1224 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

[swo17]

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid



Sam Peckinpah's cycle of genre-redefining westerns came to a close with this blood- and dust-caked elegy for the American West, which marries his renegade style with a fatalistic sense of finality. As newly minted lawman Pat Garrett (James Coburn) stalks the outlaw Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) across the plains, their old friendship is twisted into rivalry, and mythic ideals of freedom come up against an emerging ruling-class order—all to the strains of a haunting soundtrack by Bob Dylan (who also appears as the mercurial Alias). Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid—presented here for the first time in three separate versions—stands as perhaps the maverick auteur's richest, most mature work, a world-weary ballad that bears the solemn weight of history passing into legend.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration of the 50th Anniversary Release, supervised by editors Paul Seydor and Roger Spottiswoode, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New 4K digital restoration of the Original Theatrical Release, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Audio commentary for the 50th Anniversary Release featuring Seydor, Spottiswoode, and critic Michael Sragow
• Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features
• New 2K digital master of director Sam Peckinpah's Final Preview Cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Dylan in Durango, a new interview with author Clinton Heylin about the film's soundtrack
• Passion & Poetry: Peckinpah's Last Western, a new program about the making of the film
• Archival interview with actor James Coburn
• Trailer and TV spots
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author and critic Steve Erickson

[FrauBlucher]

This looks like an awesome release!

[Tuppence]

This does look very interesting. Though I'm curious as to why Peckinpah's own cut ("Final Preview Cut"), unrefined as it is, didn't qualify for 4K treatment. I'd much rather have that on UHD than the Theatrical Release, and I can't imagine I'm alone in that.

Paul Seydor's book on the film expresses some misgivings about the 2005 recut, so intriguing to see it revisited in this way, with one of Peckinpah's own editors. I also hope they've fixed the terrible audio on the final reel of the Preview Cut's DVD version - I've never heard it sounding like that on 35mm or VHS.

[FrauBlucher]

What are the different running times?

[Tuppence]

Theatrical Version is 106 minutes, the usual presentation of Peckinpah's Preview Cut is 122 minutes (though should have reportedly included the scene between Pat and his wife, which is present in the 2005 recut). No word on the length of this 50th Anniversary Release, unless it's also 106 minutes.

[therewillbeblus]

This does look very interesting. Though I'm curious as to why Peckinpah's own cut ("Final Preview Cut"), unrefined as it is, didn't qualify for 4K treatment. I'd much rather have that on UHD than the Theatrical Release, and I can't imagine I'm alone in that.

I thought the Preview Cut was often considered superior, and it's what I almost always return to when revisiting the film, so this is indeed frustrating. At that higher price point, you'd think they'd go all the way

[knives]

It’s possible they couldn’t restore it to that fashion. A lot of the alternate cuts that came out at the turn of the century were edited on tape and not prepared for anything better than DVD. Which means that they’d have to essentially edit it from scratch to make it UHD worthy. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case here.

[therewillbeblus]

Hmmm, I wonder if the same will be the case for something like Mr. Arkadin's comprehensive edit, if/when it gets a UHD upgrade

[beamish14]

This does look very interesting. Though I'm curious as to why Peckinpah's own cut ("Final Preview Cut"), unrefined as it is, didn't qualify for 4K treatment. I'd much rather have that on UHD than the Theatrical Release, and I can't imagine I'm alone in that.

I thought the Preview Cut was often considered superior, and it's what I almost always return to when revisiting the film, so this is indeed frustrating. At that higher price point, you'd think they'd go all the way

The “Turner”/2nd Preview is the only version of it that I truly need. It’s just about perfect in that form

[beamish14]

Wonder what happened to Alex Cox’s commentary/interview or if he was purely a consultant on it

Also, the lack of Rudy Wurlitzer is a damn shame

[Tuppence]

Also, the lack of Rudy Wurlitzer is a damn shame

The "Poetry and Passion" item seems to be part of Mike Siegel's ongoing documentaries about each Peckinpah film, found on lots of Blu-ray releases (The Killer Elite, Junior Bonner, Convoy, Cross of Iron). Wurlitzer may well be featured in that.

EDIT: Yes it is, Criterion have updated the specs to: "Passion & Poetry: Peckinpah's Last Western, a new documentary by Mike Siegel about the making of the film"

[Tuppence]

It’s possible they couldn’t restore it to that fashion. A lot of the alternate cuts that came out at the turn of the century were edited on tape and not prepared for anything better than DVD. Which means that they’d have to essentially edit it from scratch to make it UHD worthy. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case here.

