Payback: Straight Up -- the Director's Cut

"You don't make pictures for the elite,"
Mel Gibson



Dupa cum ziceam, Donald Westalke (v.RIP pe 2 ian), a scris romane sub pesudonimul Richard Stark. Unul din ele, The Hunter, a fost filmat in 1967 cu Lee Marvin, de catre John Boorman, sub titlul Point Blank. Brian Helgeland, scenarist golden boy, debuta in regie cu un remake, dar a fost dat afara de catre starul lui, Mel Gibson, care a cerut reshoots, si astfel a fost inclus un cu totul alt subplot si mult mai funny. Mel a plecat sa filmeze Arma mortala IV si filmul a fost intirziat un an.
Se pare ca regizor a fost pe linga Mel scenograful John Myhre. Rescrierile au fost facute de Terry Hayes (prieten cu MG de la Mad Max 2, care a scris si scena de tortura tipica pentru Mel, scena reluata de MG in Patimile sale...) Tin minte cit am asteptat filmul si , cind a iesit am fost extrem de dezamagit de ceea ce numeam remakeul la Point Blank, acum nu mai sunt, bravo, Helgeland !). Payback: Straight Up -- the Director's Cut
a iesit in 2007 pe video/dvd/Hd/blueray si acum am vazut o copie cristal, si e cu totul altceva ! Intre timp Helgeland a mai scris un revenge movie, Man on Fire pentru Tony Scott, dar you know what, Payback Straight Up e mai bun ! Referintele de neo-noir sunt azi si mai clare, de la numele de Carter (Get Carter?) si Bronson (Motherfuckin Charlie, who else) la barul Varick's (de la Charley Varick al lui Don Siegel) si The Outfit (noul nume al "sindicatului", ca in filmul lui John Flynn dupa alt roman de Westlake /Stark)


"Root 4 the bad guy" schimbat in australia din cauza lui "root" si in germania si ro parca, "no more mr. nice guy"

Apropos de Director’s cut, asta chiar e un director cut, Cu 10 minute mai scurt, cu personaje noi si cu un cu totul alt final, mult mai downbeat, si un showdown in statia de tren. Fara voice over-ul de kk (v. cazul Blade Runner), filtrul de albastru pus peste tot filmul, personajul lui Bronson (aici vocea, initial a lui Angie Dickinson, v. Point Blank, acum a lui Sally Kellerman pt. ca elementele originale s-au pierdut, in theatrical Bronson era Kris Kristofferson !!!)



1999

2006

cu mentiunea ca modificarea asta nu apare:
In Helgeland's version, Porter does not merely appear in Resnick's hotel room in the mob hotel. He sets fire to a garbage truck to distract the hoods out of the hotel lobby, then has a nasty encounter with another hood in the hotel elevator, eventually leaving the hood unconscious with the elevator doors banging open and closed on his head. Gibson describes this scene in an interview in Premiere Magazine: "I get on an elevator with some guy," Gibson says with relish, "the guy notices I'm not supposed to be on the elevator and the next time the doors open you see that I've ripped the guy's eye out. Then I see him later as he's going into some office, and I say, 'Oh, it's you again, Cyclops' and I poke the guy's other eye out." Filmat in Chicago desi nu e localizat (si toate sunt Metropolitan) si acum, dupa Dark Knight am recunoscut din locatii.

Diferenta finala:
When Val breaks in and beats up Rosie, Porter the dog gets shots in the head and remains dead. In Mel's cut, the dog lives.
Imdb:

The restoration of the Director's Cut took place in 2005. Most of the original elements of the film were not preserved, so Editor Kevin Stitt and Director Brian Helgeland had to make do with what was preserved from the original film stock and had to reassemble the film that way without the use of Avid film editing. At the same time, the blue tint in which the theatrical version looked visually was removed for more vivid color tones and contrast, but still preserving some of the grittiness of the theatrical cut.

Muzica, Scott Stambler, in loc de score-ul lui Chris Boardman, jazzy, de parca e din Pelham 1,2,3 (o fi coincidenta ca Helgeland a scris si reamkeul la 1,2,3 pt. Tony Scott ?).
Si cu un singur cintec pe soundtrack. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" cu Dean Martin
(in theatrical 1999 , erau trei plus alte cintece, BB King, Jimmi Hendrix, cit sa vinda un soundtrack, si toate montate pe actiune)
Imdb:
Music editor Scott Stambler was involved in the theatrical cut, and was brought in to try and reedit Chris Boardman's music from that version of the film into the Director's cut. When it was decided by director Brian Helgeland that music simply didn't match the tone of his film, he asked Stambler to write a new original score for his film which was recorded in late Feburary 2006


Si acum DVD-ul, include 2 documentare, unul de 50 de minute si altul de 29 de minute, si un interviu cu Westlake…



Amazon com zice cel mai bine:

There were reasons writer-director Brian Helgeland's cut of Payback was dismissed by distributors Paramount and Warner Bros., then heavily re-shot and re-tooled by Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Entertainment. Those reasons are explained in detail by Gibson, Helgeland, and others in the special features of Payback: The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition). Among them: Helgeland's version was too dark. America wasn't ready in 1999 to see Gibson play an unapologetic, 1970s-style antihero who might not get exactly what he wants. Audiences didn't have the patience to wait for answers to their story questions. A dog dies. (A big no-no.) All of these comments make sound, practical sense. But here's the bottom line: Helgeland's cut, perhaps even a bit more disciplined and taut (according to Payback’s editor, Kevin Stitt) than it was in 1999, is a serious movie with an organic tone and logic that makes the film look the way it was meant to look: as a neo-noir film for adults. The theatrical release of Payback, by contrast, was and is silly and vulgar, self-sabotaging, pointlessly vicious, and perversely jaunty. It is very much like--deliberately like--the Lethal Weapon series. The Director’s Cut makes clear that’s not at all what Helgeland had in mind. --Tom Keogh

DVD VERDICT:

Fans of the original will want to make sure they get a hold of this alternate version. Film buffs often complain about not getting the chance to see the films that could have been: Fincher's cut of Alien 3, Michael Crichton's cut of The 13th Warrior…this is one of the rare instances that we get a chance to see a true director's cut.

DVD Talk

Payback: Straight Up is quite the fitting name for this work. Imagine the blue filter stripped away, the score completely revamped, and the entire third act scrapped for the originally filmed conclusion. The tracks are then laid for this alternate cut. With some dialogue tweaking and additional scenes, Helgeland's version of the film starts to flesh out. As mentioned before, the "straight-up" connotation is completely accurate: picture this film like a solid shot of tequila, while the theatrical cut is a stiff, colorful margarita.

Payback 1999: 5/10
Payback director’s cut 2006 9/10