Director's Cut?
Has anyone seen this version? How much better is it than the International version?
shareIn my opinion, the International version was better because it was shorter and had less talk on it but it lost the 'job interview' scene where Eric exhibited his capabilities of defeating someone in short time.
The scenes being cut were 1) Yuda's life in Sumatra where he had crush on a girl and being ridiculed by his brother for being not serious on working in the farm; 2) ceremony or ritual from his village celebrating Yuda's would be Merantau journey; 3) Yuda's attempt to teach Adit (the kid) the philosophy of Silat; 4) the job interview scene, in which on this scene, Eric invited Yuda to recruitment center when he found Yuda hadn't found any job yet.
Very informative post. Thanks a lot.
shareand i suppose if they ever brought out a cut edition of avatar you'd no doubt agree with this as well?
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I just saw the short, international version on youtube. Even in it's cut form, "Merantau" is a great film, but cutting 30 minutes?? That is crazy and really unacceptable. watching the cut version I thought there should be more time spent in the village, before Iko Uwais leaves his family and heads to the city. The beginning is important to understand the powerful family bonds, and why he is actually leaving in the first place. plus it seems that they cut alot of stuff dealing with Indonesion culture. I guess it is assumed that those in the West care nothing about other cultures, and that we just want to see mindless action. These insulting "international versions" of asian films are becoming the norm. Films like "The Warlords," Red Cliffs" and "Ong Bak" all got released in north America and Great Britain in severely shortened form. in fact, try to get the uncut version of Ong Bak; it is virtually impossible as distributers made sure that Asian dvd's have no English subtitles. They change the music, the story, they take away plot developments, character development etc.. Even the films of Bruce Lee are different in china. all i can say is, avoid these butchered versions whenever you can. "Merantau" will be officially released in the States in december, and it is the short version, so you might want to search for an import dvd; the 134 minute version is an epic action film with a soul, while the cut version is just a fine action film that leaves you wanting a bit more.
shareEverything you said is dead on. I also love how, when 'Kill Bill' ended being too long for a theatrical release, Miramhacks's solution was to split it up into two movies (rather then just have him edit it) so as not to "interfere with Tarantino's artistic vision" (or however they put it). I guess looking after the director's artistic vision is what Miramhacks does when they're not editing Cory Yuen films and adding Hip-Hop soundtracks.
Grr!
does anyone have a clue as to where to find the uncut version?? i found one on ebay that says its 136 minutes, but another one here on the forum says they are fake...if anybody can give a hint that would be much appreciated.
shareI'm afraid I can't help you there. I'd really like to find an uncut version myself.
I don't think it's available yet. Evans said they'll be releasing an all region DVD that contains English subs, the original soundtrack, uncut content including deleted scenes and the soundtrack available separately for computer users as DVD-ROM material.
When it's available I can pretty much guarantee you'll be able to find the Indonesian version at yesasia.com. Good place to get import stuff.
My guess is that it's going to be in August, here's why:
Q. kunderempFeb 11, 2012 05:12 PM
1. I wonder when Merantau DVD Special Edition will be released?
A. That's a lot of questions.
1. Merantau Special Edition DVD is almost finalized and will be released to coincide with THE RAID, most likely the same week.
http://theraid-movie.blogspot.com/
Though he might have been talking about the theatrical release. But below he's mentioning the theatrical release and saying material still isn't finalized for the special edition.
Also:
MERANTAU SPECIAL EDITION DVD
Ok, after reading Ben's comment on buying the Indonesian cut of the film on DVD here in Jakarta, I figure now is as good a time as any to mention on this blog about a planned re-release of the local DVD release by JIVE COLLECTION.
The original release.
We're finalizing the materials for the release but one thing we all agreed on was that if we were to do a re-release it had to be worth a "double-dip" purchase not to cheat our fans who came out and supported the film on its first release.
So here's a rough outline on what will be featured on the release.
2-Disc Edition
Indonesian Cut (135mins) *WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES*
International Cut (107mins) *WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES*
All extra features previously released on US & UK releases including Production Blogs, Making Of, Bloopers, Deleted Scenes, Fight Scene Storyboard Comparisons & a featurette on the Bamboo Pole Stunt (English Subtitles provided)
Promo Reel & Trailers
Original Soundtrack (included as DVD-Rom content)
A Sneak Peak at THE RAID
Character Poster Postcards
35mm Film Cell
We're looking at ways to get this release available for online orders, as soon as something is more concrete regarding release date and availability I will post it here.
http://theraid-movie.blogspot.com/2011/08/midnight-madness.html
Sounds like a winner. Now we just have to get that release. Grrrrr - do want.
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=22803231
I think they were wise to produce an international edit. That was more than enough for me. I think I got the general drift about Yuda and the journey he had to undertake.
shareThanks for that, I was curious why the Netflix version seemed to have a significantly shorter running time than what was listed. Is the original version available on DVD?
share