It got a 35mm theatrical release in 1988. However, the master element may only be an interpositive or internegative, which wouldn't have the resolution necessary for a 4K edition. I don't know if camera negative survives for every sequence in the film.

Still, a UHD of the Theatrical Release, which broke Peckinpah's heart, is quite an odd curatorial decision. It's like restoring the American version of The Leopard in 4K and Dolby Vision, while leaving the Italian version as-is.

[therewillbeblus]

This does look very interesting. Though I'm curious as to why Peckinpah's own cut ("Final Preview Cut"), unrefined as it is, didn't qualify for 4K treatment. I'd much rather have that on UHD than the Theatrical Release, and I can't imagine I'm alone in that.

I thought the Preview Cut was often considered superior, and it's what I almost always return to when revisiting the film, so this is indeed frustrating. At that higher price point, you'd think they'd go all the way

The “Turner”/2nd Preview is the only version of it that I truly need. It’s just about perfect in that form

Is that the 50th anniversary UHD one? I don't see "Turner" mentioned anywhere

[dwk]

The preview cut is not the Turner cut, which, according to the notorious Richard W, was not made available to Criterion and has faded to pink and the elements that Criterion used for the preview cut were "in rough shape and need a lot of restoration, both physically and digitally." Which probably explains why it wasn't done in 4K.

[beamish14]

I thought the Preview Cut was often considered superior, and it's what I almost always return to when revisiting the film, so this is indeed frustrating. At that higher price point, you'd think they'd go all the way

The “Turner”/2nd Preview is the only version of it that I truly need. It’s just about perfect in that form

Is that the 50th anniversary UHD one? I don't see "Turner" mentioned anywhere

I believe it’s what is dubbed the Final Preview Cut here. As Tuppence mentioned, it did get prints, but there is no negative for it

As detailed in Paul Seydor’s book, Roger Spottiswoode literally stole cans of the film after a preview, loaded them in the trunk of a car, and sped off from the MGM lot. Peckinpah had the chance to make a definitive cut around 1975, but he never took them up on their offer. Like Orson Welles, he didn’t like looking back at his films for the most part or engaging in revisionism

[beamish14]

The preview cut is not the Turner cut, which, according to the notorious Richard W, was not made available to Criterion and has faded to pink and the elements that Criterion used for the preview cut were "in rough shape and need a lot of restoration, both physically and digitally." Which probably explains why it wasn't done in 4K.

God, it is so confusing with this film. So I’m guessing there are now about 6 existing versions of the movie, if we include the American network TV cut and call this 50th anniversary version a new version from Seydor

[senseabove]

More details, from the Sam Peckinpah Facebook page:

The preview cut that will be available on The Criterion Collection's upcoming release of PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID is not Turner's, but Sam Peckinpah's final and never before seen preview cut, recovered and restored specifically for this release -- the closest we have to a director's cut of the film that we will ever get. Its 2k restoration will be included in the blu-ray, along work a 4k (and tweaked) 50th-anniversary restoration of the final cut and the theatrical cut.

Here's the story: A "heist" was engineered to get Peckinpah's final preview print out of the projection room where it was screened for MGM execs. Sam was walking off the picture, and a Watergate-esque "break-in" was orchestrated by those who felt that Sam's preview needed to be preserved. Unfortunately, the clean up crew didn't realize that it was an interlock print. Sound and picture were separate, so they grabbed the picture and left the sound behind whose retrieval required another mission. But all missions were ultimately successful. When Sam was presented with the print, he was so paranoid that MGM was going to come after it that he put a fake title ("The Racquet Club;" pictured) on the cans and leader. It's never been released until now, because it was among Sam's personal prints, not in the studio vaults.

When Michael Chaiken reached out to me on behalf of Criterion about their restoration and upcoming release of PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, I got him in contact with Sam's friend and archivist Don Hyde, who pointed them in the right direction to locate and restore Sam's preview cut. I also encouraged them to contact Mike Siegel, who ended up making a documentary for this release, and Jeff Slater, who contributed from his abundance of archival material for the special features and provided additional contacts for supplemental material.

In short, this was a team effort -- and we are so grateful for Criterion's collaborative spirit to ensure that this release was done right, for all of Sam Peckinpah’s fans who have waited so patiently for its release.

[hearthesilence]

EDIT: Actually thrilled to read that about the 50th anniversary cut. Hope it lives up to the hype.

