Just watched the work print, WOW

So i just managed to get hold of a copy of the infamous work print of this film (the quality is rough but watchable) and holy crap, it was like a totally different movie. Brilliant.

All the character motivations make so much more sense, Shane's downward spiral is superbly handled and Ryan's performance is superb (completely destroyed during editing and reshoots). This is not just a case that bits of the film are different, HUGE sections were different, everything that was cut was superb and added so much more weight to the film, i am in total shock that Mirimax could do this, they had a stunning film that captured the essence of the club and the patrons perfectly, it was daring, exciting and captivating.

Few points of difference, feel free to ask about others, they are way too many to list.

Shane is the one stealing from the club, not Greg, Shane steals because he is spending all his cash fast and wants to join Greg dealing but needs some capitol so steals 1000 dollars from the club. When Steve fires his accountant he knows damn well it's Shane that took it but calls him an asset (its kinda clear he loves Shane). This leads to the scene that in the released 54 shows Shane giving money back to Steve trying to cover for Greg, in the work print that scene is the same but different with Shane admitting he took it and Steve been happy that Shane gave the money back.

Shane kisses Greg in the basement VIP section of 54 when the 2 boys are alone, Shane is so messed up and out of control that he kisses him and does not know why.

Shane also is seen making out with a few other guys, in the original 54 we see Shane get out of bed (butt naked scene) with a girl lying next to him, in the workprint it's a guy hes in bed with....and a girl.

Steve has a second scene with Greg at the end where Greg finds out that Shane has not put in a word for him about the bartender job, he stands in front of Steve and gets he penis out for Steve to suck, Steve tells him he would rather watch him and Anita have sex. Greg angry starts to leave so Steve tells him that he saw Shane and Anita have sex, this leads to a big punch up between Greg and Shane in the coat room where Anita also get's pushed over and tells Shane never to speak to her again and to move out (this is just before the raid)

Shane's dad is clearly a bit racist in th work print, the first scene the family has together when Shane is telling him about Studio 54 sees the dad uncomfortable with him hanging around with African American's. We also have a superb scene when Shane is moving out, a brilliant argument between Shane and his dad where both actors are on fire, we also find out that Shane was a wrester in school and that's what his dad wanted him to be.

When Shane first gets in to 54 the scene is way longer, the cuts in the club are brilliant (more sex, drug use), the knock on wood performance is longer and cut with some great moments. Shane runs in to Greg on that first night, literally runs in to him knocking greg's glasses he had collected to the floor, it's then revealed that the 2 boys know each other from wrestling matches (which makes way more sense when he lets him move in with him).

Neve Campbell is in it much less (sad), the bowling Alley scene is not in it and they only have a few lines with each other when they are having coffee, the scene outside where they had coffee though is longer and we see a great connection between them. We also hear a club patron early on in the film say that Julia (Neve) had slept with many casting agents.

In the bathroom at the fancy house where Shane and Anita had dinner with the NEW York upper class, we see it play as normal (Troglodyte, cave man etc) but when Shane finds out Anita is going to sleep with the record producer to get her ahead....Shane laughs and encourages it, he also reveals how he has got an audition, both are gonna make their way to the top, anyway.

The ending of the film ends with Shane getting kicked out of the club and wrapping the bin liner around him (he asks 2 guys who go to the club for change as his wallet is inside and they call him a fa***t). Greg runs out (Shane tried to get him to leave the club earlier because it was getting raided). This is the same night they have had their bust up, greg stares at him like he wants to punch him again but Shane opens his bin liner to him and invites him to join him. Anita then joins them and it ends with them walking away from the club, their lives kinda destroyed as the club is getting raided. No happy ending, no going back to the club when Steve got out of jail, no If i Could Read Your Mind performance.

Disco Dotty is a bit more foul mouthed in this version, great one liners. Shane never finds out she's called Mona (it's never mentioned) as the scene at the drug store is not in, when she dies he just keeps calling out Mona. That scene plays great with him just starring up at the disco ball realizing the club is destroying him and people around him.

In the original 54 when Shane and Steve have the argument at the end and shane says *beep* You...you troglodyte to him' it always looked like he threw something at him but we never saw him holding anything. In the work print he does indeed throw something at him, it's Dotty's wig.

The scene when Steve is on Good Morning America and says the line that brings the club down is now on the TV when Shane and his dad are watching it.

Couple of other scenes with all the bus boy's and staff after the club has closed were in the workprint, one involving 2 guys kissing.

Most scenes that you know from the original 54 are either re edited to change the motivation of the scene and film, extended out or cut. No police officers, no scene at the police station etc, most of the reshoot stuff seemed to have been things outside the club (drug store, police station, bowling alley etc)

This was one hell of a film, i can not stress enough how good it is, THIS was the 54 i was wanting them to make, shame on Mirimax