What If Films Never End?

Sunday, November 14th, 2010 at 9:00am
  • 29 Comments
 
What If Films Never End?  

The second DVD release of Avatar hits shelves next week, bringing with it the third version of the movie (with an addition fourth on the disc, with edited-for-children language) in two years. With special editions, DVDs, director’s cuts and everything else available to allow filmmakers to revise their original visions in public, how much freedom is too much?

Before we get too far into things, I want to say that I’m actually kind of a fan of the idea of the “special edition” of any given movie, if it’s done well; there’s something to be said for the ability to go back and revisit stories after the fact and “fix” things that didn’t quite work out the first time – Given the rush that’s sometimes (often?) involved in moviemaking, it’s unsurprising that occasionally things don’t work out as well as might’ve been hoped the first time, and so letting the director (or whoever) go back and get a second chance…? Seems like a great idea to me.

For fans, too, there’s some excitement in seeing things that might’ve been cut for various reasons in the original release. The upcoming Avatar Special Edition Blu-Ray is a great example of that, offering the chance to see the movie’s original (and, in my opinion, better) opening, which gives a little more backstory to Jake’s life before he went to Pandora. And yet… and yet…

And yet, the upcoming Avatar release will be the third (and fourth, if you count the edited-for-language version that’ll be available on the disc) version of the movie. Blade Runner has gone through, what, five different versions in its history? The 3D versions of the Star Wars movies will be their second and third different editions, depending on which trilogy you’re asking about, and – well, I can’t be the only person who thinks that the first versions haven’t really been improved on that much by what followed. At some point, the ability to fix things or offer new material for fans became something else altogether – or two different somethings, perhaps – and that’s where the problem starts, for me.

You see, I feel like a lot of movies these days have two versions planned from the start. There’s the version that’s going to be released in theaters, and at the same time, there’s already a special edition cut planned for the home release, not because the movie needed “fixed” or because things were cut for time or whatever in the theater version, but purely because “added material never before seen in theaters” means that more people will shell out for the DVD or Blu-Ray. Or, worse yet, that the theater version will be released on DVD and then another DVD will be released with all the added scenes that were left off the first release because… well, I’m not entirely sure. Because they could feel confident in the geek-centric completist tendency pushing people towards buying it, perhaps (Hello, Watchmen and Avatar!)?

Where the ability to put new versions of existing movies out goes wrong for me isn’t really in any artistic decisions – Yes, even Han shooting first – but in the business decision of making each one its own thing, for full price, each time (This isn’t always the case, admittedly; Avatar‘s new edition has the original version, the cinema re-release and an even longer cut). The audience is asked to be paying for the filmmaker’s perfectionism, or studio’s original misjudgment, which seems… greedy? unfair? both? With the amount of information that a Blu-Ray can hold – and, also, its ability to link to live web content – there’s no reason that buying a Blu-Ray disc can’t offer multiple versions of any movie, even those that don’t even exist when the disc was first released. That way, for one price, the fan can get the full package, and the moviemaker can get to continue to work on their projects until they’re satisfied – or beyond, if that’s what takes their fancy. Who wouldn’t want a scenario where everyone can win?

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  • percane

    correction: the 3-D version of star wars 4-6 will be the 4th version (at a minimum) there have been 3 previous versions: the original, the special editions from the 90s, and the “ultimate” dvd versions (that had additions such as hayden christiansen replacing sebastian shaw’s ghost)

    another thing to consider is that movies often have different cuts, european versions differing from american versions for example. and back in the 70s, early 80s, sometimes versions of a movie could even differ slightly depending on what part of the US you were in.

  • Koen

    I’m hesitant to buying this special edition of Avatar because I’m expecting an even longer version of the movie with the added choice to watch it in 3D (and ofcourse even more extras and so on). When Cameron was a guest at G4 TV he didn’t want to confirm the release of the extended edition this year, even if most geeks were in the know. I was thinking to myself ‘Damn Cameron, you capitalist fucker’.

  • Alex Dragon

    I think there’s nothing wrong with having as any “Special Edition” versions of the film as the director/movie company wants to put out. Some people are only interested in seing the actual movie and care less about the Behind The Scenes stuff. Some people are happy and content with just a few essential extras like commentary and the “Making Of” stuff and others want al the extra content.

    However…my annoyance comes from the studios not making this all available in the beginning. I would’ve liked some extras on the DVD when it first came out but they weren’t offered. I bought the DVD anyway knowing that at some point the DVDs with all the extra content would eventually come out. It’s the studio’s way of seller more DVDs and I and many others go along with it because we want to see the movie on DVD and don’t know how long the wait will be for the “extras” version.

    It sucks. They want to take advantage of the hype and hope people buy the stripped down version first then go back and buy the version with all the bells and whistles later. It’s funny, because I want the extras version and bought the stripped down version but haven’t even watched it yet. If I waited I could’ve saved the money and got what I wanted without missing anything at all. The reason I never even bothered with watching the stripped down version is because it doesn’t have any extras and I really don’t care about seeing the movie again that much. But the Blu-Ray version was so cheap I just bought it.

