New restoration DVD
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Major Dundee
bullit2513 — 21 years ago(March 13, 2005 08:14 PM)
I've seen at several different website that Sony Pictures is releasing a DVD of Peckinpah's movie with 15 minutes of restored, and supposedly missing, footage. The only release date I could find was May 31st at moviesunlimited.com, but otherwise I haven't seen anything official.
Is this legitimate? Can we expect a dvd in widescreen of Major Dundee? Here's hoping. I'd love to see the version Bloody Sam originally intended. -
hbrix — 21 years ago(March 17, 2005 04:34 PM)
A newly scored 136min restored cut will run at Film Forum II in NYC from April 8-19th. I assume a home video release will soon follow. Below is FF's press release.
Major Dundee: The Unseen Extended Version
New 35mm Restoration of Peckinpahs Western Epic
At Film Forum April 8-19
MAJOR DUNDEE: THE EXTENDED VERSION, a new restoration of Sam Peckinpahs Civil War/Western epic, starring Charlton Heston and Richard Harris, will run at Film Forum from Friday, April 8 through Tuesday, April 19 (twelve days). Originally released in 1965 in a severely butchered version, MAJOR DUNDEE can finally be seen in a cut that closely restores Peckinpahs original vision. Grover Crisp, Sony Pictures Vice-President in Charge of Film Restoration, who oversaw the project, will introduce the 8:00 show on opening night, Friday, April 8, along with composer Christopher Caliendo, who wrote a brand new score for the extended version.
Until the Apache is taken or destroyed Continue rotting in a Civil War prison camp or join with hated Union jailers in pursuit of three children kidnapped by massacring raiders: thats the deal Charlton Hestons eponymous martinet Dundee himself with something to prove after a miscue at Gettysburg offers his prisoner and ex-friend, Richard Harriss cavalier Captain Tyreen, successively Irish potato farmer, cashiered Union officer and Confederate renegade. Volatile enough, but as Dundee further fleshes out his command with a friendly Indian, Negro volunteers, and one-armed James Coburn, its clear that for the obsessive Major, this will be a kind of land-locked Moby Dick, a quest after the Apache across the Rio Grande into occupied Mexico and a confrontation with Emperor Maximilians French lancers.
Sam Peckinpahs first large-scale Western was complete with epic sweep, his own stock company (a stunning array of Western icons, including Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, L.Q. Jones, and Slim Pickens), and blood-soaked violence anticipating the directors laterThe Wild Bunch. But it also became one of the screens most notorious films maudits (Horizons West author Jim Kitses called it one of Hollywoods great broken monuments). When the studio which had cut the budget by a third just before the start of shooting threatened to shut the picture down early, Heston offered his own salary back to allow missing scenes to be shot. The studio took the money but still didnt film the scenes. Then an additional 20 to 50 minutes estimates differ were hacked away, a complete butcher job that ran roughshod with the continuity, confusing both audiences and critics. To compound matters, the studio imposed a music score on the film that the director objected to vociferously.
Forty years later, Grover Crisp of Sony Pictures, matching color separation masters with a still-extant soundtrack for a longer version, has located and restored all but six minutes of Peckinpah's original cut. To help bring the film more into line with Peckinpah's vision, a new music score was commissioned from composer Christopher Caliendo, with the entire track now recorded and re-mixed in 5.1 Dolby Digital. The result is that rare event in film history and restoration: the rescue of a once-mutilated masterwork.
A SONY PICTURES REPERTORY RELEASE. Running time: 136 minutes. -
Reeler — 20 years ago(May 21, 2005 07:37 PM)
I suppose the DVD will be the identical version to what I saw this afternoon at the theater nearest the local university. If so, it doesn't appear to be much changed other than the addition of a couple of scenes and a little extension here and there, plus the new score (minus the "Fall in behind the Major"). A few minutes are added at the beginning just prior to Dundee's mustering of the prisoners on the parade ground at night. What had been missing was Tyreen and a few of his men being brought back after escaping following their murder of a couple of guards (not shown). Later, when Dundee is discovered after having spent the night with a Mexican woman in Durango, that scene had immediately followed his having the arrow removed from his leg. Several minutes were added between those two events. All of it is with the Mexican woman, which probably didn't seem necessary to the (racist?) producers, but went further to understanding Dundee. Altogether, one has a better sense of what a flawed character he is after seeing the restoration. Not quite the heroic vision that the producers no doubt would have preferred Peckinpah to have provided.
-
deanofrpps — 20 years ago(May 28, 2005 07:10 AM)
i must confess i did like the score
Fall In Behind the Major
it added to the character of major dundee as he might have liked to see himself
i came across these remarks by Charleton Heston:
"One of the most crucial, though none of us realized it at the time, was that Columbia, Sam and I all really had
different pictures in mind.
Columbia, reasonably enough, wanted
a cavalry/Indians film
as much like Jack Ford's best as possible. I wanted to be the first to make a film that really explored
the Civil War.
Sam, though he never said anything like this, really wanted to make
The Wild Bunch.
