MovieChat Forums > Dust Devil (1993) Discussion > I want to buy the DVD set, but... (Error...

I want to buy the DVD set, but... (Error)

posted 18 years ago by KryptoniteCornCob
12 replies | jump to latest

Ok, first i wanna say this was a good movie, but a really crappy editing mistake really took me out of the movie experience. I tried submitting this info to imdb, but for whatever reason, they didn't post it so i'll put it here, just as i originally typed it:

In the recently released U.S. 5-disc DVD set, there is a glaring editing flaw which happens approx. 1 hour, 32 minutes into the "Final cut" version of the movie.

(Spoiler warning!)

After the scene of the Dust devil blowing up the vehicles, Wendy flees into the desert and finds a ghost town. As she yells out "There must be somebody here!!!" there are some far shots of the abandoned area. Here is where the goof can be seen. In one particular far shot (the one where she's yelling), look to the mid-right, into the background. You can see her and the cop (Ben Mukurob) both standing on the steps of the building, with Ben handing a gun to her. You can even see his arm reach out to her and their clothes flapping in the wind. The problem is, she doesn't even meet him (for the first time) in the movie until several moments later! They then meet and talk while standing on the steps. He hands her a gun. Only this time, the shot is completely close-up, with no far shot. So the previous far shot was an alternate camera angle of this scene. The editor more-than-likely did not notice the 2 characters standing (and clearly moving) in the background of the shot when recutting and restoring the director's final cut. In other words, Ben gives Wendy the gun twice, once before even actually meeting her. Even worse, this shot is horribly looped -- because she yells "There must be somebody here!!!" right in Ben's face as she's taking the gun from him. This editing goof is only seen in the "Final cut" version and does not appear in the "workprint" version of the DVD set. It is very odd that this version would be "director approved" with this kind of editing mistake within it. And the fact that this DVD set is limited to 10,000 copies is even worse because that probably means that a corrected DVD set will never be released.

"All my life i've wanted the truth....now i AM THE TRUTH!!!"

[–] winston441984 18 years ago

ditto!!!!

[–] AT-AT 17 years ago

and then there are the ones that just shrugs... :P

[–] KryptoniteCornCob 17 years ago

Are you promoting sloppy editing? It's the consumers who spend their money on this stuff after all.

"All my life i've wanted the truth....now i AM THE TRUTH!!!"

[–] lugosi-11 17 years ago

I am not sure that this goof would ruin the movie experience for me, but it certainly is odd! I just received the DVD set in the post yesterday and I plan to watch the movie tonight after work.

[–] johnrhand-1 17 years ago

You know it's odd, I'd watched the Final Cut twice (once with commentary and without) and I don't think I ever remember catching this until I went back specifically looking for it. I mean it IS a very wide shot and it could be hard to miss these two people in the middle of the frame. It reminds me of a goof in the Sean Penn film Bad Boys where a cameraman is clearly seen two-inches away from an actor but you barely ever realize it because your attention is on a different area of the frame.

In a weird way, Ben and Wendy standing there a second before they actually meet in the continuity of the film has a very creepy effect in keeping with the weird continuity of the film, like nearly every frame Hitch is in he looks different, he's wearing his hat differently, odd things appear and disappear from his wardrobe, etc. There's a hell of a lot to catch in this movie, I've probably seen it seven or eight times and I keep finding weird little new things.

So it's a goof, perhaps, but it's still creepy.

[–] johnrhand-1 17 years ago

Just to follow up, I checked the UK Optimum disc and it doesn't have this error. It actually contains what I guess is the correct wide shot of Wendy approaching the house.

Oddly enough, I actually noticed another little goof which appears on the UK disc but not in the Subersive NTSC - There's this shot of telephone poles between that mixed-up wide shot and the closer tracking shot where Wendy walks up to Ben, and at the extreme right of the frame you can see an actor or crew member enter the edge of the frame for a split second, but you really have to step through the still frames to see it.

[–] jeffd-11 17 years ago

Question to one of you with the 5 disk set - if you wanted to watch the best overall version of the movie, which to choose? The abbreviated "final cut" on disk 1 or the longer (not as polished?) version on disk 2?

[–] djsmokingjam 17 years ago

Definitely the Final Cut - the workprint makes for an interesting curio, but definitely should not be seen beforehand.

[–] jeffd-11 17 years ago

Thanks!

[–] stepstonefilms 17 years ago

I think the goof you mentioned wasn't actually a goof. I think they wanted a specific wide shot, and that was the only one they had. I'm sure it's mentioned somewhere on one of the Dvd's.

-------------------
"I've never seen a sight, that didn't look better lookin' back".

[–] neon_suntan 17 years ago

In an interview i read with Richard Stanley the director, he mentioned that although the plot odf the film was quite unusual to begin with, the severe restrictions of no -reshoots etc caused him to make some macabre editing decisions as he only had so much stock to work with.

There are a number of continuity errors that WERE intentional, which tends to help the 'goofs' and other genuine continuity errors, seem less prominent.

The most annoying thing I found with the 5-DVD set - see my new thread :-)

[–] legnadibrom 16 years ago

i noticed it right away, i wasn't sure if the movement on those steps were people until a few moments later when that same wide shot is used, though, so most people probably wouldn't notice it

http://www.coprophagor.com/disuse.htm