What were they Thinkin????
Can you belive that NBC actully aired "Goodfellas" on primetime??? What's the point? After they edit out all the "objectionable content"--they are left with about 20 minutes of film. And its totally laughable how they change the profanity the actors speak to playground gibberish,(instead of a character calling someone the F-word, they change it to "sucker" et al.....BAN CENSORSHIP!!! or just dont play it!
One of the most aggravating examples of this butchery was when I saw "48 Hours" on TV .. they cut so much, then added scenes that were not in the original. The crappy editing changed the tone of the entire movie.
That's when I find it a waste ... when the 'essence' of the movie is changed. Dropping a few curse words or glossing over a sex scene that was never critical to the story (or tone, or character development) doesn't bother me. But when the whole feel of the story is altered so it can be on tv, what's the point?
(I know, I know, to attract viewers and sell advertising).
Best example is GlenGarry GlenRoss. This movie was so butchered because of the swearing, it could have fit into a commercial break for the Super Bowl.
My favorite example is The Breakfast Club. At one point, a line gets changed from:
"Eat my shorts."
TO:
"Eat my socks."
What the hell?
The most stunning example I saw was the TV version of CHEECH & CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE. It was a completely different storyline with all of the drug references removed. I'm hoping that the theatrical and televised version will appear on the same DVD one day. The TV version is amazingly awful!
Scott
MOTAZart.com (http://www.motazart.com)
Glengarry Glen Ross was unrecognizable--Mamet should have sued. Blistering dialogue chopped into babyfood.
On the other hand, the editing in Goodfellas was funnier than hell, especially knowing ahead of time that most of what came out of Joe Peschi's mouth would be deleted for prime time television.
So you have to edit for TV or your audience will throw a fit. Personally I would prefer to have my daughters watch something edited to bits than to hear all the profanity in the original version--they get to hear too much on the playgrounds, anyway. I like to think I have SOME control of their lives at least when it comes to watching TV. My wife and I do not have HBO or Showtime, so the only time the worst crudities come out are when we rent a film. Even so, the language allowed on prime time anymore is shocking compared to a few years ago. Eventually less and less will be edited out of feature films.
We've talked about it on here before but I must say that the worst butchering of an R rated film on TV was without a doubt "Mallrats".
The dubbed-in voices weren't even close to the actual actors' voices!
Goodfellas on primetime? That is a 100% CRIME! I can't even begin to imagine what was cut out of the film. Ughhhh, I'm getting sick just thinking about it. I bet that they never went back and dug up Billy Batts in this verison. I bet Morrie was never killed; and I bet Carbone was never found frozen in the truck.
I pity anyone who saw that butchered version.
My Dad swears blind that there is an alternative, edited for TV version of "Blazing Saddles", that removes all the references to the Black Sherriff being a- well, you know what I mean-, doesn't have the bit with the KKK in it, and has some strange subplot about the two main characters running off and spending time with the Amish. Worst of all, the famous Baked Bean sequence was cut out!
It was apparently broadcast by TVNZ sometime in the late 70's or very early 80's, and I've never known my Dad to talk crap regarding films, and certainly not one he loves so much- I doubt he's mistaken either, but I've yet to find anyone other than my Mum who's ever seen this mythical "alternate version", which Mel Brooks apparently hates more than anything...
What? Bart Simpson says "eat my shorts" practically every Sunday night at 8 pm!
Not that I've actually sat through the whole thing, but one basic cable channel (TNT? USA?) showed "Showgirls." It probably ran about 2 minutes and 25 seconds after being edited for "content"
I don't know why networks continue to show theatrical releases anyway at this point. By the time a movie is broadcast on the networks everyone who wanted to see it has already seen it in the theaters, on cable, and on video. It's hard for me to get too worked up about it.
jmc wrote:
> ... By the time a movie is broadcast on the
> networks everyone who wanted to see it has already seen it in
> the theaters, on cable, and on video.
Yeah, and they still call it "World Premier" like it's something new.
>The most stunning example I saw was the TV version of CHEECH & CHONG'S
>NEXT MOVIE. It was a completely different storyline with all of the drug
>references removed.