    If the studios put out Special Edition anniversary stuff that’s one thing but I don’t like them holding out on extras just to sell more DVDs even though I understand why they do it.

  • Nat94110

    I will admit I read this article only because of the Lucas in Carbonite thumb they had on CBR. But good read

  • Daiyongo

    If somebody thinks it’s good enough for the DVD then it’s good enough for the silver screen. Don’t cut anything unless it really can’t be used.

    I remember watching the DVD of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. We watched it movie cut, and hated it. Then we watched the cut footage. All of a sudden the movie we had been watching made a billion times more sense. They cut out basic stuff relevant to understanding the characters and what the hell was going on!

  • Guesto

    when George Lucas replaced Sebastian Shaw’s Vader ghost with Hayden Christiensen in the new special edition of Return of the Jedi, I gave up on directors changing movies for “the better”

  • demoncat_4

    the only way a film being tweaked over and over by its creator being a perfectionist is when the film winds up losing its core and what made it a hit in the first place. that and fans finaly cringe and say no more over another version of the film mostly by their pocket book.

  • AlexR.

    I wish they’d lay off Star Wars. The original Trilogy anway. It’s bad enough to see it violated by Family Guy and other stuff. But just leave it alone.

    Don’t care about Avatar. I don’t care how much money it was supposed to have made. Didn’t see it. They can redo it every year and I’ll laugh that being a success isn’t enough for some people. I know for a fact that the money made now isn’t the equivalent of the same money in 1977 so don’t try to tell me more people saw Avatar than saw Star Wars.

    Sadly enough (or perhaps now) I was in a hobby store a few months ago and what movies were the teens talking about? Welll, it was whether Empire Strike Back or Return of the Jedi were better. That’s right! I think Aliens may have been mentioned. Really shows the impression todays films are making. But hey, how can you beat Jedi?

  • morningstar

    I don’t understand why they put out the so called “Vanilla” releases, I would rather watch a movie I like in full, rather than having deleted scenes as an extra. Why not release a certain amount of the full versions for the fans that want to see the full versions of the movies they like? Let the rest of the general public pick up their bland, theater cut versions. I had a large collection of vhs, now I have a fair amount of dvd’s, now again I’m having to shell out more money to see the full cut on blu ray. And the studios complain about piracy.. there have been numerous movies I have bought over & again because of different versions. WTF

  • Frank

    And studios wonder why people download movies…? In the case of Blade Runner and Aliens, the directors cut thing happened out of a genuine frustration on the part of the director that the film screened in theaters wasn’t the way they wanted it. But of course, it wouldn’t take long for the money men to notice the extra sales generated, and these days I don’t believe for a second there is any motive other than greed. George Lucas’s plan to dig up the already defiled corpse of his once-proud trilogy (and no I don’t count anything he made since the 80s as proper Star Wars) is both greedy and pointless, and proves yet again that he only ever had one good idea. But when it comes to the DVDs, vote with your wallets, people- don’t buy the first edition that comes out if you suspect this will happen.

  • ATK

    Alex said pretty much everything I was going to say so…”Ditto.”

    I would like to add that everything he is talking about contributes to online illegal downloads of movies. Many of us enjoy films but don’t want to spend the money to only have a new version of the film or new features to be released sometimes mear months after the initial release (I’m looking at you Avatar) It kind of discourages my want and desire to buy something, I’d rather wait and get the Uber Awesome Mega-Special Edition of a film that has all the features of the other releases and every different cut of the film, rather than ending up with 5 different copies of Clerks, even if it takes 5-10 years.
    The most recent example of needless reissues is with Grindhouse. First they released the extended version of each film seperatly without most of the spoof trailers. Now they have released the Theatrical Special edition with all the trailers but it is the theatrical cut of the films. So now I am going to have to wait for an even specialer edition of the films that have both the extended versions of the films and includes all the trailers. It is releases like this that make me seriously question the integrity and intelligence of the publishers of these discs.

  • Sept_28_2003

    Coming soon, the 20 hour version of Avatar!

  • ATK

    “It’s bad enough to see it violated by Family Guy and other stuff.”

    Dude I agree with you on everything except the above, if you didn’t find Robot Chicken or Family guy funny then…well…I just feel plain sorry for you. After all who amoung us did not enjoy seeing Darth Vader send Jar Jar out an airlock only to see him return as a Jedi ghost to haunt Vader. These are classic spoofs and as a long time Star Wars fan I gotta say it’s nice to have more in the Parody bank for Star Wars other than just Bill Murry.

  • Bclewis6593

    It’s a scam to get people to buy the extended versions. Nothing more, nothing less. And I loved the original version and bought it when was released but I didn’t love it enough to go out and buy it again no matter how many “extra” scenes are on the new version.

  • percane

    there are some instances where the director’s cuts add a great deal. the lord of the rings trilogy is the best example. two other very worthy director’s cuts are the abyss (30 minutes of subplot that explains WHY the aliens decide to reveal themselves) and kingdom of heaven (there’s a whole hell of a lot explained in that one!)

