ridley Scott’s ambitious, futuristic vision proved too risky for the studios. They demanded that Ridley simplify and **** the film so that it could be served up to the masses.
Several means were used to achieve this.
Perhaps the most embarrassing example is the insulting inclusion of off voices to narrate a character’s thoughts or explain a scene.
Harrison Ford was clearly against spoiling the film’s trademark atmospheric nature, so he recorded his lines in the cheesiest way possible, hoping they wouldn’t be used.
They were used, of course.
To add insult to injury, the studios tried to turn the ending into a happy ending - in what was probably the darkest film of its time.
Trying to turn a contemplative, methodical work like Blade Runner into a generic action film remains one of cinema’s greatest sins to this day.
And people wonder why nobody bothered to watch it when it came out.
Now, just compare that with the director’s cut and the real film emerges. They are almost entirely different in tone.
Some of the edits change everything. The condescending off voices are replaced by urban ambient noises, which totally immerse us in the atmosphere of this futuristic dystopia.
“On apprend parfois plus d'une défaite que d'une victoire” — José Raúl Capablanca
