Dead Poet's Society 'extended cut' question... (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

I just got the new SE DVD which overall seems very nice...but I'm not sure if it's the "extended cut" which hasn't been available on r1 DVD or just the older (inferior) theatrical version. I've found a site that details the extended scenes so I'm about to watch the DVD and play special attention:

http://www.peterweircave.com/dps/extras/index.html




But I'd also like to just ask if anyone at HTF happens to already know the answer or at least knows the running time of the original versus the extended versions...

thanks!

dave


p.s. now that the holiday chaos is over, and I'm over the flu, I'm ready to jump back into the reviewing chair...

 

[James Luckard]

I'm not sure if the shorter version is "inferior." I've never seen the longer version, but as I understand it just had a bunch of deleted scenes jammed into it to fill a network timeslot.

I've hardly ever seen an extended cut that I liked more than the theatrical, one of the few exceptions was "Kingdom of Heaven," but there you can tell that the hour that was cut was butchery, not proper editing.

By the way, the running time of the theatrical version, which I own, is 129 mins.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Naturally these things are always a matter of opinion, and I merely intended to state my own rather than make a factual statement (pardon if it sounded like I was).

I've seen both versions (of DPS) and while some of the added scenes are neither here nor there...others of them add a bit of depth to the movie that make a meaningful improvement IMO.

Amadeus is an example of a film that I feel strongly the way that you do in your statement where the added scenes do NOTHING for the film...and in fact they do damage in that case IMO. It ticks me off that the new WB DVD of that titles ONLY contains the "extended" cut without any way to view the (better) orginal.

 

[PaulP]

Aren't there deleted scenes on this new SE?

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I thought the extended cut was somewhat better (you get a few more good scenes of Robin Williams to boot). I have the extended laserdisc.

Dan

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

Off-topic, sorry:

James, do you think you could take a moment over in the Movies board to tell us about the Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut? I'm just dying to hear more about it. Cheers.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Dan,

can you tell us the running time of your extended-cut laserdisc?

 

[Shane Martin]

David,
2 releases which you should be reviewing are coming out:

Dead Poets and also Good Morning Vietnam. Can you confirm whether they are anamorphic or not? That is really the difference between me buying and me not buying them right now. I am only worried because of how BV treated Ransom.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

DPS is 100% 16x9 anamorphic. I'll open GMV to confirm, but the packaging states 16x9 as well...

I feel your fear (that Ransom debacle was unforgivable) but this time it seems they got it right (as far as 16x9 goes, that is)

 

[TonyD]

a couple of web etailers list the time as 2hrs 9 mins, which is the theatrical time.

dave did you watch it yet what is the time of the new dvd.

if i remember right, the extended laser was 15 minutes longer.

also found this.

http://japanld.free.fr/laserdisc.php?id=7481

ok it was 14 minutes longer.
but the confusing thing is the regular cut at 129 mins
is only 12 mins less the the listed time of 141 on the ext laser.

 

[Shane Martin]

Great News!

I look forward to your reviews. I know I can trust them.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Coming soon! (p.s. Yes, both titles--DPS and GV are 16x9 WS OAR)

 

[thoreau]

Thanks to David Boulet for opening this thread. I realise it was back in 2006 but the issue arises again as the BluRay release is imminent and it appears to contain just the inferior theatrical version. I had hoped it would also contain the director's extended cut via seamless branching but it appears that is not to be. Surely at least some people realise that movies are reduced in length down to about two hours to meet the requirements of cinema owners to get more sessions per day and thus more bums on seats rather than being "a bunch of deleted scenes jammed into it to fill a network timeslot". Some of the responses in the thread express great hostility to anyone who could possibly like the extended cut but this is a sad attitude to the rights of others. The extra scenes contain such essentials as a. the ongoing development of the close friendship between Neil Perry and Todd Anderson by way of Todd assisting Neil to learn and say his lines in Midsummer's Night Dream, b. the consequent rise in Todd's self-esteem from his interactions with Neil' c. the extended scene when Knox Overstreet visits the Danburys and meets his love interest, Chris, but witnesses the canoodling between her and her boyfriend Chet Danbury, d. the magical scene where John Keating introduces the class to the wonders of classical music appreciation including his statement that "words can never contain what music does - unsayable grace". There are some other fragments that may be of "no consequence" to people who do not care deeply about the movie but the above should give the flavour and the link above is very helpful if the full version is unavailable. The hostile attitude of some of the opinions reminds me of the extreme anger directed at me for preferring the version of Blade Runner with the voice-over (International Cut) and this dictatorial type of person is of no consequence or interest to me.