Info & Help: looking for... the Australian version of Crocodile Dundee?

I’ve heard it talked about but never posted online. The Australian version of Crocodile dundee has more australian slang and extra scenes. But it’s never been posted online. My searches for it show alot of people asking for a download of it. So was the special Aussie version of the movie released in theaters only, that’s why there’s no upload of it? Even if it were released on VHS that would be good enough for me.

Someone should look into getting a copy of this and dumping it.

why don't you buy the dvd and be the first?

Not on Blu-Ray yet. The second that longer version hits Blu-Ray I am buying.

The original Australian version played only in Australia. Even New Zealand got the US version. The Aussie version had more time in the outback and was a bit more relaxed. Paramount thought it was important to get to New York as fast as they could so they culled 6 minutes out of the Australian scenes.

There were several names in the US part that had to be changed. Sue at one point introduces Mick to a Senator Bradley. Well, it turned out there actually WAS a Senator Bradley so they changed it to Senator Manly (as in Sydney’s famous beach). A couple of other names and slang were also changed to suit the international audience better. Oh, the Aussie version also does not have the word Crocodile as “Crocodile”. They added the quotation marks in case anyone thought it was actually a story about a crocodile. No, I am not kidding.

John Cornell (producer and long-time friend of Hogan) added his name as a script writer to the US version so he would be eligible for an Oscar Nomination. It worked and he was, but he does not have a writing credit in the Australian version.

There’s also some language from the pimp that was toned down for the international cut. In the original he drops the ‘F Bomb’ at least twice.

Hope this helps.

I was hoping there would be more thong… Seriously though, I didn’t know about this either even all these years later.

I own the R4 DVD actually. Always wanted to compare it with the US.

The copyright of the original (and best) Crocodile Dundee Australian release is privately owned by a group made up of the original investors in the film, which apparently includes John Cornell, Paul Hogans manager.

I’ve been trying to source a copy (for personal use), in any format for many years, but it just doesn’t seem to exist in the public domain.

For those unfamiliar with what this issue is about, Crocodile Dundee was the highest grossing film in Australian cinematic history, yet the original Australian release is unavailable.

When Crocodile Dundee was first released Australian audiences were rolling around in the aisles but unfortunately that same subtle humour went straight over international or more specifically US audiences heads, so a 6 minute shorter, anaemic, overdubbed, neutered, more politically correct ‘international’ version in which the humour was spelt out, was created.

The International version is approximately 6 minutes shorter than the original and from an Australian perspective, much of the sheer brilliance of the film was lost… it literally cut the heart out of the Aussie original.

The really sad part is that those that have never had the opportunity to watch the original, will have no idea what I’m talking about…

Paul Hogan was an absolute genius, the original Crocodile Dundee movie demonstrated his talent for tapping into the Australian psyche and showcased his amazing wit and brilliant sense of humour.

Granted, because Paul Hogan had put so much into the original, there was enough left to ensure that as a stand alone film, the International version was excellent.

I don’t begrudge the original versions copyright owners the right to benefit fiscally from Crocodile Dundee, but I’m hoping they will decide to release the original Aussie version on DVD in my lifetime.

As the international version has been flooding the market for years, the original Australian version would walk off the shelves as most Aussies would want to know what the difference was between them and in so doing, experience and spread the real Paul Hogan/Crocodile Dundee magic.

In these times of uncertainty it would be great way to revive our sense of humour.

There is an Australian version out on DVD for a long while now in R4. Its runtime is 1:40:20 (as opposed to 1:93:36 for the international version). The quality is rather inferior though (2.35:1 non-anamorphic letterbox).

I wasn’t able to find a copy for sale of the original version in any condition, however I learned that the National Film and Sound Archive Australia has a copy, which is available for viewing… www.nfsa.gov.au/.

I also found out that Channel 9 (Australia) owns the TV rights to the original version which they apparently air from time to time. (Due to it’s classification the original can’t be broadcast on free TV before 8.30pm.)

I finally got my hands on the DVD thanks to my step brother who lives in Melbourne. I bought it on r4 DVD from a seller on eBay and it was a brand new copy. However, when I received it here in the UK I was a little disappointed with the quality of the copy which isn’t great, as its bad cine transfer, the colour is bright but the contrast and brightness are low and during some night scenes, you really can’t see much. Overall, it is a better version of the film, plus its uncut with the first f-bomb from the pimp intact and not dubbed. Its a shame it hasn’t been restored on Bluray by the owners as its a classic film and deserves the same treatment Mad Max got, when we finally got the original aussie version in the UK instead of the awful dubbed US version.

I know this is an ancient thread, but I just got my DVD of the original version in from Australia and immediately ISO’d it for anybody willing to work on a restoration project.

With no experience whatsoever I managed to do an NTSC conversion and, while it’s tolerable, it’s not ideal. If anybody is still interested in this project, you can contact me and I’ll make sure you get the materials.

As far as I can tell, this version is not archived anywhere on the internet and it would be a shame to have it lost for good as all subsequent pressings are of the International Cut.

Let me know.

The underlying framerate is 25fps and there is PAL speedup.

As far as the conversion goes, I demuxed with DGIndex, used DGPulldown to get the video to 23.976, BeSweet to WAV for the slowdown and pitch correction, WAV through Aften to get it back to AC3 (as I read BeSweet’s AC3 encoder was subpar), and MKVMerge to put it all back together. From there, I fed it through Handbrake to deinterlace.

I can’t stress enough that I had no experience with any of this before. Thankfully, it makes sense-ish after the fact. I don’t know if this was the ideal way to do it or if there is a better way to keep the quality as high as possible. I’ve noticed smooth edges have a slight jagginess to them on the conversion. I’m wondering if that is a byproduct of the deinterlacing process, but I don’t know.

If you’d like, I can post screenshots tomorrow. You are right though, the blacks are crushed and it’s oversaturated to hell. I am willing to do anything I can to help this cut get proper treatment, whether it’s a hybrid cut of the two or a polish of what’s here. I have a soft spot for this movie and I think the longer, uncut version deserves better than this.