MovieChat Forums > Nighthawks (1981) Discussion > Now what's the deal with the original so...

Now what's the deal with the original soundtrack?

posted 13 years ago by ccr1633
2 replies | jump to latest

Is it even predictable these days when you can expect to see the original film in its full glory, complete with the Stones and Emerson tunes, when it shows on television? Today it's being shown on the cable channel Encore Drama and these songs are deleted, as usual. I thought the copyright issues surrounded newer media like DVD. Is Encore showing the hacked up variant because it's a digital transfer of the original print or something? What's the deal?

[–] mjscarface 13 years ago

It's crazy that in this day and age, we still can't get the original version of a film on dvd. It means that us loyal fans have to cling on to knackered old VHS copies or invest in a Region 1 player and seek out the rare Goodtimes release from somewhere.

Or pray for a decent TV screening at some point.

It's a similar case to another film I like; 'Shout at the Devil' which has at least 2 terrible dvd editions. Not only does it cut out entire sequences of the film, but they had the nerve to dub some English-spoken scenes into German and not even put subtitles on there to explain what's going on! So in order to actually watch this film I've gotta plug in the VCR and hope the tape still works...

I understand there's a German blu-ray of 'Nighthawks' out this month... needless to say it probably won't have the correct soundtrack and certainly no uncut finale.

"The only place I get hurt... is out there." - 'The Wrestler'

[–] ccr1633 13 years ago

The bottom line is that the jerks who control the distribution of these films don't give a damn about preserving the original art if it costs them one penny beyond that which they deem reasonable. These creeps have no civic spirit, no higher purpose than making a buck. It simply cannot be the case that it would cost them all that much to obtain the rights to the songs that originally appeared. The outing of Wulfgar at the club just isn't the same without the Brown Sugar riff pounding away in the background. I can even live without the extra footage or the original ending. Just put the goddamned film out as it was shown in the theaters. The scumbags who control the entertainment that is actually the brainchild of better, genuinely creative people, make me sick.