DVD EDITED??? - Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1983) Discussion

[–] scott159 20 years ago

usinoh...i was very interested in picking up this dvd..are you saying that scene at the end is definitely not on the DVD??? what is up with that? now, i am not so sure! let me know...

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[–] dst-thomas 20 years ago

I have this film on DVD and also an old copy on LaserDisc
Since I recalled the ending on my LD version being different, I went back and studied the 2 versions a bit.
The endings are slightly different.
On my LD version, Porter Reese meets his demise, and is cut off at the ankles by the helicopter blades. Pretty darkly humorous, and a real high point of the film.
In the DVD version, there is no closure, and I believe the viewer is left unsure what happens to his character. Reese is just shown cowering atop the rock under the prop-wash. Rather unsatisfying.
There is a good thread of discussion on this in the product reviews on Amazon.com
I would tend to believe the comments that a PG negative was used to create the DVD version.
This belief comes from the difference in the more generous amount of cleavage shown in the LD version during the romance scene between Lyle and Claire...
If you like that sort of thing :-)

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[–] Raz_Dak 20 years ago

EVERY time this movie was shown on the syndicated channels back in the 80s, that scene with Reese's boots being all chopped off were left in there. If it can be shown on regular syndicated network TV in the 80s, then why not a DVD?

(the clevage shots should be left in there too)

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[–] cinedream 19 years ago

I originally posted a complaint and review of the scene cut out but seems to have disappeared. I spoke with someone at anchor bay and they said they went from the best elements which were the producers personal copy which was cut for reason not remembered. Thats about it. The film was pg in the theatres and still had the stump ripped bloody legs scene.

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[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] HerMrBubbles 18 years ago

I'm going to have to agree. Isn't that how DVD's are supposed to be done? The stuff they won't show in theaters is seen on this! All that claptrap. This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid because of the fact that it would hold yer imagination about what happened to Reese at the end. One of my favorite parts in the movie is when one of the bad guys gets his nose shot off by the female lead.

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[–] petekrug17 17 years ago

I never saw the film before it came out on DVD. When I saw it on DVD I was left wondering,"So what happens to the bad guy?" I mean, the way the DVD leaves it, he is still alive and well. How do we know he doesn't then rape and kill the heroine? That is why they really should have left the original ending in.

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[–] BobHatesSpam 17 years ago

How do we know he doesn't then rape and kill the heroine?

I think this much is obvious. Earlier in the movie, Lyle tells Claire about the necklace he's wearing, and about his great great … grandmother who stole it from his grandfather, who subsequently vanished. His great great … grandmother went to Los Angeles started a business, and became the matriarch of the whole Swann clan.

At the end, we realize that Claire was that great great … grandmother, and that Lyle was his own great great … grandfather. If the bad guy had killed Claire, then the Swann clan would not have ever existed, and so Lyle himself would never have existed.

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[–] deemondback 16 years ago

Just saw the dvd version after nearly 20 years. Yeah it doesnt make sense. He is either cowering on the round or was already cut. Someone on Amazon said you can hear the backround sounds of the villain flesh being cut but I frankly did not hear this, then again I dont have some fancy flat screen tv with surround sound.

Anyway... Ive posted this before but the director says something about helicopter accidents occurring around that time (on the director commentary section on the DVD) maybe some actually lost a limb? So that scene was cut out for that reason. Also the director mention s that he would have preferred the villain to go over the cliff . Too bad they did not include an alternate ending section ...still.

After some searching I came across this and its more or less an official explanation:

from digitallyobsessed.com

''As great an edition as this DVD is, there is, sadly, one downside. It's either minor or really major depending on your point of view. Towards the end of the film, there is a bizarre and rather drastic cut made to the movie that changes the tone of the ending. Anchor Bay's response to the cut is that the DVD was mastered from the ONLY usable negative; a negative which contained this change. In retrospect, I think AB might have mentioned this somewhere, as long-time Timerider fans will be very upset and newcomers won't get the full ending...''

