[fatherbowdern]

Sorry, no news from WB on extras or even a release date … bastards! 😛

[Ryan]

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272623806.shtml

Incredible news. It will be good to see a present-day Bill Blatty interviewed and on DVD. Cannot wait for this!

[fatherbowdern]

Yes, indeed! Ryan, the Cap has posted a lot of new stuff on the homepage including this article. Catch ’em while their alive! 🙂

[Jason Stringer]

Yer I posted this on the homepage 5 days ago… are you one of those who only bookmarks the forum, Ryan? It’s exciting news, to say the least! I hope they pull out many, many features for this release.

[Ryan]

No, I read about it on the main page and bumped this thread to get a discussion going regarding the news.

[Jason Stringer]

Ah, good call. I just pray this isn’t the ‘only’ feature.

[Ryan]

I just hate how technology keeps changing. Buy a Blu-ray player to watch this, then two years later some other new advancement will be out. And on, and on.

[fatherbowdern]

Ryan, I agree about the technology. If we can’t stop at HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, the only stage left is 3D! The latest and hottest technology is called “Holographic Versatile Disc” or HVD, which has been in development in Japan over the last ten years. And to think, I was happy when DVDs were remastered and ready to play on my DVD player!

As far as the Blu-Ray Exorcist, I do have one hope for this new release: I would love to see Ellen Burstyn’s opinions to be heard more. I know that The Fear of God had to be cut and that meant Ellen’s part, too. This time around, I hope WB will do real interviewing with one of the greatest actresses of our time. [And, yes, I will harp once more that she was gypped for not winning the Academy Award for her role as Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream versus Julia Roberts’ portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Hollywood is full of shit on their political viewpoints by picking Roberts over Burstyn.]

Clarification of “Political viewpoints:” Crash versus Brokeback Mountain. Why compare these two movies that were pitted against one another? Look at what happened to The Exorcist!

[RatBoy]

I’m not a tech garu and I’ve been reading some debate on which version should be released onto Bluray but ….couldn’t they just remaster the original version and TVYNS and release them onto one disk with an option to which version the viewer wishes to watch?

[fatherbowdern]

Rat, that’s a good idea and I’m sure that WB will ultimately tinker with TVYNS to sell yet more copies of The Exorcist … it’s still a cash cow today. 🙂

[Jason Stringer]

So, the new just dropped that the print being used will be The Version You’ve Never Seen… I can personally say I’m a little disappointed, I was hoping to at least have the option to watch the original. I guess we should have known.

[fatherbowdern]

Cap, I’m not a little disappointed … I’m a whole lot disappointed and pissed. From the news on the opening page, my two cents:

Note to William Friedkin:

Thank you, Mr. Friedkin, for screwing this up for the true fans of your original masterpiece. When I say “masterpiece,” I don’t expect the piece of trash that added 12 insipid minutes called, “The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen.” I really don’t care if you “laid upon the sword” by allowing your ego to be “crushed” by not calling it the “Director’s Cut.” [Laughs!] That’s pretty much bullshit … and you know it. TVYNS was simply a ploy to make money on one of the greatest films in cinematic history.

I am only one voice. However, your choices in editing in 1973 were supreme genius. Upon the release of TVYNS in 2000, I felt as though “your Mona Lisa” received a quick and outlandish swipe of garish lipstick and eye shadow via CGI. Perhaps you and WB enjoy CGI technology a little too much. Only crucial CGI corrections are necessary when toying with perfection. TVYNS was a smoke-and-mirrors production to update the film’s look upon its “new-century release.” Your audience is just as intelligent today as it was in 1973.

For God’s sake, just add the year “1973” to the film’s opening (those bell bottoms jeans and hairstyles are both dead giveaways); resist your temptation to add the fake CGI “shock” attempts; remove the 12 minutes of garbage; and, call the Blu-Ray version the “Director’s Cut.”

Peace!

Father Bowdern

[Ryan]

I wouldn’t mind this so much if those cheesy flashes of the demon weren’t added, along with the horrible alternate spiderwalk. If the CGI demon faces were removed, and the original, intended spiderwalk was implemented instead, it would be fantastic. Then we’d have good additional scenes and improved video/audio. Everyone’s happy.

[fatherbowdern]

A repeat for you Ryan from the opening web page. I couldn’t agree more:

The CGI is so terribly and haphazardly done throughout the TVYNS. I am assuming that Friedkin wanted to update his film to fit (unwisely) by today’s quick and cheap shock-value standards for horror films. The Exorcist is not “Hostel” or “Saw.” The Exorcist is a masterpiece of writing, directing, acting, outstanding special effects, and sound to name a few for its era. The Exoricst cannot be “updated” to “force” a society of new viewers into believing the film is not from 1973.

I am wondering seriously if Friedkin, Blatty, or any WB executive attended at least three or more viewings of TVYNS with random audiences. The laughter coming from these audiences, regardless of their generation, should have given them a clue that what they did was a primary fuck up. 🙂

[Benocles_Czar]

Friends,

I imagine I will be lynched for this statement, but I must speak out:

I liked TVYKS; in fact, I preferred it, as it fleshed out the film and in my opinion, made the adaptation more scary (i.e. the subliminal images). So I for one, am glad that this version is being used.

Cheers & God Bless
Benjamin Szumskyj
Editor, AMERICAN EXORCIST
(from Israel)

[Author]

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