I just heard about the DVD having missing/ different scenes from the VHS and theatrical. Has anyone ever made a theatrical version using the deleted scenes on the DVD? This site REALLY needs a search function!
After 30 years, the exact order of the theatrical cut might be hard to reconstruct. I saw the movie twice in theaters, and can’t recall how the ending is different now. Every U.S. home video release (and possibly tv airings) has been the “special home video version.”
This was the second Laserdisc I ever bought. I discovered years later when I finally had a digital sound player that there was no digital track, which proves Paramount didn’t just screw up LD releases of Grease. 😉
I did buy another copy later that did have digital sound though.
The Japanese LD running time appears to be two minutes longer, but that’s no guarantee it’s the theatrical cut.
Where were you in '77?
What about this:
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=80025
It compares the German VHS to the German DVD. Maybe we have to seek out a German VHS? I don’t remember if I saw it in theaters, I mostly remember it from HBO. Anyone have an HBO recording?
I might actually have an HBO recording of this. I’ll have to double check.
I hope you find it.
There is a Japanese LD on Ebay I might go for. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be rare.
Where were you in '77?
Anyone have an HBO recording?
I used to, but not anymore. As far as I can remember, both of the deleted scenes on the USA DVD were in the movie.
Edit: Actually…isn’t there an extra scene of Ben before he gets punched in the nose? I can’t remember if that’s on the DVD or if it was just in the book. Anyway, that scene wasn’t in the HBO version.
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Does anyone remember the details listed in the censorship report link I posted? As far as how accurate it is to the US theatrical version?
I saw a 35mm theatrical print at the Prince Charles Cinema in London a year or two ago and as best as I can recall, the top two scenes were in and the third scene wasn’t.
Just checked and the version currently on Netflix UK is the theatrical edit with both scenes (and missing the third one from the link). I’m fairly certain the theatrical edit is what’s played on Film4 here in the UK in the last year or two as well. I downloaded a 1080p version of this a while ago, I’ll try to check it when I get home later.
It’s kind of hard to define a “theatrical cut” of this film though, since there was more than one cut, wasn’t there?
What I really want is a director’s cut…but I’m not sure if that will ever happen =(
Just to clarify, the version I had on tape (not sure if it was HBO, may have been Showtime) included the scene of the tilt-a-whirl part rolling down the hill, and also the dream scene near the end where the Thunder Road shows up in Ben’s classroom. It did not have the scene of Ben and Wolfgang walking to school.
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From what I understand, wasn’t the plug pulled on shooting/editing partway through to meet the release date? I was under the impression that there was a whole third act scripted that had to be dumped.
If there was a third act scripted, it wasn’t in the script they used for the book.
The only major scene omission is the birthday party. The overdubbed scene of the kids at the tree in the rain is a little bit longer in the book, but they did a decent job with it in the finished film.
For those interested, I did a writeup about the book a while back: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089114/board/nest/39489468?p=1
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It’s kind of hard to define a “theatrical cut” of this film though, since there was more than one cut, wasn’t there?
What I really want is a director’s cut…but I’m not sure if that will ever happen =(
Just to clarify, the version I had on tape (not sure if it was HBO, may have been Showtime) included the scene of the tilt-a-whirl part rolling down the hill, and also the dream scene near the end where the Thunder Road shows up in Ben’s classroom. It did not have the scene of Ben and Wolfgang walking to school.
The one you refer to is the master that Paramount used for the US home video versions (LD, Beta, VHS etc) and is the standard version on DVD. The 80s UK home video release is the same as the theatrical cut, with the scene of Wolfgang and Ben towards the beginning. I recorded this version in HD (1080) from Channel 4 during Xmas 2015. The closing credits featuring Robert Picado’s stand up routine have been time-compressed and cut down.
It appears that the footage has been lost and even a director’s cut wouldn’t have been enough because the film was unfinished - and not in the George Lucas sense of “forever unfinished in my mind.” There’s been talk of a reboot… Dante wasn’t even invited to participate with the DVD release and claims the Paramount execs said he was lucky they were even going to make it available on a modern format. Explains why there’s been no Blu-Ray.
“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”
The 80s UK home video release is the same as the theatrical cut, with the scene of Wolfgang and Ben towards the beginning. I recorded this version in HD (1080) from Channel 4 during Xmas 2015. The closing credits featuring Robert Picado’s stand up routine have been time-compressed and cut down.
So it would appear that the version you recorded is 99% the US theatrical cut (minus the credits). I guess this version is also on Netflix. Hopefully the Netflix version has the correct credits, and this scene (taken from Wikipedia):
Originally before the end credits, in the theatrical cut, the alien Wak “broke the fourth wall” and remarked on people who were still in the theater from the smell of popcorn. In the re-edited home video version, he just tells another joke before it cuts to the closing credits.
So it seems no directors cut is possible, but, in theory, a seamless-branching Blu Ray can be created (if the correct credits/ talk to audience scene(s) are found/ upscaled, with four cuts of the film:
US theatrical cut (Two scenes not in previous US video releases: where Wolfgang has an encounter with Steve Jackson’s gang of bullies and a brief bit where the boys chase the Tilt-a-Whirl ride after they push it up a hill. Without the brief sequence at the end where Ben daydreams about the Thunder Road ship, and with the correct 4th wall/ credits scenes.)
US home video cut (opposite of the above)
UK cut (same as US theatrical, except 4th wall scene and credits, I think)
Extended cut (all of the scenes restored, probably even the 4th wall thing AND the replacement joke)
marioxb said:
So it would appear that the version you recorded is 99% the US theatrical cut (minus the credits).
