Is There a Serenity (BDM) Director's Cut, or Extended Version?

POSTED BY: Schism
UPDATED: Monday, November 24, 2008 05:18
VIEWED: 8422
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SCHISM

Sunday, November 23, 2008 10:13 PM

I was watching the deleted scenes, and they were all really good.
Probably just cut for time.
But is there a version of this movie available with all those scenes intact?
Like an 'extended version'?

ECGORDON

Sunday, November 23, 2008 10:26 PM

No. Joss has said that the movie that premiered on September 30, 2005 was his preferred version, and there would be no extended cut. The studio might disagree and put one out at a later date, but they'll be doing it behind Joss' back.

I would like to have seen at least one of those cut scenes remain in the film - the one with Mal and Inara in her shuttle when he asks "Why did you leave?" and her reply is "Why didn't you ask me to stay?"

Other than that one I don't think the films suffers from the loss of any of the others.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

NCBROWNCOAT

Monday, November 24, 2008 1:46 AM

I agree with you ECGordon. That one scene says a lot about Mal and Inara's relationship and it's one of my favorite scenes.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

PENNAUSAMIKE

Monday, November 24, 2008 5:18 AM

I wrote the following before the Collectors Edition of Serenity came out.
Part of it was read on a Firefly Talk podcast; Summer of Serenity #13, August 6th 2007
An article from our recent contest, entitled "The Case For An Extended Version Of Serenity�?"

Report of the release of a 2-disc “Special Edition” version of “Serenity” is exciting news for Browncoats.

Some of the excitement comes from the inclusion of the Region 4 DVD extras (tho’ with the world wide web, eBay and region-free DVD players, hardcore fans already have this covered). Anticipation is also brewing for finding out which cast and crew members will participate in the commentary tracks. I vote for Joss and Jewel and Gina and Geoff and Summer and Sean and Nathan and Alan and Adam and Ron and Morena and Barry and Mary and Loni and Lisa and Pat and…you get the idea. Really, I’d like multiple commentary tracks grouped by area of participation: the creators/ producers, the lead players, the guest star/supporting actors and the artists/technical people. (If you are going to dream, dream BIG!) There is also a contingent of fans excited for new cover art, tho’ Llama lovers are in fear for the loss of their supposedly subliminal cover icon.

The area of greatest anticipation for me is the possibility for an extended version of the movie. I want to see the subtext of the characters played out in between the moments that drive the story forward. I understand the reasons for editing the theatrical release of the movie the way that it was, but a DVD for a home audience is a whole ‘nother animal.

To get a lay of the landscape, I think it is important to think of the three ways that the main audience for a 2-disc “Special Edition” version of “Serenity” found Joss Whedon’s Sci-Fi Western in the first place.
One: they saw the Firefly TV series as it was first aired; out of order, kinda confusing,
hit-or-miss scheduling, abruptly ended…and they fell in love.
Two: they saw the Firefly DVD boxed-set; in order, cohesively introducing many
possible story telling threads building to something, not quite so abruptly ended…
and they fell in love.
Three: (my story) they saw “Serenity” all packaged in a fast-paced, neatly wrapped up
little ball, fell in love, heard this story and these characters were from some TV
show, found the Firefly DVD boxed-set, and fell in love even harder!

Both Joss and executive producer Chris Buchanan have stated that it was important to make “Serenity” a movie that the uninitiated could see, understand and enjoy without having seen the series. This was not just a reasonable artistic goal but important from a business sense as well. And without business, there is no art; at least when “art” is defined as something costing tens of millions of dollars.

Joss originally wrote the “Serenity” script with the title “The Kitchen Sink”, coming in at an un-filmable 190-ish pages. That was whittled down to the shooting script (which was filmed) that would probably have come out to about 130 minutes in length. The last step was to produce the theatrically released movie, two hours long. And it’s a great flick! Without writing a movie review, it should be noted that the editing process produced a fast-paced story where every witty word of dialog, every nuance of character development presented, every visual shown; drives the plot forward. From an editing standpoint, it is the embodiment of everything a current blockbuster movie should be. Joss is understandably proud of “Serenity” and he absolutely met the goal of producing a movie that the uninitiated could see, understand and enjoy without having seen the series.

In the Australian Q&A session that is on the Region 4 release of “Serenity”, one of the audience asked Joss what great scenes had to be left on the cutting room floor, what moments didn’t we get to see? Joss answered that they had decided to leave all the great scenes in, and only cut the crappy ones. He went on to allow, though, that Ina