Just got this DVD today and I will be interested in seeing how this extended cut looks. I'm like many who always felt that the film started out great but then just seemed to fall apart completely in the second half. 13 minutes may not ultimately be enough to overcome the deficiencies, but it should be an improvement.
Kudos to them for at least retaining the original score as an option and not taking the George Lucas route which would have been to go only with the new score. The new score I'm sure is better, but the original has to be allowed to co-exist with it IMO.
The production stories on this film in Charlton Heston's "The Actor's Life" diary/autobio are really quite fascinating. Such as the fact that Richard Harris started shooting attempting to do a southern accent but after coming off as unconvincing, Peckinpah said forget it and just make Harris an Irish immigrant fighting for the south.
Major Dundee DVD
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Eric Paddon
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AndyDursin
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Eric Paddon
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Yes, unfortunately the extra footage it seemed to me at least, served the purpose of strengthening the beginning further, but the beginning was never really the problem with me. The real problem was how the film just seemed to totally lose focus after the first clash with the Apache.
Amfitheatrof's score gets beat up on a lot because of the synthesizer stinger every time the Apache is mentioned but it has a strange way of highlighting the script problem in that when you end up going a half hour or so with this meandering diversion into the town and party and Senta Berger introduced, the next time the Apache is mentioned again when Hadley is about to be executed, it serves as a jolting reminder of how this film has gone off on the wrong tangent. They should have dropped her character and the whole business with the French completely IMO in the script.
I'd always hoped there was some final scene of closure of them returning to the fort and a bit of resolution of Dundee reflecting on Tyreen and the whole mission, especially since they would have been returning to learn of Lee's surrender and the end of the war as well.
Amfitheatrof's score gets beat up on a lot because of the synthesizer stinger every time the Apache is mentioned but it has a strange way of highlighting the script problem in that when you end up going a half hour or so with this meandering diversion into the town and party and Senta Berger introduced, the next time the Apache is mentioned again when Hadley is about to be executed, it serves as a jolting reminder of how this film has gone off on the wrong tangent. They should have dropped her character and the whole business with the French completely IMO in the script.
I'd always hoped there was some final scene of closure of them returning to the fort and a bit of resolution of Dundee reflecting on Tyreen and the whole mission, especially since they would have been returning to learn of Lee's surrender and the end of the war as well.
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AndyDursin
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Having never seen the movie before (I saw portions of it on laserdisc years back), I did find the ending very curious and cold...Berger's character, even in the restored cut, still doesn't serve much of a purpose. Axing her and the French attack at the end is a very valid point Eric.Eric Paddon wrote:Yes, unfortunately the extra footage it seemed to me at least, served the purpose of strengthening the beginning further, but the beginning was never really the problem with me. The real problem was how the film just seemed to totally lose focus after the first clash with the Apache.
Amfitheatrof's score gets beat up on a lot because of the synthesizer stinger every time the Apache is mentioned but it has a strange way of highlighting the script problem in that when you end up going a half hour or so with this meandering diversion into the town and party and Senta Berger introduced, the next time the Apache is mentioned again when Hadley is about to be executed, it serves as a jolting reminder of how this film has gone off on the wrong tangent. They should have dropped her character and the whole business with the French completely IMO in the script.
I'd always hoped there was some final scene of closure of them returning to the fort and a bit of resolution of Dundee reflecting on Tyreen and the whole mission, especially since they would have been returning to learn of Lee's surrender and the end of the war as well.
I really enjoyed the excerpt from Mike Siegel's documentary, especially the comments made by Senta Berger regarding Dundee. She is still a very beautiful woman... Her barking dogs in the background were especially amusing.
I've always been a huge fan of this movie. It's a total train wreck experience. Starts off with a lot of promise and then gets derailed about half way through but I can never take my eyes off of it. I appreciated the additional footage restored to the film, in particular the knife fight sequence with the scout and Sam Potts and the final fate of the scout but didn't really see the need to put back the scene with Tyreen and his men being rounded up at the beginning of the picture. I would really love to see a cut of this picture that doesn't include Ryan's narration. I know it gives structure to the film but I think it saps some of the film's energy as well. I'm still amazed that this movie got made despite the fact they did not have a finished script to begin with.
I've always been a huge fan of this movie. It's a total train wreck experience. Starts off with a lot of promise and then gets derailed about half way through but I can never take my eyes off of it. I appreciated the additional footage restored to the film, in particular the knife fight sequence with the scout and Sam Potts and the final fate of the scout but didn't really see the need to put back the scene with Tyreen and his men being rounded up at the beginning of the picture. I would really love to see a cut of this picture that doesn't include Ryan's narration. I know it gives structure to the film but I think it saps some of the film's energy as well. I'm still amazed that this movie got made despite the fact they did not have a finished script to begin with.
Mike Joffe