Restored Versions Rant
by Michael B. Druxman on 06/14/14
June 16, 2014
Start of Rant:
The other day, I read that Warner Home Video is going to release a "restored version" of one of my favorite films, Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA...and my reaction was "Why?".
The picture is already four hours long. I've seen most of the deleted scenes on YouTube, and though interesting, they really add nothing to the picture. Indeed, just because a scene is deleted does not mean that, at some point, it has to be restored. Back when the movie was being edited, those scenes were deleted for a reason; probably to pick up the pace of the picture.
Although I would love to see a "restored version: of Leone's picture that clarifies the film's somewhat ambiguous ending, but none of the deleted scenes I've seen do that. So, leave them as deleted scenes in the disc's "extras" and don't integrate them into what is already a perfect picture.
I understand the a newly released version of Leone's THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY does that same thing (i.e. adds unnecessary deleted scenes to the film, thus slowing the pace).
Another film that I enjoyed in the 3-hour version was Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900, but when it was released onto DVD in a restored 4-hour edition, I found it to be a total bore.
End of rant.
Michael
