After the huge success of LOTR trilogy, you would think that studios would be mining the archives for everything Peter Jackson. Years later, and with the director's cut readily available in other countries, why not here in the US?
shareHopefully, along with Bad Taste.
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Suck my spinning steel, shíthead!
It's not so much a "director's cut" at all. More a fact of the censorship in the US prevents the full cut being released.
Even if Jackson wanted to, he would not be allowed.
As I said, it's not a "Director's cut" cos the film is elsewhere uncut in it's original form. As this is the case...why not just buy the uncut version? Simple enough.
Instead of complaining about it being cut in the US...buy the uncut version.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he is God.
You are clearly misinformed. The US doesn't have a government-enforced censorship board like, say, the UK; most retailers are perfectly fine with stocking unrated DVDs, even the most ultraviolent of them (I bought Tokyo Gore Police at Best Buy recently).
shareNot only is there no government censorship in the U.S., but the 97-minute version of the film, which is the version readily available in the U.S., actually is Peter Jackson's preferred director's cut.
The 104-minute version is the original cut. He was asked by the U.S. distributor if he would edit the film down for their release. He gave them an 85-minute cut (as opposed to them taking the film to the chopping block behind his back), which was the R-Rated theatrically released version in the U.S. He also took the opportunity to fix what he saw as problems in the original 104-minute cut - clumsy pacing, scenes that slowed the film down, etc. He gave the U.S. distributors a 97-minute version of the film (the "unrated" version that is readily available in the U.S.). The 97-minute version is Jackson's preferred director's cut of the film.
"God is nowhere, God is now here"
-Hey Nostradamus, Douglas Coupland
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Yes, let's write to Lion's Gate to have this in a special edition Blu-Ray and DVD with loads of extras including missing footage included.
"You gotta be Fking kidding"-The Thing.
It's nothing to do with Lionsgate either.
It's a censorship issue. Write to the ratings board, not Lionsgate.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he is God.
Thanks for chiming in guys. I do own the Spanish DVD release of the film uncut, but the transfer is a bit grainy and I can't remove the Spanish subtitles (which makes sense). I don't know if it's necessarily a censorship issue as tons of movies are released in US with uncut gore. With the success of LOTR, all we've really gotten from Jackson's back catalog was a special edition of The Frighteners. I just find it odd that no studio has capitalized. A good frame of reference would be, what if the Evil Dead films were released on bare bones DVDs and then ignored for years even after Raimi's success with the Spider-man series? Brain Dead (aka Dead Alive) is the crown jewel of Jackson's horror career.
shareThe issue with the U.S. not getting the international cut isn't censorship (unless you rent the R-rated cut from a retailer like Blockbuster that refuses to carry the much better Unrated DVD). Peter Jackson has apparently stated elsewhere that when the movie got a U.S. release he went back and trimmed a few things he thought would be good ideas, and along with that has said the U.S. 'Unrated' version is his 'Director's Cut.' That's just splitting hairs, though...I know what we're looking for here in the States is the version every other country has, with scenes we've been missing out on for years. Trust me, the way people have been going gaga over Unrated movies in the past few years, and the fact that you can buy "I Spit On Your Grave" in most Best Buys, a few extra scenes of zombie sex and violence are not what's keeping this version out of the U.S.
What would be nice is a set that includes all 3 major versions, with maybe commentary on one of them, and a nice sharp picture with a DTS-HD soundtrack (or, at the very least, the U.S. edition with the missing international scenes as a bonus feature; I'm tired of companies refusing to acknowledge cut scenes, especially ones that are clearly visible on trailers or production photos). I'm watching the DVD right now on my HD setup, and the film could definitely use the upgrade. The stereo sound is a little lacking, and the picture is a decent transfer...for 1998. But after being spoiled by Blu-Ray, you know it could be so much better. And of all his back catalog, this one really has suffered the most; well, maybe tied for "Meet the Feebles" for sheer indifference, but I've never watched that one.
In all fairness, Jackson did not make the cuts until he was "aksed" to by the ratings board. If they had not kicked up a fuss, he would have left it untouched.
This is still the problem with the film, it is a ratings/censorship issue. Not down to Jackson or the distibutors themself.
Yes, he may prefer the US cut himself but that was not his original vision of the movie.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he is God.
That is just for the US R rated version though, which is trimmed down in some areas. The Unrated US version, however, is still cut, and missing scenes found in the international version. It can't be a censorship thing, because it is unrated, meaning it didn't go through the MPAA, and plenty of stores are willing to carry unrated versions of films on dvd.
shareThere is no censorship issue in the U.S. . Unlike a lot of European countries, the government doesn't ban or censor films here.