The “US theatrical cut” was also the worldwide theatrical cut and Paramount used this for the 80s UK home video version.
Meanwhile the Paramount DVD is a widescreen edition of the re-edited “Special Home Version” that was released in the US on LD, VHS and Beta during the 80s.
I’ve just checked the credits sequence for you and it’s worse than I previously described. The stand up sketch has been time compressed down to a couple of seconds - and even that is indecipherable because the continuity announcer talks over it. Really annoying but that’s free-to-air broadcast TV for you.
“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”
Well that’s pretty awesome (but not about the credits), don’t think a lot of us USA folk knew that. I will have to check the Netflix version. Been meaning to get a new Netflix account anyway. If everthing is good, someone can capture the ending off of Netflix and upscale it to match your recording. Are there any commercials or other edits you know of on this TV version?
Paramount has been pretty bad with their back catalog as of late. They actually licensed a bunch of films to Warner, which might explain why the Naked Gun films and others have appeared on Blu Ray without any of the DVD bonus features. Team America is another bare bones offender.
When I’m done with my taxes, I might try and get the Japanese Laserdisc. If it’s the theatrical, the digital audio would be useful?
And I totally don’t recall Wak’s closing gag being different. It has been thirty years though. 😉
Where were you in '77?
Well that’s pretty awesome (but not about the credits), don’t think a lot of us USA folk knew that. I will have to check the Netflix version. Been meaning to get a new Netflix account anyway. If everthing is good, someone can capture the ending off of Netflix and upscale it to match your recording. Are there any commercials or other edits you know of on this TV version?
IMDB’s message board for Explorers is a really good resource and definitely worth checking out imho.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089114/board/?ref_=tt_bd_sm
Beyond that, I can’t really think of anything to add, except a couple of observations. The opening moments contain the Gulf & Western logo at the beginning - which means Paramount haven’t bothered to update it with the newer version, as they’ve done with other films in their catalogue over the years, like The Godfather stuff.
Also, the HDTV broadcast looks really good. Much better than the atrocious Hi-Def airings of Death Becomes Her or The Quiet American, for example. This is the best that I’ve ever seen Explorers presented over the years and maybe the best that can be expected, given its history. There’s certainly noticeable flecks and dirt here and there but that also leads me to conclude that it looks like Paramount haven’t bothered to apply any DVNR mutilation and merely performed a straight transfer. The studio’s disdain for the film is actually a blessing in disguise here.
Let me know what you find on the Netflix version.
Paramount has been pretty bad with their back catalog as of late. They actually licensed a bunch of films to Warner, which might explain why the Naked Gun films and others have appeared on Blu Ray without any of the DVD bonus features. Team America is another bare bones offender.
On that note, you might be interested in this. It was issued in 2013, apparently. Strange that Paramount have licensed it to Warner when their own 2004 DVD release is widely available. Yet it’s no longer for sale at the WB shop though and there’s no listing for Explorers on the Paramount Home Video site either.
SilverWook said:
When I’m done with my taxes, I might try and get the Japanese Laserdisc. If it’s the theatrical, the digital audio would be useful?
Quite possibly if the credits sequence from the Netflix version is also the theatrical. Perhaps the two could be synced and then edited into my recording to replace the time compressed/butchered portion?
SilverWook said:
And I totally don’t recall Wak’s closing gag being different. It has been thirty years though. 😉
I didn’t even catch it during the theatrical run but then that’s always been crux of Explorers’ misfortune: not enough people did… 😦
“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”
IIRC, it didn’t have the best marketing campaign in the world, as in the ads didn’t give a clue what it was about, and “from the director of Gremlins” wasn’t enough to lure people in.
I managed to see it twice in the summer of '85. The second time was on a double bill with The Goonies. Interestingly enough, when I saw Back To The Future just before summer vacation was over, it was on a double bill with Gremlins.
I was disappointed the music video wasn’t on the DVD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69elqqfzrYI
Jerry Goldsmith’s score is one of my personal favorites.
Where were you in '77?
What about this:
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=80025
It compares the German VHS to the German DVD. Maybe we have to seek out a German VHS? I don’t remember if I saw it in theaters, I mostly remember it from HBO. Anyone have an HBO recording?
I can confirm that the version I grew up watching was the one on TV in the UK. Years a go but I remember it.
It definitely had the Ship Rolling down the Hill and crashing with funny carnival music and the other scene where he get’s punched in the nose.
Yeah Silverwook the Music was Great in this!
Originally before the end credits, in the theatrical cut, the alien Wak “broke the fourth wall” and remarked on people who were still in the theater from the smell of popcorn. In the re-edited home video version, he just tells another joke before it cuts to the closing credits.
FWIW, I just checked the Netflix UK version and it does indeed have the popcorn line at the end 😃 Still haven’t got round to checking the 1080p file I downloaded recently, but will try to soon.
Nice! I haven’t gotten a new Netflix account to check, but I’d assume the US version is the same.
Nice! I haven’t gotten a new Netflix account to check, but I’d assume the US version is the same.
From what’s confirmed below, I think it is…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089114/board/flat/208766193?p=1
Explorers aired again this morning (but in SD) and this time there was no continuity announcer voice-over during the credits, so I could hear the “I know you’re out there, I can feel the popcorn!” gag.
We know for certain: the theatrical release is on Netflix and UK TV. The re-edited US home video version is on the Paramount DVD.
“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”
Checked the HD file that I downloaded a while ago (presumably a Netflix rip), and it is indeed the theatrical version. I won’t link to it, but Googling “Explorers.1985.1080p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H264-FGT” will lead you to the right place. (Apologies if I’ve broken any rules by giving the file name.)
Sweet. That can be used to create the perfect version(s).