Director's Cut - A scam?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-01-20 09:24pm

In cases where the director absolutely hates the theaterical cut of a film, he can have his name removed and a specific name is used.

I don't remember what that name was though.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-01-20 09:50pm

McGuffen?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-01-20 09:52pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:McGuffen?

No. That refers to something else.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-01-20 10:15pm

neoolong wrote:In cases where the director absolutely hates the theaterical cut of a film, he can have his name removed and a specific name is used.

I don't remember what that name was though.

Alan Smithee.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-01-20 11:00pm

There's a name that screenwriters use, too, but I can't remember what that one is.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-01-20 11:01pm

Stravo wrote:
Steve wrote:When it comes to the various LOTR movies' Extended Editions, the reason those scenes weren't in the theatrical release was because New Line forced Jackson to cut them out.
Actually Peter usually explains why it was cut and the reason most cited is pacing and time issues.

He even defends HIS cutting of the Saruman scene in ROTK. Most of the cutting decisions were hsi save in ROTK where he publically complained that his 4 hour cut was his final vision and New Line forced him into a 3.5 hour running time.

Well, at least they used Tolkien's suggestion concerning how to deal with Saruman.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2004-01-20 11:08pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:McGuffen?

I believe a McGuffen is some famous sought after object in a movie, often so important as to be the focal point. See-LOTR.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-01-20 11:13pm

The Ring isn't really much of a McGuffin. The McGuffin is simply some object or goal that drives the plot.

A better example would be the breifcase in Pulp Fiction, or the Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Or even the Money Under the Big Doulbleyah in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Typically, a McGuffin isn't seen very much, if at all.

zombie84 · Post by **zombie84** » 2004-01-21 12:04am

The McGuffin (or MacGuffin, as it is alternativly spelt) is something that sets the plot in motion but has little to do with the outcome of the plot and is unimportant in the rest of the movie. I think Alfred Hitchcock coined the term.

When directors dont want their names used in films they are allowed--in certain cases only--by the Directors Guild of America to substitue the pseudonyme Alan Smithee, first used by Richard Widmark in Death of a Gunslinger in 1969 i believe. The name isnt used as commonly anymore--the last one i saw it used in was Hellraiser:Bloodline (which was a decent film if you ask me). The reason for this is because the secret is out--with the star-studden film An Alan Smithee Film:Burn Holywood Burn released and countless documentaries on the history of the Smithee secret, people are using different pyseudonymes now. Supernova with James Spader was the first to use the first non-smithee one, Thomas Lee.

Melkor · Post by **Melkor** » 2004-01-21 12:09am

Its hard to consider the release of Extended Editions for LOTR a scam when it is well known ahead of time that an extended version is going to be coming out a couple of months after the theatrical release. I'm a big fan of the books and I just rented the theatrical realeases a couple of times, and then bought the extended versions.

Peter Jackson has said that what was released in theatres is his prefered version of the films. According to him the extended versions came about because there was alot of left over material that was omitted for the sake of pacing. Alot of the cut scenes were things fans of the book would appreciate. I can definitly see his point. I doubt anyone who hadn't read the book would give a damn about the elves leaving middle earth, but that scene in the extended edition where Sam and Frodo see the elves passing through the shire definitly enhanced FOTR for me. The same applies with Gandalf talking about Moria and Frodo's mithril mail.

Demiurge · Post by **Demiurge** » 2004-01-21 12:34am

The extended editions are a great idea, and not in the least scam-like. I only own the theatrical ones, but it's good that there are longer versions for fans of the books.