Thursday 11 March 2010

Ok. Sold

All my initial apprehension regarding Robin Hood has, it's fair to say, been assuaged by this trailer.

11 comments:

Roger Edwards said...

I was the complete opposite. When I saw this trailer, I simply thought yet more revisionist, post modern, big budget tedium, from one of the most self indulgent director's about.

Expect the theatrical edition, then the extended version, then the director's cut, followed by the "I'm thinking of retiring, can I have some more money" anniversary cash-in.

Scott does this habitually and it's not funny any more. A man with his clout and influence should be able to strong arm any studio to allow him to get his vision right first time.

Oh and can we go back to the days of action scenes that are not lightning edited, or shaky, or slowed down or sped up? Where's we could actually see the time and effort the stunt arrangers and 2nd unit directors, had gone to?

Rant over.

Mark Salisbury said...

Hello Roger and welcome.

I know what you're saying about action scenes today, and to a large degree I agree with you. Which is why I think the stunts in the early Bonds, for example, remain untouchable.

As for Robin Hood, I had been largely unimpressed by what I'd seen in the trailers thus far and couldn't muster much excitement. And why I'm still not "eagerly awaiting" this in the way I am for, say, Tron: Legacy or Inception, I'm less ambivalent, if that makes sense.

As for Director's/Extended/Extreme Cuts, what I will say is that the extended cut of Kingdom Of Heaven is a far better film than the theatrical version, and Scott admits that he should have listened to his instincts rather than the studio and not cut it in the first place. I also prefer the longer cut of Aliens, but that's just me...

Mark Salisbury said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roger Edwards said...

I totally agree regarding early Bond, Mr S, as I do about the longer version of "Kingdom Of Heaven"

I do not think that the extended versions of "Gladiator", "Black Hawk Down" or indeed "Alien" really provide any significant difference or superiority to the theatrical release. Yes, personal taste does play a part.

But when high profile directors produce multiple versions of films, it sets a trend that gives every studio a free hand to "double dip" as a matter of course. This devalues the real merit of extended cuts, that on occasion can make a substantial difference to a film.

Mark Salisbury said...

I agree that the whole double dip/extended cut business has got out of hand, and is simply a marketing tool nowadays, like those longer "unrated" versions of comedies such as The Hangover or Funny People or horror films like The Strangers or The Unborn which come bundled with the theatrical cut.

I have the extended Gladiator on DVD but have never watched it. Interestingly enough the director's cut of Alien is actually shorter than the original release and, again, seemed to be more about marketing than anything else.

It's early but I'm hard pressed to think of many films that have truly benefited, apart from the previously mentioned Aliens — I think Cameron adding back the 15 minutes he cut for the theatrical release changed the film and actually improved it.

But it's an interesting topic Roger, and one I think I'm going to delve into in a longer post.

I actually wrote a piece about it many years ago for a newspaper in the UK but I can't find it at the moment...

Unknown said...

I thought that longer cuts of both LEGEND and AMERICAN GANGSTER were quite good, in particular LEGEND, notoriously hacked up back in the day, is really improved by Scott's tinkering.

I also second the longer, better cut of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Now, if Scott could have inserted someone else in there instead of Orlando Bloom....

; )

Mark Salisbury said...

Haven't seen the longer version of American Gangster, nor the longer cut of Legend, although I have seen both the original UK and the American cut with the Tangerine Dream score. To be honest, I'm not sure how much the Director's Cut of Legend differs from the original UK cut.

In defense of Orlanda Bloom — and while I'm not a fan — I thought he was much better in the DC of Kingdom. At least, his character was more defined. And Eva Green actually had a character in the DC, her role having been so badly shorten in the theatrical cut she appeared and went mad without any apparent motivation...

Unknown said...

Well, the longer cut on DVD finally restores Jerry Goldsmith's score (always a good thing) and fleshes out several scenes and characters to a much more satisfying degree than any other versions out there.

I've only seen the theatrical and director's cut of AMERICAN GANGSTER each once so I don't really recall what the differences were but it didn't seem all that dramatic.

Mark Salisbury said...

The Goldsmith score was always in the original UK theatrical release.

The US cut was shorter, had the Tangerine Dream score while the black (test makeup) version of Tim Curry's Lord Of Darkness appears very near the beginning.

Matt Jones said...

Have faith, Ridley & Russell's Robin will rock!

Mark Salisbury said...

I guess that's two tickets sold, then.