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HARD TARGET: EXTENDED CUT
After 20 years, the pipedream of Universal Studios ever releasing a definitive cut of Woo’s first American movie has all but faded into obscurity. Until a few months ago I didn’t even know about this site, much less about “fan-edits” in general. What surprised me even more was running across a few fans on this site who shared the same interest in seeing this film re-imagined.
I have never created a fan-edit before. I also have little experience in video editing. But I have a pretty good idea as to what I would love to see in an extended edition of Hard Target. I’d like to think of this project as a gigantic learning experience, and I can’t wait to start using a lot of the video editing tools mentioned on this site. I’ll use this forum, I guess as a way to documenting my progress.
RESOURCES
Here are the materials I have to work with:
Hard Target, the American theatrical release on DVD, which also includes the American trailer
Hard Target, the 96-minute unrated UK release on DVD
Hard Target, the unreleased 116-minute Sneak-Preview screener version on DVD
Hard Target, the musical score soundtrack from Varese Sarabande on CD
NOTES ABOUT THE VERSIONS
The UK version is superior to the American version in practically every way. I will be using this version as the base to build from. It is in PAL format, so the pitch in the audio is higher. I may need some help or insight as far as altering the video to NTSC format (or at least making it sound like NTSC… again I’m no expert here, haha)
The Sneak-Preview version is what I will be mostly using to add additional scenes. As most Hard Target fans that have seen this version know… it is in rough, rough shape. It also has a timecode stamp on the top and bottom of the screen. I don’t intend to correct, or clean-up the code in any way… I think the quickest way to get past this obstacle is just crop it out. I don’t know how much of the picture is going to be compromised as a result, and maybe it will be a deal breaker… I just won’t know until I get there. I’m hoping that a little color-correction will improve the picture quality, so I will need to learn how to do that eventually. I’m thinking that adjusting the contrast will result in richer black-areas throughout the video… maybe… so much of this version is “washed-out” and over-exposed looking. There are seriously some scenes where you can’t see anything going on.
There are two versions of the film I’ve never seen, the Japanese cut (which I’ve been told is similar to the UK version) and the 128-minute workprint, which apparently has no audio, but I would still love to see to get an idea of what other scenes were cut.
What will result from piecing together the screener version with the UK version, I think will give a much better representation of Woo’s work and style. However I realize that the video quality will not appear consistent, so I’m considering rather than outputting this project to something that can be viewed on your television, maybe it would look better watching it on a smaller format such as a PSP or an IPOD. Unless of course someone knows of a way to work miracles and can improve the quality of the screener visuals to match the UK visuals, and I know that probably can’t be done.
OVERVIEW OF WHAT WILL BE ADDED TO FILM (tentative, I’m sure I didn’t get everything)
- The scene at the beginning of the film when Douglas Binder literally jumps into the small shack through a small hole in the door (this shack is then blown to bits by Van Cleef). This scene was shown only in the American trailer and does not appear in any existing version of the film that I am aware of.
2) An extended scene in the screener shows that when Binder makes it to the dock, the other bad guys stop shooting. At that point, only Lopacki is in pursuit, while the rest of the villains merely observe. It’s a nice little element missing from the official release which prompts a first-time viewer to muse, “What exactly is going on here?”
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Line of dialogue – after Binder is killed Van Cleaf informs Lopacki that he shoots “like a buffoon” and that next time he’ll be charged double.
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Restoring dialogue from screener version – In the café scene, Chance responds to the waitress’ question with “A tragedy!” This bit of dialogue has a different sound in the released versions of the film. In the screener, the take that is used sounds more consistent with the rest of his dialogue.
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Extended dialogue – After Natasha learns about her father’s death, she and Chance are talking in what looks like either a bar or a kitchen. Natasha has more lines of dialogue.
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Entire new sequence of Chance and Natasha getting to know each other, in the rundown little apartment where Chance lives. This isn’t exactly a “love scene” as some would lead you to believe, but they do kiss, and it is a moment that builds up character development just a bit (something that is sorely lacking in the official release).
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Extended scene of Randall’s earlobe getting lopped off. (The censors didn’t say anything about a guy getting his ear gruesomely shot off in Face/Off…. What gives?)
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A quick-cut slow motion scene of Det. Mitchell walking towards the autopsy room.
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Line of dialogue – before Fouchon knocks the letter-opener off the desk, he gives Dr. Morton a very short anecdote describing how a certain African tribe buries their dead.
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Additional scene of Mr. Zenan firing off a few shots before the Roper hunt even begins.
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Extended scene of Roper’s death – in the downtown crowd scene at night, at the end of Roper’s hunt, Roper originally stood back up after getting mercilessly shot the first time, only to get shot with a second volley of bullets. This was probably one of best scenes in the screener version that reflected Woo’s heroic bloodshed genre. I really think it adds to Roper’s tragic fall.
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Additional scene and dialogue from American trailer – after Roper’s death, Van Cleef walks over to Roper’s body to retrieve the money belt. In an additional take that was left out, Van Cleef mocks Roper’s dead body with “Look at it this way… you’re gonna get to meet Elvis!” If you look closely you can see that Van Cleef is saying this from a different vantage point, probably kneeling down over Roper’s head. But in the final release he is squatted down over on the opposite side of Roper. I think by just flipping the scene from the trailer (and hopefully extracting a cleaner audio sample), that this will make a fine addition to the scene… and make Van Cleef even more of a douche.
