The Exorcist to be Ruined on Blu-ray

[X-human]

Friedkin has revealed his plans to redo the color timing on The Exorcist for the Blu-ray release. He will take the B&W image and then layer the color image on top at about 30% opacity. This is his new "pastel" look that will be applied to all his films in the HD format. His first victim of this process is The French Connection which you can read about here along with the article about the process:

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/s...=533163&page=2

I've always stood by the idea that directors should be given the freedom to see their vision fulfilled. But then again there are exceptions to every rule.

I'm not a huge Exorcist fan so I can live with my DVD of the theatrical cut I guess, but I'm sure many of the rest of you won't be so happy.

[KamuiX]

Sounds like Lucas and Spielberg bit Friedkin and passed along their disease...

[Katatonia]

Pastel look?!? Supremely lame, I'll stick with the old DVD editions.

[Myron Breck]

Well, the man hasn't exactly been raking in the accolades (or dollars) in recent decades so maybe, as with the theatrical re-release and then the Version You've Never Seen, he's just trying to make news via his most popular title. He'll always have the "color-corrected Version You've Never Seen" followed by the "color-corrected Theatrical Version" followed by the "Ultimate Edition" followed by the...you get the idea.

Good for him. He had room to exercise huge talent once. And, frankly, I enjoyed BUG while most despised it. I feel that he deserves to be continually financially compensated for his past works for as long as there are people to pay him. He's not Rob Zombie or Guy Richie or some other no-talent douchebag. It's Billy Friedkin, for fuck's sake.

[spawningblue]

Wow that looks terrible! Jsut add that to the list of DVDs that surpass their Blu Ray counterparts.

[Ash28M]

Originally Posted by Myron Breck

And, frankly, I enjoyed BUG while most despised it.

Really? I thought most people liked it. I certainly did.

[Myron Breck]

Originally Posted by Ash28M

Really? I thought most people liked it. I certainly did.

See, I'm surprised to hear it. Then again, I worked at a Blockbuster at the time and we allllll know the types "those places" attract! I had to quit recommending immediately.

[maybrick]

Originally Posted by X-human

I've always stood by the idea that directors should be given the freedom to see their vision fulfilled.

I've always been of the opinion that directors only have a finite time in which to see their vision fulfilled. After that, true ownership of their work belongs to history, not them. Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with seeing a new cut of a classic, but the new cut should never be meant as a complete replacement of the old. That's why recent updates of films and shows such as Star Wars and Star Trek (and to a lesser extent The Exorcist "version you've never seen" and Blade Runner "Final Cut") make me feel ill. It's tantamount to historical revisionism.

[KR~!]

holy mother of shit, those look awful!

[Matt89]

Wow The French Connection looks TERRIBLE!

I mean I'm all about directors having their re-imaginings of their films, but with movies like Blade Runner, Alien and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, at least we get all the versions. (I hated Ridley Scott's "Director's Cut" of Alien, he actually ruined the film by snipping off the beginnings and ends of shots and then adding in that scene were Ripley finds everyone cocooned. The "Director's Cut" with the added footage actually has a SHORTER running time than the Theatrical Version because he trimmed so many scenes down.) But hey, at least the original version was included on the DVD release.

But I'm not surprised Friedkin's gonna fuck this up. Seems like every director's twiddling and fiddling with their classic films. From Friedkin, to George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott. Maybe it's better that directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Nicholas Ray, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Douglas Sirk and Elia Kazan are dead. (I could totally see Kubrick doing something like this.) But maybe it's better they're gone, so we can be guaranteed that they won't fuck with their own films. I hate saying something like that, but reading this and seeing how much Friedkin's already ruined The French Connection, maybe director's shouldn't have so much access to their own films.

*And I realize Fox asked Ridley Scott to re-cut Alien for its re-release, but considering how many times he's fiddled with Blade Runner, he definitely gets added to the list.

~Matt

Instead of putting this out for the umpteenth time, I just wish we could get a halfway decent edition of Sorcerer... Unfortunately, reading this thread makes me worry about it being messed with if such a release ever materializes.

I agree that the director has control of his films but after a long time has gone by it's pretty foolish. Your original "vision" was 35 year ago, get over it.

[Erick H.]

I hate stuff like this,retroactive changes just to take advantage of new technology.

Originally Posted by Rockmjd

Your original "vision" was 35 year ago, get over it.

Yeah you tell em sugarplum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Hey did any of you catch this when it was rereleased theatrically few years ago?

[buck135]

I wonder how the studio can allow this. Looks like I'll be holding onto my DVD versions of FC/Exorcist.