Damn shame they decided not to pay royalties for the classic Kansas tune that originally ended the film, instead of the cheesy so-80s replacement. I saw "Heroes" during its initial release when I was in middle school, and it was so powerful, with the Kansas song just summing the story up so perfectly. The omission definitely robs some of the impact of the final scene.
Thanks for the update. Have been waiting for someone to post this info.
I will definitely not purchase the DVD now.
I wish I had read this first~! I just now finished watching the DVD from Netflix, haven' seen it since I was a kid, and remember the amazing impact of "Wayward Son" at just the right moment in the final scene. Instead, it's some bad 80's crap that sounds like a Frank Stallone tribute band.... absolutely *ruined* the whole film.
Couldn't agree more. UNIVERSAL hates it's films. They have continued to destroy they're films for DVD release. I hope someone from UNIVERSAL will read this and see how much they suck. An important early film about a returning vet from Vietnam but all UNIVERSAL could see was the bottom line.
shareNot only is this one of the first films about returning vets but it has historic import as a clash of icons: The Fonz meets Han Solo/Indiana Jones! Universal so dropped the ball on this, underestimating its cult status. There isn't even a trailer on his "edition" or even chapters.
BTW: I returned my DVD and used "false advertising" as my defense because this version still credits Kansas's song while the lame substitute song is playing on the soundtrack! Pony up, Universal, Kansas can't be charging that much! I encourage everyone to write to Universal Home Video to complain and encourage them to do a proper release.
The copy I got from I Offer is one of those "Asian market" versions, and it actually DOES HAVE "Carry on wayward son" at the end. They probably used a TV recording of the movie for the DVD.
shareI agree--terrible that they took out the song. I remember the powerful ending of that movie so much BECAUSE OF the song. Amazing how a movie company could overlook the power of the right music in a movie.
sharemcthom wrote:
"I agree--terrible that they took out the song. I remember the powerful ending of that movie so much BECAUSE OF the song. Amazing how a movie company could overlook the power of the right music in a movie."
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Agreed, except for one thing: I'm sure this decision was made with malice of forethought and the entire motivation was to save a few bucks. Cheap ba$tard$.
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I just rented this film from Netflix and had the same question. I wondered why the film gave credits to Kansas," Carry on my Wayward Son" but did not play the actual song.
sharethe video version of House Calls (1978) did the same thing they took out the "Something" by the Beatles and substituted something else.
Once in a while Encore/Staz plays Heroes, and even House Calls and the songs ARE intact in those versions, go figure. Hope this helps.
Heck -- back in '77, the trailer for this movie caused me to buy Leftoverture, the Kansas album with that song. Just about played the grooves off it (we used to have these things called LPs, and . . . .)
"Carry On" is a great song for testing out your headphones.
"The truth 24 times a second."
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Damn shame that they butchered this movie. I saw this in the theater, and I have a strong memory of the ending, as well as the "help me howard" segment (you know what I mean if you've seen it).
Won't bother buying it without it being intact.
I worked at a movie theater when this came out, and the ending was SO powerful with Carry On. Then, just a few years later, I watched it on HBO. Different song. Saw it again on VHS. Same bad song. A couple of years ago on WGN, no Kansas. The biggest thing holding up movies for release on video has always ben the song rights. That's why many songs are replaced, especially songs that were not written for the film. The problem is the song writers are entitled to 6.5 cents for every unit sold, just like recordings. When a song is written specifically for a film, the copywrite often belongs to the film company, and so can be included easily in any other form. A separate agreement must be made every time a new medium (VHS, DVD, etc.) is produced. Still, it's a real shame that Universal opted out of using the song. It really made a huge impact at the end.
If we all liked the same movie, there'd only be one movie!
Universal originally raked in $33,500,000 with "Heroes"--a sizable hit in 1977 (and that's not including overseas release and the TV sale). They couldn't lease the Kansas song and preserve the original mood of the film...much less their integrity?
shareThe rights are surely not too expensive. The song has even been played on the tv show Supernatural.
shareMusic rights are a very complication matter. In cases like this the money for the rights are not paid to the performer of the song, or even the songwriter but the owner of the publishing rights which may or may not be the performer or writer. Often the publishing rights are owned by someone entirely different.
I certainly do not claim to know the details of this particular case but it could well be that the owner of the publishing rights for the song either wanted way too much money (they can ask more money for one movie or show than they do for another -- just because a song appears in one TV show or movie does not mean the price for the rights will be the same for another) or even refused to allow the song to be used for any price.
As I say I don't know what the circumstances are in this case and it could also be that Universal didn't want to bother with trying to negotiate for the rights (a process itself that costs money). I'm just pointed out that it may not necessarily be the fault of Universal.
I'm with you guys, like most of you I haven't seen this since I was a kid. Saw it in the theater and yes even though it wasn't the greatest movie in the world, I thought that the ending was indeed very sad and powerful, especially due to the Kansas song. Looking back I thought it was a nice effort by Winkler. Too bad he really didn't go on to do all that much, especially when he was younger. Leaving out the Kansas song like the previous poster said is some corporate,legal BS that we don't care or need to know about. Like many of you have observed it just ruins the ending altogether.
shareSomething made me look this movie up. When I saw this as a kid in the theater many many times, I could of sworn Kansas was at then end of this movie. Very powerful ending as previously mentioned. A couple of years ago it was on TV and the song was not Carry On! At least now I know I'm not losing it.
I wonder how much were paid in royalties for the first Guitar Hero?
Thank you very much for your comment. I also saw the movie in the theaters. And yes, "Carry On Wayward Son" gave the movie a powerful ending. The replacement song was rather lame. I always wondered why the original song was replaced.
shareDoes the VHS version have the song on it?
shareNO it does not have the song on VHS and that pissed me off royally. If Universal initially bought the rights to the song, the rights don't expire when it goes to vhs or dvd (in fact the artists would make more money when available on home video) They pulled it on their own choosing. Two things in movies & tv tick me off royally and that's cutting out scenes and changing the soundtrack which totally violates authenticity.
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