MovieChat Forums > Natural Born Killers (1994) Discussion > Nine Inch Nails track missing on DVD?

Nine Inch Nails track missing on DVD?


Does anyone know what the story is with the NIN track Burn (used in the montage right before the end credits) on the DVD versions of the film? On the theatrical cut DVD it doesn't play in the English audio track, but it does if you swap to any of the other languages. The director's cut DVD doesn't have it either, but has no alternate audio tracks. I don't know if this is just an issue with the region 2 releases. Thanks.

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IDK but the song appears in the US VHS "R" rated version. Watch it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlcqeteCdU&feature=plcp

Snootchie Bootchie

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[deleted]

It's a licensing thing. The costs to license songs for use in movies have gradually gone outrageously out of control in the last ten or twenty years (starting around the time people realized they could sue rap artists for sampling records), so on a lot of dvd releases they simply cut out the songs and replace them with something else so they don't have to pay. So a lot of these DVDs we're buying to theoretically archive our favorite movies and tv shows are actually doing no such thing, because we're getting a cut-rate, adulterated version that is not the real, original movie or show.

Ah well. They don't call it show art, right?


I don't have a license, but I drive very well, officer!

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[deleted]

Good point! I was thinking he had a hand in putting the soundtrack together... It is odd. I don't know what label Reznor is on and what's changed between Reznor, label, studio, and movie in the years since. Either way it's a bummer.


I don't have a license, but I drive very well, officer!

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I think Stone probably changed it for the Director's Cut (I used to have the original DVD version and I'm pretty sure it was in there, but it's not in the DC). I read something about how he would blast tribal music on set to maintain the energy of the cast. I suppose he felt that it suited the scene better, although I disagree because I think cutting the song absolutely flattens it. The tribal music just doesn't come close to the energy of Burn.

The worst part is, that was probably the best damn NIN soundtrack song that Trent Reznor ever created, and now not only is it not in the movie, but it's damn near impossible to find a copy of it with it still in there.

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I just sprung for a VHS of the pre-director's cut version. You can find them for like two bucks on ebay, if you don't mind an old rental copy and the crappy visuals and sound that come with it (and if you have a way to play it).


I don't have a license, but I drive very well, officer!

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Burn is a GREAT track!!

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

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So a lot of these DVDs we're buying to theoretically archive our favorite movies and tv shows are actually doing no such thing, because we're getting a cut-rate, adulterated version that is not the real, original movie or show.


The irony of the whole thing is that you PAY for an edited copy due to lawyer scumbags, or you get it FREE (we all know where) and you get all the original music etc.

Maybe one day they will wake up to these facts, I doubt it though.

You hate Congress but every election you re-elect YOUR "guy" and wonder why things never change!

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I've been frustrated by this, too, and thank you for your original post, Robot-Werewolf.

Someone else here mentioned the matter of licensing, and that certainly applies to many instances of this type of variable with different releases.

Honestly, though...Oliver Stone is very much a "final cut" kind of director. Also, the soundtrack by Trent Reznor was very much part of the development of this film, and woven into the fabric of it from the start. Plus, there are other Trent Reznor tracks in the cuts that omit "Burn." So, I actually don't think it's a licensing matter in this case (although, in many others, it likely would be).

It's probably related to Stone reconsidering the message that the lyrics juxtaposed with the images are sending. That, or just a personal aesthetic preference on Stone's part. I think the original sequence with "Burn" is brilliant, and was fine like it was and should never have been touched. Also, I think the version currently circulating is far weaker and less effective.

But, this film was made by an auteur working with a major studio and a big budget, whose score composer (and the composer of this track in question) was worked into the production proper, as opposed to Stone just "borrowing a track." I'm almost certain it's a Stone matter and not a licensing matter.

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It's not on the Director's cut. Just watched it. I'm a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and was waiting for it.

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