#1249
Post
by GoodOldNeon » Thu Sep 13, 2018 5:45 am
A few words on the extended cut:
As mentioned above, the narrative is very similar to the theatrical cut. Roughly speaking, the creation sequence and the ending are unchanged, while there is more footage of Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien after they receive the letter at the beginning, more footage of adult Jack, and a lot more footage of young Jack. The result is essentially a much slower paced version of the theatrical cut, which makes the viewing experience quite different. Based on one viewing I would say it is too slow, particularly during the young Jack section, which gets a little repetitive. That said, I'm still glad all this new footage is now available.
One area where I think the extended cut definitely loses something relative to the theatrical cut is in the soundtrack, which doesn't gel with the image as perfectly as it does in the theatrical cut. This is disappointing since the marriage of sight and sound has always been one of my favourite aspects of the film. In particular, there is a section in the theatrical cut covering the birth and early lives of the boys, backed in part by Smetana's Vltava that, in my estimation, is as close to perfection as the cinema has ever reached, at least in terms of the interplay of music and image*. With the addition of the new footage this moment, and many others like it, is now completely different, unfortunately for the worse.
Overall, the extended cut won't win over anyone who didn't like the theatrical cut, and I doubt if I will ever feel the need to watch it again, but nevertheless I'm glad it exists.
*Ok, maybe the ending of Koyaanisqatsi just edges it for the #1 spot, but in any case it's definitely top 2.
Last edited by
GoodOldNeon on Thu Sep 13, 2018 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.