ST:TMP Fixer Upper

herdingcats writes "so, bigtime director Robert Wise is exorcising his demons of disappointment in the original version (cost: $45 million; revenue: $160 million, eventually) by cutting, splicing, evolving, and devolving the original production....which he felt lacked humanity, mostly because the studio rushed it to holiday theaters on the heals of "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters" successes." Its apparently going to be a video release (well, DVD for me) that tries to remain true to the original storyboards, not Lucas Style "I meant to do that- greedo really fired first" sorta lame changes. Oh, and a CG enterprise.

Comments

ST:TMP

[1010011010]

Star Trek: The Mantom Phenace?


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Re:The same film?

[Golias]

Making movies is an expensive and collaborative project, and few directors ever really get everything their way during filming. When a director is forced to make a compromise and it works, you seldom hear them complain, but when it fails, it offers them a chance to say "see, I told you so".

I think it is great, if a film was truly mangled, for the director to be able to go back and restore it. Other times, producers force changes for the sake of what they think mass audiences will like. Other times, it is just a matter of minor changes that the director really objected to.

Some examples:

"The Natural" - The shlocky, happy ending to this otherwise interesting film was not in the original novel, not in the screenplay, but was the result of audience focus groups not liking the tragic version. It wrecked the movie for me, but the Home Run Knocking The Lights Out scene is, for some reason, often the only clip used when critics discuss what a great movie it was. To the best of my knowledge, no "Director's Cut" of this movie has ever been done.

"The Abyss" - When Cameron was told to cut the film for time, he was so angry that he chopped out 20 minutes from the CLIMAX of the movie, which not only removed the most expensive footage from the whole film, but wiped out the explanation as to why the aliens were there in the first place. The Director's Cut makes more sense, but the tired "we are troubled by seeing humanity hurt itself" theme, done much better more than half a Century earlier in "The Day The Earth Stood Still", convinced me that ruining this story was really not that big of a tragedy.

"Brazil" - One of the most famous fueds in Hollywood history, the producers insisted on screwing up the ending, Gilliam refused, the release was stalled, and even when it was finally released properly (to massive critical acclaim), the chopped-up version was still used for a TV broadcast of the movie. The Criterion Collection disks offer both versions, complete with Gilliam's bitching.

The Empire Strikes Back - Lucas desperately wanted you to see the monster that attacked Luke on Hoth, but the money was not there to make it look good, so he settled for an off-camera beast, which made the blocking of the scene kind of confusing to follow. Of all the "Special Edition" changes made, putting the monster back into the shot was probably the only one that was actually a good idea. (Don't even talk to me about the Jabba & Han scene from Star Wars.)

"Blade Runner" - Released with overdubs that Ridley Scott did not really want, and with an up-beat ending that was made using left-over helicopter footage from The Shining. Defenders of the theatrical version insist that the overdubs really added to the classic Noir feel, but others insist that the over-explanation of everything wrecked it. The Director's Cut does not really have a alternate ending, but instead chops to cheap white-on-black credits right before the escape scene. Also, a "unicorn dream' (probably using leftover footage from "Legend" is added to cram down your throat the true nature of Ford's character). Personally, I think most people should see the overdubbed version first, but having done so, repeat viewers will probably enjoy the Director's Cut more.

The Exorcist - Nearly perfect in its original form. The added footage was a marketing ploy, and nothing more. See the original, if you can get your hands on it.

As for your first question, ST:TMP ended up being released for two reasons... 1) It cost a fortune to make, and they needed to get something back off the investment. and 2) Trekkie hype was becoming a cultural fixture, and "I Grok Spock" t-shirt were becoming more ubiquitous than Greatful Dead bumper stickers. Hard-core fans had been clamouring for a new Star Trek project for years. The pressure to release something, just to throw the trekkies a bone, was overwhelming.

You forgot ...

[SuperRob]

You forgot the hardcore sex scene where Data becomes "a real man" with Tasha Yar. They shot it, but it ended up on the cutting room floor. No reason that couldn't be included on the DVD.

Now that's a special edition I'd PAY to see.

"Intriguing, Lieutenant. So this is how humans "make love."

"Shut up and fuck me already, Data."

Special Edition everything

[Flounder]

Give Picard hair.

Give Riker the balls to nail every babe on the show.

Give Beverly Crusher a hot nude lesbian scene in the holo-deck with Deanna Troi and a tub of strawberry Jello.

Give Wesley Crusher the screaming agonizing death he so richly deserved.

Now, put that on DVD and I'll pay for it.

Eh?

[glowingspleen]

TMP? I'm lost, are we talking about The Manhatten Project? Man I can't wait to get that on DVD. I hear there are all these crazy outtakes where Einstein bets that he can eat anything in the room for cash.

Explaination

[paulywog]

Aparently some of us aren't die hard trekies. It took me forever to figure out what this goofy post was about... How about a little help from our dear friendly authors who post these stories!

ST:TMP = Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Eureka!

By the way, Star Trek X is in production. That's "Star Trek Ten", as in the tenth in a series of movies.

http://www.startrek.com/production/startrekx/art ic les/111700.html