MovieChat Forums > Ravenous (1999) Discussion > European edit of film?

European edit of film?

posted 11 years ago by twelveboar
1 reply | jump to latest

Ravenous is one of my favourite films, so I was surprised to find a section in it's Wikipedia entry regarding an alternate edit:

"Bird suggests the final theatrical cut had elements introduced without her approval, as she expressed disdain over the voiceover narration and was interested in recutting the film for the European market.[2]

The only version I have ( british ) doesn't have a voiceover ( aside from the part where Col. Hart introduces the rest of the fort and other brief flashback scenes ).

Anyone know if the American edit of this film different to european cuts?
If not, it seems we could have had a director's cut of this wonderful film at some point. If Bird hadn't upped and died on us. That's soooo annoyin'.

[–] naples-884-346409 10 years ago

I would like to know, too !

Did a different American (theatrical) version exist ?

Can someone confirm who saw it in a theater in the US ?

Or did directress Antonia Bird only referred to
the short war-flashback-V.O. and the short introduction V.O. by Col. Hart ?
I'm personally fine with these 2 small bits of 'V.O.' because it's effective
storytelling. It would be something else if there was a V.O. like in the first "Blade Runner" version, you know?
That would be terrible for this movie...
But I think both V.O. bits could be removed without any loss for the film!

The only thing I REALLY hate about this otherwise nearly perfect B picture
are the 2 'quotes' at the beginning!
They even misspelled Friedrich Nietzsche's surname....how lame is that?
Can they please remove it entirely?
It doesn't fit the film!
Antonia Bird was right: Remove it from her film!

Then we might have the 'Director's Cut'.

Here's the source and Bird's original quote:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-they-all-but-ate- me-alive-1115720.html

And Bird herself doesn't seem entirely happy with the finished product. Mention post-production, for example, and you discover that this is when she feels she loses control and authority over a movie. Though she doesn't overtly gripe about this, it clearly bothers her. "I've had a whole new thought in the last 24 hours," she explains. "I need a whole new cut for Europe. I'd love to build that into my budget for future films: one edit for the US and one for Europe. I felt that the voiceover on Ravenous was superfluous, as were the quotes at the beginning explaining everything. There's this disease of thinking your audience is stupid - and they're not.