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[–] DJ-Chojin 15 years ago

the choper accident at the time was during the making of twilight zone movie.
the actor was running with two children either to the choper or away from it and the blades decapitated them, the actors name was vic morrow, his daughter is the extreemly sexy Jennifer Jason Leigh (the naked one in flesh and blood):)
just saw this on his biog
Killed, along with two Vietnamese child actors, in a freak accident on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) when a hovering helicopter crashed landed on top of them, in which the top rotor blades decapitated Morrow and one of the children, and crushing to death the second one.

Boris Sagal. was also killed by a choper making a film later that year when he wasnt looking and walked into the blades of a choper

That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die
H.P.LOVECRAFT

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[–] jbowmore 15 years ago

Assuming Anchor Bay was telling the truth, that no negative exists with the missing footage, they should have included said footage taken from a laser disc.

Using DVD branching it would be possible to watch the film with or without the scenes, so casual viewers would not have low quality scenes inserted, but purits could watch the whole film.

To not do so was a disservice to their customers.

—————

On top of that, the 1080i version shown on MGM-HD includes all the cut scenes (old man's death, the chopped boots scene, etc.) SO a full DVD or even Blue-ray should be easy to release.

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[–] WritersCramp 15 years ago

I just watched the uncut version on Hulu via imdb. The stumps are in it.

ii:iv

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[–] LightningSS 15 years ago

I have this movie on VHS, LD and DVD, always been a favorite of mine. First off the editing on the DVD of Reese's death at the end is pure crap and really screws the movie up. It's been a long time since i've watched my LD or VHS versions but the DVD seems to have more cut out than just the end. One part i noticed was a little before Swann goes bathing in the lake he comes across an old Mexican at a cabin in the night. The man has a heart attack from fright and it shows Swann burying him in the morning before riding off. That entire segment is gone and the result comes across as if most of the movie occurred in one day until the swallows camp segment when it's dark. There might be other parts cut as well, but that's all i noticed since it's been ages since i watched my uncut versions. I was thinking about making a LDrip of the uncut version but it's fullscreen and decided not to. It would be great if they would release a proper DVD, but i'm not holding my breath on it.

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[–] C00L 14 years ago

LightningSS - the heart attack/burying scenes are definitely present on DVD.

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[–] LightningSS 14 years ago

Thanks C00L, i rechecked my dvd and that scene is present! i'm not sure why i missed it when i watched, maybe i went to the bathroom during that time or something. I just remember being really pissed when i saw the edited ending and i immediately checked several sites online and saw complaints about the end and also complaints about that other scene cut so i just figured my dvd was the same. I guess it's good that only the end is borked but it still sucks. I really hope a proper dvd will sometime get released.

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[–] el_duderino-2 13 years ago

There might be even more scenes, segments or single shots missing.

For example:

- When Carl's nose (Tracey Walter's character) is aided. There could be shots without the nose
- Carl dies by beeing run in the fireplace when Lyle enters the room with his machine rescuing Claire. Carl ist told to be dead a few moments later but his death is not shown. The shot when Lyle crashes in the room is nicely shot, a bit slow mo. I think Carl is burning to death with this material missing.

Perhaps there are more details during the whole movie, shot wounds or whatever that had been cut out.

This could have been an 80s action classic. At least it is remembered as one but sadly not keeping up to its promise completely.

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[–] DrWhen 13 years ago

Very strange. I just watched the version on netflix streaming and that scene is there. It's not particular gory so maybe the director didn't like the scene. It was rather cartoonish compared to the other action scenes.

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[–] LebowskiT1000 13 years ago

That scene may have been cut from the release due to the death of this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Morrow

Why build one, when you can build two at twice the price? - S.R. Hadden

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[–] clacton0 12 years ago

Glad I did not watch the DVD now they just had it on MGM and it had the proper ending on.
Its the first time I have seen timerider and heard of it.

www.youtube.com/eastangliauk

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