Extended 'Class Ring' Version
Has anyone out there ever seen an extended version of this movie that includes additional scenes involving Bobby's class ring? The ring is seen several times in the movie, but attention is never called to it. At the very beginning when Bobby is standing on the edge of the cliff smoking, the ring is visible on his finger briefly. He's no longer wearing it while driving the car right before the wreck and for the first half of the movie while working on his "assignment". The ring then reappears on his finger in some later scenes, and at the end of the movie it is gone again.
When we watched this movie on VHS video a long time ago, my dad mentioned some stuff he remembered seeing that was missing from the video, all of it involving the class ring. He said that Bobby gave the ring to Emily right before the race. Bobby later found the ring inside the burnt remains of the car he was driving when he revisited the scene of his death, and put it back on his finger. He wore it for the rest of the movie, finally giving it to Lenny at the end when he was saying goodbye to him. Watching the movie closely, everything my dad said makes sense. Something seems to be missing as Bobby is talking to Emily before the race, then right after Bobby pounds the burnt car as Rafferty approaches on the motorcycle, you see him look closer inside the car as if he sees something. As the camera is close on Rafferty while talking about all of his boys "wandering back to the scene of his demise", you see Bobby turning something over in his hands in the background. From that point on the ring is back on his finger again. You see it on his finger as he lights the cigarette when he reveals himself to Emily, but most prominently as he is sitting at the table with Rafferty's book of arriving passengers and sees Lenny's name in it. At the end of the movie as he is riding off into the sky with Rafferty on the motorcycle, the ring is gone again. Watch the scene as Bobby is saying goodbye to Lenny and it is very obvious what happened. When Bobby extends his hand to Lenny, you can tell by the way he holds it out that he has something in it. Lenny also looks down at Bobby's hand with a surprised expression, but in the very next frame, Bobby's hand is held out completely open and Lenny is looking straight up at Bobby and smiling. After shaking hands and hugging, Lenny turns to walk away and the camera is zoomed in tightly on his face. However, the picture is very grainy and slightly out of focus. You see Lenny look down as he turns to walk away. If the frames had not been zoomed in like that, the picture would not have been grainy and you would have seen Lenny looking down at the class ring that Bobby had just given him!
My guess is that my dad must have seen one of those "test screenings" that you often hear about but never seem to get to be a part of. I've heard about a lot of movies having scenes cut after test screenings, but this is the closest I've ever been to one. I think the class ring scenes would have been good to see, but we can't seem to even get the common version of this movie released on DVD. What would the chances be of getting to see these extended scenes? Has anyone else ever seen this version?