Nicholas Meyer and the "Director's Cuts" of Star Trek II and VI
- Thread starter Shalashaska
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Adding my two cents, I also prefer the original theatre versions.
The transition to the court room scene is less effective when adding in the superfluous
Spock/Scotty scene.
The transition to the court room scene is less effective when adding in the superfluous
Spock/Scotty scene.
I think that the takes used in TWOK for the theatrical edition are better than the alternate takes used in the DE. So, I prefer the TWOK theatrical. I have no opinion regarding TUC.
Yeah the 'scientists have always been pawns to the military' bit is worse in the DE, the delivery of the line just isn't as forceful, they should have gone with the original scene for this IMO. That's the only one that bothers me though. I like the extra stuff with Preston as I think it gives a bit more meaning to his death, though his acting in the engineering inspection scene is dreadful. I think overall I'd rather watch the DE, but I'm a sucker for extra scenes, so I'm probably a bit biased.
Trouble is, there would be a tendency for differences every time, when it comes to Meyer looking at a Director's Cut. As we've seen removing the dialogue climbing the shaft in TWOK. I've kept the 2002 DVD, because to me it's interesting and the exact same kind of "slightly off sounding take" as the other ones he prefers to switch or change. Don't get me wrong, I see why he does. The non-theatrical takes go on longer, and tell us more about the characters. Although they often feel less prepared, off-the-cuff, and unpolished in comparison. Of course, that could just be me not being exposed to the DE as much. The complete opposite happened with TUC, which came out in an era of home video extended editions and memories of seeing the theatrical in the cinema ever fading.
There's fun and frustration in equal amounts with alternate versions, but it's reassuring the theatrical always stays the same.
There's fun and frustration in equal amounts with alternate versions, but it's reassuring the theatrical always stays the same.
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Eyes Wide Shut improves (somewhat) with repeated viewings, but if you look up the word “phlegmatic” in the dictionary, there's a picture of Nicole Kidman ballroom-dancing with a horny Hungarian.Stanley Kubrick used to release his films on home video full frame as, in his later films, he protected each shot for a variety of aspect ratios. This would be similar, it wouldn't employ any cropping and would only open up the image:
They all thought I was insane. "He's gone mad," they'd say, "He's become a monster unfit for human society. There's black bars on his screen!" but I didn't care. I made sure to only buy the widescreen editions of films for my DVD collection as I could see the future. I was the one with vision; I saw wide TVs as far as the eye can see; TVs with clearer picture of movies that have not been cropped and left to die. We all moved to HDTVs didn't we? Now they complain about black bars on the sides don't they? Who was the crazy one now? Where is your god fullscreen, now? Sweet, sweet vindication.
TVs are extended gutters and the gutters are full of black bars and when the dvd shelves finally run out of space, all the fullscreen bullies will sink. The accumulated filth of all their complaints about black bars will bury them up to their waists and all the fullscreen bullies will shout "Save us!"... and I'll whisper "no."
TVs are extended gutters and the gutters are full of black bars and when the dvd shelves finally run out of space, all the fullscreen bullies will sink. The accumulated filth of all their complaints about black bars will bury them up to their waists and all the fullscreen bullies will shout "Save us!"... and I'll whisper "no."
For TWoK, the Director's Cut is pretty bad. The extra scenes just slow everything down and screw up the pacing, for one thing. For another, there are a couple alternative takes put in the place of the strong ones in the Original, Theatrical Version. Kirk's apartment additions, the scientists arguing, Spock's Human Ego sequence, the Kirk/Spock/Bones Genesis Tape reworking ... they're all very awkwardly acted and inferior. I really don't know why fans often clamour for cut scenes to be put in, when it was usually the proper thing to do, by deleting them.
The vastly improved director's cut of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven is a shining example of why people ask for deleted material to be readmitted to a film. The 45 minutes of story that had been removed for the theatrical version by the request of 20th Century Fox never should have been excised in the first place.
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The version of Touch of Evil that was assembled according to Orson Welles' notes is vastly superior to the studio cut that was released in 1958 -- although I think Welles' version may run a few minutes shorter, IIRC.
The reassembled cut is 17 minutes longer than the 1958 theatrical version.
Except they still cut the sides off of wide-screen movies with wider aspect ratios wider than 16x9, dammit.
There are always exceptions, obviously ... but it's my experience that, the majority of the time, the original theatrical versions are best. As with, say, NEMESIS ... so many fans rail on about how great that deleted stuff was, but I found them to drag, for one thing. Particularly Data & Picard sharing a glass of wine and waxing about The Human Condition. It's boring! And that's pretty much the case with all that they took out. Like that lame-ass jokey sequence where Picard's new First Officer gets pranked. Take your pick! They were all pretty lame and would not have helped the movie, at all ...
Thank you for the correction!
I'd argue that the directors cut (I know, I know..."assembly" cut) of Alien 3 makes it a substantially better movie than the theatrical cut. Even though it is now missing the "funeral/ birth" scene. So, there are definitely instances where it works for the better.
For Star Trek movies, I like the Director's Edition of TMP...but it's missing and/or altered a few things that drive me nuts. I think my favorite is actually the SLV. In a way, TMP is now very much like Blade Runner and Close Encounters in that there are multiple versions, all of which have certain merits and flaws in their own right. I'd love to be able to cut my own versions of these films together.
I like the Director's Cut of TWOK. I think it adds a little depth to the story and the additions aren't as jarring or lengthy as some other movies.
I prefer the Theatrical Cut of TUC. The Directors Cut just feels sloppy and unnecessary.
I would actually like to see a re-cut version of NEM.
For Star Trek movies, I like the Director's Edition of TMP...but it's missing and/or altered a few things that drive me nuts. I think my favorite is actually the SLV. In a way, TMP is now very much like Blade Runner and Close Encounters in that there are multiple versions, all of which have certain merits and flaws in their own right. I'd love to be able to cut my own versions of these films together.
I like the Director's Cut of TWOK. I think it adds a little depth to the story and the additions aren't as jarring or lengthy as some other movies.
I prefer the Theatrical Cut of TUC. The Directors Cut just feels sloppy and unnecessary.
I would actually like to see a re-cut version of NEM.
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