Stop Butchering Old Movies

If you've been reading Demise of Film since the early incarnation in 2012, you probably remember a long post ranting about different cuts of films. I think this is an issue that needs to be readdressed because, why not?

Jar Jar Binks says Hello

What the hell does Jar Jar Binks have to do with anything? Because I wanted to complain about George Lucas syndrome. Back in the 90s, George Lucas went and recut all of his Star Wars movies and added weird things to them. People complained and everyone started making fun of him for it.

However, this is a problem that goes deeper than George Lucas. Now we have Sylvester Stallone recutting Rocky IV and Francis Ford Coppola recutting Godfather Part 3. Sure, these are weaker movies in their respected franchises, but you're cutting movies to reflect a world in which the original cut still exists and they don't exist to replace the original movies. It's weird.

I haven't seen Rocky vs Drago but did see Godfather Coda and you know what? I still remember Godfather Part III better than Coda. The only thing Coda brought to the table was removing Sophia's dorky ass run. From what I've read about Rocky vs Drago, it seems Stallone removed some iconic stuff and exposition scenes and extended Rocky III flashbacks. Yes, that's what Rocky IV needed, more Rocky III.

Don't get me wrong, I love Rocky III, it might be my third favorite in the series (after Rocky and Rocky Balboa) but a movie that is 90% montage is not going to be made better by reminding me that I could be watching a better movie.

Coda removed a lot of story beats, but did make the movie feel less cluttered. However, I still prefer Part III. There's also this weird line added in "It's his diabetes!" However, no one knows that Michael has diabetes until AFTER this scene takes place.

I don't think either of these new cuts is a definitive cut and will always prefer the original cuts, despite their flaws.