Payback (theatrical or director's cut?)

[ProfessorChaos]

anyone else here seen the mel gibson film "payback"? a buddy of mine in the marines had it on dvd, and i recall watching it once, but it was on tbs this weekend and with nothing else to watch, i sat down and gave it another viewing...pretty good movie, but it was on tbs, so it was very heavily edited.

imo, it's a kick-ass movie, and i've decided i'd like to add it to my movie collection, but i've discovered that there's a director's cut available on dvd and blu-ghey which is supposedly very different from the theatrical version.

anybody had a chance to see this cut and if so, how does it stack up against the theatrical release? i've heard a lot of the music is different, many of the funnier moments are gone, and it's a much darker and grittier film...which seems like a good thing, but some of those songs and funny moments really work well... so i'm kind of on the fence about which version to get...but i'm leaning towards the director's cut....any insight would be appreciated.

[bassman]

Funny....I just watched this directors cut the other day.

I liked the original film with flaws and all, but I can safely say that the DC is a totally different film. The director was fired from the film and the studio went in and completely changed the last third, added the voice over, and added that crazy dark blue tint.

So now with this cut you're getting a whole different beast. I recommend it.:)

[DjfunkmasterG]

They are both equally good, but the directors cut is a much darker tone and removes much of the humor.

I like them both and watch them both.

[ProfessorChaos]

yeah, i can get both of them for about 20 bucks, so i'm just going to add BOTH of them to my collection...when i get around to watching the "straight-up" version, i'll let you guys know what i think.

thanks for the info...:)

[ProfessorChaos]

found a copy of the director's cut for $7.50, which was a hell of a deal. so far, so good, but i started watching it late last night after an evening of heavy drinking, and ended up falling asleep halfway through...so i'm gonna have to restart it later this afternoon.

i do think, however, that i like the theatrical version better so far, primarily due to the blue filter effect and music....

EDIT: well i finished re-watching the director's cut and it's amazing how different these two versions of the story are. i think i equally enjoyed both, but the theatrical version has the slight edge, due to the cool tunes, gritty blue filter, and added humor...the director's cut was a very good film and had some moments that worked really well...but the ending of the director's cut kinda irritated and bothered me:
with all those shots being fired in a such a public space, there sure were a lot of people milling about and almost totally ignoring the chaos that was taking place...and not a single cop showed up after all that shooting...wtf? on a subway platform in a major city? give me a fucking break!

not really sure which ending is better...the theatrical was kinda rushed feeling and ended a little too upbeat, but given the tone of the film, it worked okay, i suppose...

it really would be hard for me to chose a preferred version of this film, i think both are worth owning.

[Yojimbo]

anyone else here seen the mel gibson film "payback"? a buddy of mine in the marines had it on dvd, and i recall watching it once, but it was on tbs this weekend and with nothing else to watch, i sat down and gave it another viewing...pretty good movie, but it was on tbs, so it was very heavily edited.

imo, it's a kick-ass movie, and i've decided i'd like to add it to my movie collection, but i've discovered that there's a director's cut available on dvd and blu-ghey which is supposedly very different from the theatrical version.

anybody had a chance to see this cut and if so, how does it stack up against the theatrical release? i've heard a lot of the music is different, many of the funnier moments are gone, and it's a much darker and grittier film...which seems like a good thing, but some of those songs and funny moments really work well... so i'm kind of on the fence about which version to get...but i'm leaning towards the director's cut....any insight would be appreciated.



EDIT: Sorry, I was incorrect, and thinking of RANSOM and got the two Gibson movies mixed up, so I removed my comment about the OG being a Kurosawa film.