I saw the beginning of that on some channel a few nights ago and it seemed to have the drug references. Near the start, Chong is rolling a joint and then he lights it and causes a small explosion. Also the scene where Cheech thinks he has coke in a bag and begs him for some.
When I was a kid (before cable TV, video and DVDs) the only way you could see a movie if you missed it in the theater was in a butchered television format. I grew up watching edited versions of movies like DIRTY HARRY and THE FRENCH CONNECTION.
The first time I saw THE WILD BUNCH was on regular television. They chopped the hell out of it and I thought it was a terrible movie. Years later, when I saw the uncut version, it quickly became one of my favorite westerns.
I don't even bother with movies on network television anymore. What's the point when you can easily rent or buy the uncut version?
It was much different when I was a kid...I relied on television for movies that my parents wouldn't take me to or that never played my little town. But it's certainly not that way now.
I avoid movies on network tv like the plague!
JohnL wrote:> >The TV version of CHEECH & CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE. I saw the beginning of that on some channel a few nights ago and it seemed to have the drug references. Near the start, Chong is rolling a joint and then he lights it and causes a small explosion. Also the scene where Cheech thinks he has coke in a bag and begs him for some.
The warped version ran primarily on Comedy Central. It had C&C helping out a youth camp and Red had a "diamond field" (the gemstone) instead of the marijuana field. There was several new scenes including lengthy footage inside the UFO. Bizarre stuff!
Scott
MOTAZart.com (http://www.motazart.com)
Anyone remember when a movie would come out in the theater and then it would take 2-3 years before it turned up on TV, even cable?
JohnL wrote:
"Anyone remember when a movie would come out in the theater and then it would take 2-3 years before it turned up on TV, even cable?"
Yes. I remember this happening in the years before cable became popular. Successful movies were actually released to theaters multiple times (like once a year or so). I saw BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID in the theater around 1971 or 72, several years after its initial release. I also saw a double feature of LIVE AND LET DIE and MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN on the 2nd theatrical release of each film. I saw YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN about 4 times in the theater (during separate releases). I saw BLAZING SADDLES twice. The 2nd time was a year or two after its initial release.
Plus, certain movies showed up at the drive-in EVERY YEAR. I can remember seeing trailers for movies like MACON COUNTY LINE, VANISHING POINT, and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT every summer when I went to the drive-in.
I seem to recall that Batman set a record for being the first movie to go from the theater to video/cable in less than a year. It was in theaters and then they annouced that it would be on video/cable like 6-7 months later. I couldn't believe it at the time.
Yeah, it was on video by Thanksgiving that year. I remember being surprised by it too.
I think it might also have been one of the first priced-to-own videos [other than children's video of course.]
Okay - so this weekend I'm watching Final Destination on USA (I think it was USA), and they're just editing out the swears - very badly, I might add. things like " Hey, F[silence] you, Billy, I'm not dead!" were commonplace.
Yet, the decapitation scene with Billy at the train tracks was left completely untouched. Now why is it that network movies will leave in the gore and leave out the swearing? Or is this just a horror movie agreement with the networks? I dunno...
Neon Noodle wrote:
> Okay - so this weekend I'm watching Final Destination on USA (I
> think it was USA), and they're just editing out the swears -
> very badly, I might add. things like " Hey, F[silence] you,
> Billy, I'm not dead!" were commonplace.
>
> Yet, the decapitation scene with Billy at the train tracks was
> left completely untouched. Now why is it that network movies
> will leave in the gore and leave out the swearing? Or is this
> just a horror movie agreement with the networks? I dunno...
>
Yeah, what's the deal? Deplorable acts of vilence and sex are okay, as long as there are no naughty words?
Like I stated once before long ago....if they'd just put us here on this Phorum in charge...!
Some movies just play much better on the big screen.
Then there was the time I was watching "Uptown Saturday Night" -- it is rated PG, according to IMD -- on a local NYC station (WOR, IIRC). There's a scene where the folks in a club got robbed, and the robbers made eveyone strip to their underwear. However, one chick said she didn't wear underwear. And she didn't -- this couldn't have been much beyond 1980, and there was (briefly) full frontal nudity. Of course, the cussing was bleeped out.