That's the movie that was steaming in his psyche."
i am anxious to see the restored film ,,, does the new version explore more about trooper ryan's journal?
a cheery cherio
HA Andrews -
hondo21 — 21 years ago(March 25, 2005 10:02 AM)
More details Film restorer Robert A. Harris interviews Grover Crisp of Columbia Pictures about the new Extended Version of MAJOR DUNDEE in his digitalbits.com column here:
http://www.thedigit albits.com/articles/ robertharris/harris0 32405b.html
It will feature an entirely new score. (Delete the blank spaces in the link) -
bullit2513 — 20 years ago(June 30, 2005 10:25 AM)
The new dvd will feature added material from the versions that have been shown on AMC and the Western Channel Recently. Look through this message board to see what has been added or check out www.dvdsavant.com for a great review of the extended version.
-
bullit2513 — 20 years ago(July 04, 2005 11:33 AM)
I don't have the western channel so I can't be sure, but I don't think they're showing the extended cut. The DVD comes out Aug. 31 so I doubt the added footage would alreay be on television.
If it helps, here are a couple scenes in the extended cut.
-Upon returning from the Rostis ranch after the massacre, Major Dundee and his troop come upon Captain Tyreen and his men who have escaped from the stockade.
-What happens to Riago is shown late in the movie. Is he a traitor or is he loyal to Dundee and Potts?
-IMO, the best scene added has Dundee, Tyreen, Potts, Graham, and Gomez deciding what they should do; continue chasing Sierra Chariba into Mexico or head back to Texas?
Hopes this helps, teejay. -
Flashpants — 20 years ago(September 23, 2005 04:24 PM)
The have put a different score on Major Dundee as well. Which is AWFUL.
The original is still on there on the mono soundtrack, but would of been better in the remastered 5.1, but the new score is horrid.
The original was one of the best to ever go in a film. Then they change it for no reason.
New scenes weren't anything special apart from finding out what happened to Riago.
Still, the quality is great for it's age.
IN FUNK WE TRUST -
bullit2513 — 20 years ago(September 23, 2005 09:27 PM)
I actually liked the new score by Christopher Caliendo. It sounded a lot like a Jerry Fielding score, or at least more moody/appropriate for a darker Sam Peckinpah western.
Besides the Mitch Miller "Fall in Behind the Major" song and that annoying twing that sounded when anyone said "Until the Apache is taken or destroyed," I liked the original score by Danielle Amphitreaof, but I thought Caliendo's was better overall. My one complaint about the new score was in the final battle. It was too quiet where the original had an excellent chaotic feel to it.
It was great to see the added footage. The scene of Dundee, Tyreen, Potts, Gomez, and Graham discussing what to do with the Apaches and the truth about Riago was the best scene added. It was good to see the lost weekend in Durango, Tyreen's escape in the beginning, and a few other shorter scenes.
Great DVD and well worth the wait.
"I don't mean to be a sore loser, but if when it's over, I'm dead, kill him." Butch Cassidy -
Flashpants — 20 years ago(September 25, 2005 07:02 AM)
I jut felt the original score brought more punch to the film. It brought more tension and excitement. Especially towards the end. Yes, I agree the twang when anyone said "until the Apache is taken or destroy" was annoying, mainly because it was over used.
I haven't really got any complaints about the new scenes, I only wonder what's missing in the other 17 minutes that we never seen.
Still, do you not think that adding a new score without the directors consent is butchering the film? I suppose it can be seen as an added feature as the original is on the DVD in mono. But still.
IN FUNK WE TRUST -
bullit2513 — 20 years ago(September 25, 2005 12:12 PM)
On the commentary on the DVD with the Peckinpah historians, they say that the massacre scenes were probably never filmed. They do concede that Peckinpah worked on the Rostes massacre scenes at some point, but they were either not up to snuff or never finished for a final product.
Indiana, I agree about being disappointed about never knowing the full version, however long that may be, that Sam intended. On the original 1965 trailer, several brief shots are shown that are not in any version I've ever seen. Check out dvdsavant for a deeper look at the movie, including some things that didn't make it into the final cut.
"I don't mean to be a sore loser, but if when it's over, I'm dead, kill him." Butch Cassidy -
ruggedrascal — 20 years ago(September 25, 2005 04:14 PM)
Peckinpah reportedly did not like the original score (the composer was chosen by the studio), so that's the reason behind the new score, to bring it closer to Peckinpah's own taste in movie music. Personally I think they should just have adapted the original score to keep some of it in but take out the "twang" and the stupid march and some of the bad orchestration but since the original score is there on the DVD, I don't think it matters much.
-
Hancock_the_Superb — 20 years ago(October 02, 2005 05:42 AM)
Well, I bought the DVD on the cheap from my local Wal-Mart yesterday. Don't plan to watch the whole movie for awhile, but I did view the special features, and I watched a few scenes mostly to see how the new score came off. I haven't seen much yet, but I like what I've seen so far. If you like the film, it's worth getting regardless.
"It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun." - Claude Rains, "Lawrence of Arabia"