The 104 minute version is the original version of the movie released in New Zealand.
When a U.S. distributor bought the rights to the film, they asked Peter Jackson if he would re-edit the film, specifically removing much of the gore. This isn't censorship in the strictest sense of the word, as the U.S. has no official censorship or any kind of "censors board." It just so happens that the people who bought the film wanted it tamed down. God knows why, but they at the very least allowed Jackson to do the cutting himself as opposed to going over his head.
The result was the 85-minute R-rated version, which was released theatrically, but to my knowledge hasn't been released on home video, at least not DVD.
While he was making that cut, Jackson also decided to re-edit the movie as a whole, finding it needed tighter pacing. I don't know exactly what stuff got cut, but the result was the 97-minute ("unrated") version, which Jackson decided to be his preferred director's cut of the film.
So while the 97-minute version is presumably short on some of the gore of the 104-minute version, it is still plenty gory and is technically the way the film is supposed to be seen.
"God is nowhere, God is now here"
-Hey Nostradamus, Douglas Coupland
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Fedorevsky
13 years ago
The 97 minute version has only ever been released in the US and while it might be the way to see the film in the US, it most certainly is not "the way the film is supposed to be seen" as all other versions out are of the original untampered with cut of the film.
You mention this as a New Zealand cut when in fact this untampered cut was the version released in both New Zealand cinemas as well as cinemas and film festivals around the world and this is also the version of the film that is (and was) the only available version in the whole rest of the world and has been the only available version since it's release. This is the original version of the film that got Jackson his fame and fortune and it is obviously the definitive version of the film. This is the version if the film everyone saw first. Well, except for the American audience who were instead given the 85 minute cut.
The American 85 minute version and the 97 minute version are inferior cuts made for a more Hollywood friendly audience much like the dreadful Star Wars hack jobs done by Lucas and similar revisionist scams and should obviously be looked down upon and ridiculed whenever possible. Revisionist history is not a good thing.
Hidyho!
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killerparties
13 years ago
Alls I'm sayin' is the 97-minute version is PJ's preferred version of the film.
From IMDb's "Alternate Versions" page:
When the film was picked up for U.S. distribution, there was a delay when another company asked the distributor to change the film's title so as to avoid confusion with another film of the same name (hence the "Dead Alive" title for the U.S. release). Director Peter Jackson decided to use the extra time to apply some additional spit and polish to the film, resulting in a new cut approximately seven minutes shorter than the original (97 minutes vs. 104 minutes). This cut premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was eventually released in the U.S. (along with an emasculated, 85-minute R-rated version). Although the 104-minute version remains the most commonly seen (at least outside the U.S.), Jackson has gone on record as saying the 97-minute cut is his preferred version.
I haven't had the opportunity to see the 104 minute version, so I can't compare the two. But I have seen the 97-minute version, and I love it enough to not feel like I'm really missing out on a whole lot. I don't really see how this is "revisionist history" though.
Jackson's film was released, and shortly thereafter, he had the opportunity to (in his opinion) improve upon it by cutting some bits and pieces and tightening the editing. Why should this be looked down upon?
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