[xmchaikenx]

It’s possible they couldn’t restore it to that fashion. A lot of the alternate cuts that came out at the turn of the century were edited on tape and not prepared for anything better than DVD. Which means that they’d have to essentially edit it from scratch to make it UHD worthy. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case here.

It got a 35mm theatrical release in 1988. However, the master element may only be an interpositive or internegative, which wouldn't have the resolution necessary for a 4K edition. I don't know if camera negative survives for every sequence in the film.

Still, a UHD of the Theatrical Release, which broke Peckinpah's heart, is quite an odd curatorial decision. It's like restoring the American version of The Leopard in 4K and Dolby Vision, while leaving the Italian version as-is.

It's debatable whether Peckinpah even saw the 1973 theatrical version. That said, that cut is not a total desecration--- Roger Spottiswoode and Bob Wolfe stepped in after MGM head James Aubrey threatened to have his people cut the film down to 96 mins. Roger and Bob did what they could to keep SP's vision in tact. And yes, while it's compromised, it has merit and is interesting in comparison to the other versions--- which are told more from Garrett's perspective. It's also the version that audiences and critics saw and knew for 15 years, before the "Turner Version" (the first preview version) supplanted it on VHS, laserdisc and DVD. Before this release, the original theatrical version had never migrated to digital-- there was an MGM clamshell VHS release in 1984 and that was it. Also, the original camera negative was cut to match the theatrical version which is how and why it's being presented in UHD. There's no such thing as a "director's cut" since Sam quit after MGM demanded more cuts to his second/final preview version. The final preview version was still a work in progress, but it's the furthest Peckinpah went with the film. While nothing about this movie can ever be called "definitive", this release comes pretty close.

[dwk]

Looking at the disc art, the run times are
50th Anniversary cut: 117
Theatrical cut: 106
Preview cut: 122

[Lighthouse]

It would be great if the 50th anniversary cut would be a re-thinking of the 2005 version, which so far is imo the best.

I actually don't like the Turner cut that much, it does the film a lot of injustice.

And I do like the theatrical version, which was the one which introduced me to the film, the only chance to watch it for a decade, and I loved the film already in that version. Point is the theatrical version is more than just a short version, it actually is a kinda different film, and despite some of its obvious shortcomings it has some own qualities, which the other versions could not have with all the other scenes included. Actually if the framing story would have been included it would have be an excellent film on its own

[beamish14]

It would be great if the 50th anniversary cut would be a re-thinking of the 2005 version, which so far is imo the best.

I actually don't like the Turner cut that much, it does the film a lot of injustice.

And I do like the theatrical version, which was the one which introduced me to the film, the only chance to watch it for a decade, and I loved the film already in that version. Point is the theatrical version is more than just a short version, it actually is a kinda different film, and despite some of its obvious shortcomings it has some own qualities, which the other versions could not have with all the other scenes included. Actually if the framing story would have been included it would have be an excellent film on its own

I’m guessing the 50th anniversary version does tweak and refine the 2005 cut, which was done for virtually zero money and in an extreme time crunch

[Tuppence]

This is going to be like L'Atalante, isn't it, where every time it gets restored, the film gets altered yet again, and something else I loved gets shuffled around or removed. Guess I should pick up Warner's DVD while I can. Anyway, semi-excited for the new Preview Cut, even if 122 minutes implies that it's the same length as the prior version (ie. without the Garrett and his wife scene).

As soon as I started watching the 2005 re-edit, I knew I was in the hands of bozos when they swapped out Peckinpah's intricately designed opening credit sequence for the slapdash freeze-frames that accompanied the theatrical release. I don't hold out too much hope for this 50th Anniversary cut if it's merely been "tweaked", as implied in that Facebook post, but we shall see.

[Lighthouse]

Looking at the disc art, the run times are
50th Anniversary cut: 117
Theatrical cut: 106
Preview cut: 122

Ok,then with 117 min the 50th Anniversary cut is about 2 min longer than the WB version from 2005. So it seems that Seydor and Spottiswoode prepared a new version similar to the 2005 cut, but hopefully omitting its errors and maybe bring back a few shots or shorter segments which that version would benefit from.

Hmm, if the Preview cut is the one that Peckinpah had stolen, than it is slightly different from the Turner version, and it will include the wife scene. But the runtimes are similar.

[therewillbeblus]

Maybe Criterion will botch the 4Ks and the Anniversary cut will be the superior presentation anyways