In the States, the DVD is 118 minutes long. Three scenes have been added. First, there's a church ceremony where Jamie's friend's baby is baptized; the friend, I believe, is the one who died on the plane at the very beginning -- and the friend's wife, even though Jamie became the baby's godfather, is far from pleased at Jamie's offer to visit her and the baby (in a nutsell, she blames Jamie for her husband's death. Second, there are two scenes involving Jamie and Jesse at the motel; and it's here that it's revealed that the two used to be married (in the original cut, we just assume Jesse was a past flame). Third, there's a scene before the Toscano departs the dock -- with Jamie there, the captain is questioned by the dock police, to which Jamie congratulates him as they leave port that he handled the questioning well.
While none of these are bad scenes, I wish they hadn't been added into the film. Seeing them in the Special Features section would've been more appropriate. As it plays now, the film isn't quite as swift and lean-and-mean as the original cut is. Just my two cents worth, of course.
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jkholman
13 years ago
To the OP,
with respect to JackSommersby - the extra scenes filled out the story better [for me]. The first time I saw the film years ago on VHS, the story seemed rushed and there was a feeling of incompleteness. Watching it a year ago for the first time on DVD (118 min) it was a pleasant surprise.
This is not a great film, but it is a very good picture and one of the better mercenary films to date. I think it is worth buying. My only complaint with the DVD is the lack of a commentary. That would have been a nice bonus.
- JKHolman
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trinity-destler
13 years ago
I agree. I watched this recently and just now watched the longer cut and the cut material really fills out the film. It's just a few brief things, but it adds a lot to Shannon's character and therefore adds to the stakes going into the climax.
The scenes with Jesse were especially important. In the shorter cut, that whole episode seemed incredibly rushed and incomplete. Almost pointless, since it became so blatant story-wise (Shannon's last grab at a real life, not getting it and deciding to say '*beep* it'; actually, even that makes a lot more sense with the additional backstory. Jesse just being a random, unintroduced ex-flame wasn't as strong as her being his estranged wife).
"It's that kind of idiocy that I empathize )with." ~David Bowie
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