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Extended footage – during the motorbike chase, Chance and Natasha play chicken with another motorbike, but before that sequence they play chicken with another group of bad guys driving a car, leading to the car ramp-off another vehicle into a fiery explosion, a la The A-Team.
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Additional footage – during the motorbike chase, before Chance and Natasha get to the top of the highway railroad overpass (with all the road construction), there is another SUV filled with bad guys that come at them from the opposite direction. They’re going so fast that their bullets miss Chance, but they do manage to hit the motorbike. This is why when they stop at the top of the hill, gas is leaking from bullet-holes in the motorbike.
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Additional shot – quick, reverse angle of Chance running past exploded SUV and towards Natasha.
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Extended footage – immediately after Chance and Natasha jump onto the moving train and escape, the scene transitions to a helicopter flying in the bayou. After that we see Jerome walking along an elevated section of railroad where Chance and Natasha jumped off the train. Jerome signals to Van Cleef that the train went by 2 hours ago. Then Van Cleef walks underneath the elevated track and to the other side, scoping out the area for tracks. We are then treated to a short fadeaway of Chance and Natasha running through the swamp, and then fading back to their footprints in front of Van Cleef. This sequence shows Van Cleef’s mental processing, and it’s a true John Woo staple, something that doesn’t happen in any other part of the movie.
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Additional line of dialogue – after tracking the heroes to the bayou, Fouchon mentions to the other badguys that they have men set-up on the highways in case Chance and Natasha head in that direction.
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Additional line of dialogue – when one of Fouchon’s cronies steps into Chance’s rattlesnake trap, Fouchon tells the group that they are “dumber than a sackful of hammers,” ha ha!
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Additional short scene… when Stefan steps inside Douvee’s shack and begins firing indiscriminately, there are short, quick scenes of Fouchon and the others ducking for cover, implying that they probably thought somebody else was firing back.
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Additional footage showing that it is actually Van Cleef with an M203 (and not the hunter in the cowboy hat with the street-sweeper), that blew up the ramshackle shed while Douvee and Natasha escape on horseback.
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Additional close-up shot of the badguy getting shot in the helicopter.
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Subtle editing differences throughout the Mardi Gras warehouse scene.
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Additional scene of Chance blasting a badguy before jumping up onto a platform to swing on the rope (rope swinging scene).
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Additional scene of Chance shooting Jerome in the leg from the bottom of a stairway. In the official release you can spot Jerome still falling down from his injury at the top of the stairs.
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Brand new dialogue – Towards the end of the film, Fouchon is holding Natasha hostage and orders Chance to drop his weapon. Following this is a confusing exchange of words that has bothered me for years. First Fouchon addresses Natasha with “You see Ms. Binder… you I can understand; it was a matter of family. You had nothing in common with those people.” Then, with absolutely no pause, segue or transition, Fouchon asks, “What made you want to complicate my life like this?” At first you think he might still be referring to Natasha, but he is actually addressing Chance. Not only is this downright confusing, it is sloppy editing and I would like to fix it. Maybe add in a quick reference or something as simple as “But YOU…” or “YOU on the other hand…” while cutting to an additional shot of Chance. The challenge here would be to find new dialogue audio of Lance Henriksen saying what I want him to say, or even by recycling audio from somewhere else in the film.
WHAT I WILL NOT BE ADDING
1) The “Frère Jacques” scene from the screener version. (A very embarrassing and unnecessary scene!)
2) The alternate, shorter ending from the screener version. The chop-socky ending (along with the best line in the film) will stay.
“THE JURY IS STILL OUT” ON THESE CHANGES
1) There are some sequences in the screener that are edited with a completely different chronology in mind. For example, Fouchon’s meeting with Mr. Zenan leads directly into his conversation with Van Cleef about Chance, and then leads to Chance revisiting Douglas Binder’s crime scene. I like how the timeframe for these scenes were edited, but I just don’t know if I will follow suit.
2) The “Safari montage” scene from the screener is probably one of the most controversial… it does go a long way though at giving us a peek inside Fouchon’s psyche, and maybe even his mental stability. I just don’t know if it’s 100% necessary, as the scene is already intercut with Poe interviewing the unwitting Roper.
3)Extra dialogue from the screener version between Natasha and her father’s landlady at the beginning of film, dialogue between Natasha and Roper…. Not sure yet if it feels necessary enough to include in the fanedit.
4)There is one particular villain in the movie that mysteriously disappears towards the end of the film. He is one of the “bald brothers,” Frick and Frack. I’m guessing he is Frack, since I don’t really know a lot about the actors that portray them (So “Frick” is the one with the beard that talks a lot of trash!) The last time we see Frack is after Douvee blows up his shack and escapes from Fouchon. From that point onward, we never see him again. This has always bothered me because pretty much every other villain is accounted for when Chance takes them all out in the Mardi Gras graveyard. If I have time when everything else is finished, I may go back and see if I can excise any scene in the bayou showing Frack (it’s only maybe one or two short scenes), leaving the impression that Frack was taken out in the car explosion during the motorbike chase. Actually, that doesn’t make sense at all… Maybe another solution will present itself.