Films are only censored when a particular distributor doesn't want to release a film uncut for commercial reasons.
They are NOT required to be submitted to the MPAA unless it's the distributors' policy that requires it (like most major Hollywood studios).
But, the US government does NOT require a film to be submitted to the ratings board, nor do they ever ban anything (other than, of course, something like chid porn).
We don't have an uncut version of "Dead Alive" because no US distributor has sought to seek it out/release it, not because of censorship issues.
Plus there's really no point; if the director is to be believed, the difference between US Unrated and International is like the difference between the Alien theatrical version and the Alien director's cut. While a rabid fanboy may want to see the scenes, out of curiosity if nothing else, they murder the pacing when you put them in the actual film.
shareWhoah there sparky. If you havnt seen the uncut version then your opinion doesnt count for much here. I own every version of the film (not because Im a rabid fanboy, but because it wasnt until I got the German version which was the last one I bought that I finally owned the version of the film I saw in the theatre her in Wellington back in the 90s). The uncut version is superior... and the pacing isnt adversly affected at all (imho). What is affected is the outstanding obsurdist comedy/splatstick humour that is missing from the US release.
People love this film for the comic violence, the non-PC comedy, and the unrestrained lunacy of the film. The R-Rated version has 20 minutes of gore, violence, and innapropriate zombie love cut. The unrated version is still missing 6-7 minutes of the same.
The New Zealand theatrical version was the fist version I saw. The VHS release was the same. The DVD versions lacked so much of the fun, so much of what makes Braindead what it is. Any body who likes this film should see the full uncut version. Its so much more fun, silly and gross. Isnt that was this film is all about.
Your mother ate my dog!!!
There is no censorship issue in the U.S. . Unlike a lot of European countries, the government doesn't ban or censor films here.
We don't have an uncut version of "Dead Alive" because no US distributor has sought to seek it out/release it, not because of censorship issues.
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HAHAHAHAHAHA J McClane! Yes. Because of the extremely harsh CENSORSHIP here in the US, the complete 104 min. version will never EVER be seen here because of its graphic content. I mean.. Ichi the Killer can be released on DVD uncut in the US. That is ok. Oh.. and Cannibal Holocaust can also be released uncut as well. About a dozen animal killings in THAT movie.. no big deal. Don't even get me started on the movie Salo. But the full version of Braindead.. woah man.. that is a WHOLE different story. HAHAHA! This is clearly a CENSORSHIP issue (!). Cause we all know it has nothing to do with the company that owns the movie. It's not like they can't release the movie UNRATED or anything.
Yea.. and Peter Jackson NEVER wrote in any book or said in any interview that the 97 minute version is the Director's Cut. It was the dreaded US censors that cut it to 97 minutes. That version is UNRATED and the US CENSORS cut stuff out. It makes PERFECT sense. der.
Lightytidy
Thanks for the censorship history lesson, guys. OK, back to my original post - how about just getting this thing out on BR in some form?
sharewill you PLEASE stop saying "it's a censorship thing"? because it's not. thanks.
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pre·ten·tious: characterized by assumption of dignity or importance.
There is some gore missing but very little. And a zombie sex scene. Those are the only interesting things that the US release doesnt have. The rest is just boring dialogue scenes.
I just love film.
Next year the movie will be twenty years old. Twentieth anniversary special edition, anyone? Could this be the reason they've been holding out on us for so long?
shareThere is no official censorship in the US...there is economic censorship. In order to get your movie in theaters, you often have to secure an R-rating, which means cutting your movie. "Kill Bill" Vol. 1 is uncut in America, but its gory finale is in black and white, whereas in every other country, it's in color. The MPAA notoriously has a problem with the color red, which is why the gore in "Evil Dead II" is mostly colored slime, etc.
Blockbuster Video was notorious for perpetuating censorship. They were the biggest video chain in America and, in dictating the type of content they purchased, made it less than lucrative for many companies to release multiple versions of a title.
That isn't a problem anymore, for the most part. Even Wal Mart is carrying titles like "I Spit on your Grave" now. The problem now is that older titles that were released in cut versions are ready for release, and unrated/uncut versions that weren't readily available require a small modicum of effort. I suspect many companies find it not worth their time financially, or are just too lazy. lol. Even Peter Jackson's name on a title isn't going to move a lot of units when you're talking about a cult film like this.
I wish they'd at least change the DVD box art for the US version. I HATE that cover.
shareSeriously, I don't want to wait another 5 years for a 25th anniversary edition.
shareSo I finally watched the US Blu-Ray... how can you US viewers watch this version? so much is missing!! It bugged me knowing so many scenes were cut from it lol
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