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I thought there were only 2 versions of Brazil.

Posted by Joe (@joe) on April 28, 2024, 1:04 p.m.

And that’s all I see listed on their website:

https://www.criterion.com/films/211-brazil

I think I’ve only ever seen the first two versions of Close Encounters. That’s one of my favorite Spielbergs, but I’ve only ever bothered to watch the original since it was out on DVD.

I streamed T2 when I rewatched it the other day, but the Blu-ray has three versions, even though the theatrical version is the Director’s cut. From what I read about the other ones, I understand the motive for releasing another version, but it seems like the second expanded version should supplant the first one, and that it’s a waste of time to watch all three. I’ve seen that dumb ending that takes place in 2027.

I know I said that I thought that after 1988 the theatrical VHS of PG&BTK was unavailable, but I do think that the one you linked to is the theatrical version, so it must have stayed in print if that really came out in 1989. The VHS of what everyone now calls the “1988 Turner Preview Version” was advertised as the “Director’s Cut” at the time, and should say that on the cover. The copies I can find online have a different image on the cover too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285655430244

There are two versions of The Wild Bunch, if you didn’t remember. The shorter one has been unavailable for a long time. Shortly after it was released in theaters, they cut stuff out to make it shorter so that they could run one more showing per day. People used to say that they cut it because it was too violent, but if I remember right the scenes they cut weren’t action scenes, and included the back story/flashback stuff.

This Criterion release will have to be the last word, at least as far as edits go (as opposed to remastering one or another version again). Whether people like the new cut or not, I really don’t think that it will be possible to credibly attempt another re-edit.
There are silent movies that have a bunch of different versions. Some of the big D.W. Griffith movies exist in various versions, and from what I understand it’s basically impossible to figure out what his ideal version would have been. In the modern day storyline of Intolerance a couple has their baby taken away, and there’s an ending where they get him back, a version where he dies, and cuts where that part of the plot never gets resolved.