  • MutatisMutandor

    In the case of Star Wars I didn’t have a real problem with Lucas retouching the films. I can see what he’s trying to do by creating a sense of constincey throughout. As for how successful he’s been at doing it? Well, I guess that depends entirely on the viewer’s tastes.

    The truth is, if people didn’t keep supporting this practice it wouldn’t happen. Many people feel the immediate need to grab the latest releases aas soon as they hit the shelves. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I didn’t get the theatrical cut of Lord of the Rings and waited for the special editions. I did, however, get Watchemen, even knowing the Ultimate Cut was coming out in just a few months time.

  • Jeg

    But in Avatars case, it takes much more effort to make an “extended version” as it requires several additional Millions in order to complete scenes, and this was being done well into the Summer.

    So in Avatars case, the content simply wasn’t ready back in April, and Fox isn’t the type of company to wait almost a year to release a movie on DVD/Blu-Ray.

    Either way, James Cameron was upfront about it and said off the bat that a Collectors Edition was planned for this year, and he said even before the first release came out

  • a fan

    Remember Watchmen, having several releases too!

  • BradRzanka

    You should also make a distinction between a director who can’t stop tweaking their film, and cases of studio interference/butchery like Blade Runner or Brazil, where the director’s cut is a true restoration of original authorial intent, rather than just another reason to sell dvds. There’s a very convoluted history as to why there are so many versions of Blade Runner out there.

  • JMC

    I got the Avatar DVD with no special features at all. I got it for free at Coles when I bought a 2L Coke, Tim-Tams, popcorn, and 2 bags of Corn Chips. The food was great but the movie was shit. I’m not too concerned about getting a new “Special Edition: Avatar” DVD.

  • knightoftomorrow

    The same thing happened with the movie The Scorpion King, in my opinion. I watched the theatrical cut with some friends and it was horrible. Then we watched the uncut version and it all made sense. We all agreed that they had cut out the parts that actually made the story make sense.

  • WGK

    I agree, if it’s good enough for the DVD it’s good enough for the screen. “STAR TREK the movie”, made no sense, until the longer cut was released. It explained a lot of things. It should have been the theatrical cut. Same with the original DUNE. I will not pay to re-watch a tweaked movie. When I pay in the theater, I want to see the best movie version.

  • Russell Burlingame

    I’m kinda excited about the idea that the upcoming TWIN PEAKS tribute on PSYCH will be 16 minutes longer on the season 5 DVD. The restoration of features removed only for time is exactly what home video should be used for.

  • Evil_s2003

    This is exactly what slowed the DVD market’s growth. A few years ago everyone though the DVD market had matured and they forced the over rated and underwhelming HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Discs on us and created a fake format war.
    One of the biggest reasons DVD sales slowed is because of these stupid reissues. If you are a studio and you have all this extra crap put it out first.
    I worked at a Suncoast where we sold DVDs and heard all the time from people who weren’t buying the big new titles right away because ‘they will just release a better version in a few months.’ So, the studios did it to themselves.
    As far as Avatar goes, sorry but I was very unimpressed with it, the movie already felt like 3 hours and there is no way I’m going to sit through that again.

  • Jose

    For what its worth, I saw several interviews with Snyder where he pretty much told people not bother buying any of the early DVD releases and wait until the deluxe one that would hit around Christmas.

  • http://www.facebook.com/david.schmitt#!/ David R. Schmitt

    I wait now. Last dual versions I bought was Lord of the Rings because of my utter love for those films. But now if there is a movie I really like and a director I’m sure is going to produce an extended version (Ridley Scott) then I’ll wait.

    Some extended versions enhance the film like the previously mentioned LOTR. Others are barely noticeable (Underworld, Hellboy). And some make it worse or with mixed results (Star Wars).

    I wonder in the future we’ll be able to cut and splice our own version of the film. Want Han to shoot Greedo first but still keep the digital enhancements of the Death Star battle? Well use this editing tool to seamlessly cut and paste your own Star Wars experience!

  • MadMikeyD

    I try not to buy a movie more than one time. I waited and only bought the Extended Editions of Lord of the Rings because I love the original books and knew the EE would have more stuff from them. Star Wars was my exception. I had the original versions on VHS for years, of course. Then I got the Special Edition VHS when it came out, mainly because I hadn’t seen the SE in the theater and I wanted to see the differences. Then, of course, I had to get the DVD set so that I had them on DVD. I’m not buying them again, though. Or, at least not for many years.

  • Vampedxander

    Here’s the thing.
    Art gets revised over time. Comics get small updates with a bit of dialogue clean up here and there, and clarification and cohesion.
    Novels often change from edition to edtion, writers being the ever perfectionists constantly are trying to perfect their work. Short stories too.
    Why should you treat movies any differently?
    Answer: You shouldn’t.
    On Avatar, it was said before the movie came out they’d release a standard barebones movie and then an longer cut later.

  • Anonymous

    Whenever we talk about Avatar. I am really totally speechless. This one is truly one of the milestone in the history of the human world. And the characters, costumes, story, action, drama, scenes, dialogues and many more thing of this movie are really tremendous and incredible for all time. According to me, this one is really one of the legendary movie for all time.

    book

 

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