VHS run time vs. movie run time

It's available in both VHS and DVD, and reasonably priced. See the Amazon.com box on imdb's Hot Rock main page, in the upper right corner. There may of course be other places to buy a copy (Google should be helpful).

By the way, I left my original message in May of 2003(!) and have been checking back periodically for replies. Imagine my happy surprise yesterday to find your post!

The Hot Rock holds up. It may not be as relentlessly slambang as today's action movies, but it is so clever, with characters so sharply delineated. Much of the period political jabs may go over the heads of today's younger audiences. They seem like private jokes for those who were young when the movie first came out ("I'm not going to be the first police commander to lose a station!").

And that exhilarating ending still plays and still satisfies!

Ask me ANYthing about this film. It's my all-time favorite since age 11. The missing scenes are:

The bomb scene. Dortmunder and Greenberg, (Greenwood in the novel), go to a lake, (Which is really Malibu State Park), with the outside pretense of two guys fishing. When the coast is clear, Greenberg starts whipping out bombs and lighting them and throwing them into the brush so that Dortmunder can get an example of what bomb Greenberg has devised as the explosion to aid in their diversion tactic, (The first caper where the car crashes outside the Brooklyn Museum to distract the gaurds). It's a hilarious scene! He keeps bringing out bigger and better bombs and lighting them up. Dortmunder, a man of few words, says, 'Bigger'....each time. And Greenberg's little commentaries/editorializations are funny too. After the 3rd. bomb, Dortmunder says 'Bigger still'. Greenberg, trying not to be jilted, meekly says, "I'll work on it".
Great Scene.

The next scene they sometimes edit, because it doesn't advance the plot, is the scene where Dortmunder has a homecoming of sorts at his sisters place right after Kelp picks him up from jail. (in the book, Kelp and Dortmunder are not brothers in law but cousins of some sort) As Dortmunder is playing with his infant nephew on his knew, the kid pees on him. Dortmunder looks up to the other people in the room, Kelp and his sister, and says, "The kid's peeing on me". Later when, Dortmunder gives his speech of determination in the helicopter, he talks about how the emerald has jinxed him and he gives a littany of hardships he has had to endure while trying to make this score. One of the ones he lists, is "peed on". Also, "Robbed, Run over, shot at, ...and worst is gonna happen before it's done....etc.... Either I get IT, or IT GETS ME". His stregnth of resolve is apparent after the 3rd heist at the Police Station goes Awry.

The other scene is probably less footage during the actual helicopter ride. The usually cut some out on TV. It's a shame because it's a non dialogue but funny scene of the guys in the chopper looking like they are about to YARF! Also....During this long flying scene, you get a glimpse of the WTC Towers being built. Very impactful these days.

And the last scene they usually or sometimes cut, is right after Dortmunder leaves the bank with the stone and struts down the street happily to the tune of "When You Believe" in Dixieland Jaxx style. After he gets into the car and you hear the Dortmunder gang CHEER, the final scene they cut is Dr. Amusa, (Or Major Iko in the book), driving up to the bank with the attorney Prosker, and getting out to go to the Safety Deposit box. They of Course will come up empty handed.

In the book, there are two additional capers that are not included in the film. But the film does it justice, or I should say that William Goldman, the screenwrite, does it justice, by not including them. The two additional capers are breaking into an insane asylym, where the attorney has sequestered himself for safe keeping for a while, in order to spring Prosker and force him into giving them the information of where the Balabomo Emerald is. The last and final caper in the book is Dortmunder on the run when he learns of a double cross by Prosker and Iko, and Dortmunder hijacks a plane at the airport, of sorts. He hops on and tells the pilot just to go wherever he was headed. The pilot does it, but all the while, his buddy sleeps through it and he can't seem to revive him. After he lands and lets Dortmunder off the plane, the buddy finally wakes up and the pilot suffers from severe frustration from not being able to convince his buddy that the whole event even happened. The buddy thinks he is making it all up. And who wouldn't think that?!

Hope this clears up any questions or confusion.
The biggest and most loyal fan of, "The Hot Rock".

Thanks, C-2. That probably explains it. Never thought to look right in front of my face for the answer!

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