Anyone knows something about post production problems with re-editing?

One thing that always bugged me was the elevator scene where Cash is complaining about the hole in his shirt. The black officer next to him says a clear line of dialogue with no audio. It's like they didn't even bother to dub it in.

I have uncut version of Die Hard 2 and other than one really good headshot it really isn't anything special. I would love to see uncut version of Die Hard 3 since it's my second fave DH movie. Apparently uncut workprint is in circulation, but has yet to be widely released.

As for Tango & Cash and Demolition Man, I really don't get it why would Warner Bros. butcher two awesome action movies like those two and cut so much scenes , including quite a few action scenes, out of them. And they do little to nothing about special editions with very few or no special features, while deleted footage is rotting away somewhere in their vaults. That's just a fkn shame. I don't care what anyone says, uncut and extended versions of those and many other movies would be great moneymaker for studios but they don't give a sht, causing many fans to give up from hope of seeing their favorite movies in uncut special editions. In couple words, it sucks.

It would be nice to find out more, but I don't think we will.

The production was beset with problems from its very inception. Firstly, Patrick Swayze who was originally cast as Cash dropped out and went to star in Road House (1989), then principal photography began without a completed script. Sylvester Stallone, infamous for his bad ego, had the original director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld fired because Stallone felt he wasn't being lit to satisfaction. Donald E. Thorin, who shot Stallone's earlier movie that year, Lock Up (1989), was Sonnenfeld's replacement. Then after nearly three months of filming director Andrei Konchalovsky was fired by producer Jon Peters in a dispute over the movie's ending, and was replaced with Albert Magnoli who filmed all the chase and fight scenes in the ending. In his book of memoirs, Konchalovsky says that the reason he was fired was because he wanted to give the film a more serious tone than the producers wanted, and as such, his relationship with Peters became untenable. Konchalovsky however had nothing but praise for Sylvester Stallone, who he states was a constant voice of reason on the set. Production sources said that Konchalovsky had been given impossible scheduling demands and was then made the scapegoat when he fell behind.

There was also a legal battle between producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters and Warner Bros. studio. Guber and Peters complained in Los Angeles Superior Court that Warner had replaced them on the project and, over Peters' objections, "advanced the release date of the film by many months."

Movie went into production in June, directors were changed in late August, and after principal photography was finished in September replacement director Magnoli called everyone back to the set for two more weeks of additional re-shoots. Filming was finally finished on October 20, 1989, eight weeks before its original scheduled theatrical opening in 1600 theatres across the United States.

Behind the scenes problems which included filming, script changes, and later constant cuts and re-editing of the movie were so big and bad that one of the more experienced crew members said in interview; ""This was the worst-organized, most poorly prepared film I've ever been on in my life. From the first day we started, no one knew what the hell anyone was doing." Same crew member also mentioned some reasons why director Konchalovsky was fired; "He found himself in over his head. There were scenes scheduled for three days that were so complicated they should have been scheduled for six or seven days. They were trying to do a 22-week movie in 11 weeks."

The film ultimately went over $20 million over-budget, and had to be completely re-edited by editor Stuart Baird prior to its theatrical release. Tango & Cash was one of many films to be turned over to Baird, who came onto the project as an editing "doctor" when studios such as Warner Bros. were displeased with the first cut turned in by the filmmakers. Baird was also called in by Warner Bros to re-edit another Stallone action movie Demolition Man (1993) for the same reasons. After Baird was brought in by Warner Brothers to literally save the movie in editing room, it was he who hired Hubert de La Bouillerie to edit the film and Harold Faltermeyer and Gary Chang to compose the music. Chang provided additional music near the ending of the movie because Faltermeyer could not return to re-score the final reel of the film as it was constantly being edited because Warner Bros. kept complaining on cut after cut of it. Because of the massive re-editing, some plot parts and even some action scenes were deleted.

The theatrical trailer was made by using the footage and scenes from one of the earlier cuts of the movie. This is why it shows some deleted and alternate scenes which were changed or cut from the movie during the re-editing; alternate cut of the scene where Tango and Cash first meet in warehouse, alternate cut of shower scene between Tango and Cash, deleted or alternate fight scene between Cash and Chinese assassin during which Cash says "I hate you karate guys", and a deleted scene in which Tango is reading the newspapers and then pulls out Spas 12 shotgun at someone and shoots at some car with it. The trailer also shows extra shots from some other scenes.

This is a really good thread. I learned quite a bit about this film’s troubled production, had no idea.