Which version is the best version of this movie, in your opinion?
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playtoyer — 13 years ago(February 09, 2013 01:23 PM)
there is the theatrical version and the extented version that had a theatrical release in france and maybe a few other countries the first version came out in 1994 and the extended version in 1996 for the fans of luc besson,like they did with the big blue and for economic reason to make more money,you can find the extended version on dvd althought the extented version is good with great new scenes added in the movie but I find the theatrical version much better then the extended version
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paulfitzpa — 13 years ago(February 28, 2013 10:29 PM)
I recently re-watched the international version. The way Matilda pushes the relationship in that direction is definitely uncomfortable to watch and they probably didn't think US audiences could handle that uncomfortable feeling OR they thought it just got in the way.
I find it interesting how in many ways Matilda is the adult in the relationship and Leon is the naive childlike character. In fact they kind of trade that role.
That interplay is what helps make this film so well done. It has aged very well and is still very entertaining! Great villains, great acting.
IMHO this is the BEST role that Natalie Portman has landed. She is just so good in this film, it's an oscar worthy performance. -
ame88 — 13 years ago(March 24, 2013 04:19 AM)
I have both versions on DVD and now the Blu-ray, which has both versions of the film on the same disc. The Theatrical has French opening/closing titles, too
I have difficulty choosing a version, although I did watch the shorter version the other day after not seeing it for years, and remembered how much I loved it. So I DO love the longer version, but I think as I have done editing and know about moving stories on etc, I think the shorter version gets the story told in a better way. But there is nothing wrong at all with the longer version, I wouldn't have bought the longer cut if I felt I didn't like it
It's all about personal preference.
"Yes! I am invincible!" - Boris Grishenko, GoldenEye, 1995 -
DFC-2 — 10 years ago(January 11, 2016 04:36 AM)
The best analogy, since Besson himself calls the shorter version his director's cut, is some people prefer the mistake (e.g. extra salt, more mayo) to the chef special. The only reason the longer version exists is that the chef in this case knew there were sufficient people who would add more salt and love it, that it would go over well and sell more DVDs. The salt, in this case, was more time with Mathilda and Leon.
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yoo — 12 years ago(December 01, 2013 04:54 PM)
I was wondering if there was any common preference.
Dude, it's the internet. You won't find a common preference about using both side of piece of toilet paper.
I prefer the shorter version. The longer version adds some interesting tidbits, but also one sequence that destroys a very important element of the film.
(Some spoilers ahead.)
Mathilda's apprenticeship is interesting, but dispensable. What really irks me is the sequence where Mathilda openly asks Leon to have sex with her. In the regular version, the sexual connection was hinted at, and given Mathilda's age, that is the only way to handle that. Their farewell has a very different mood if you assume that the reunion will end up in child abuse. -
Nerdglaze420 — 11 years ago(September 19, 2014 12:12 AM)
I'm just now finding out that there is a shorter version, the longer one is the only one I ever knew. Interesting.
What I wanted to say is, I never took the scene to mean that he's planning on taking her to bed. He really isn't planning anything in that scene, where they're both scared to death and she's crying heartbreakingly. He says that in the emotion of the moment. "I love you" is something that a father could say to his daughter as well. I'm obviously not saying that there's not a kind of sexual tension between the two, but I like to think that Leon just wouldn't do it. Even if they went off to live together. If they really loved each other, they could also wait until she's really grown up.
But it doesn't come to that, and that's another point. Him dying at the end can be seen as the conclusion of a morality tale. First, Tony warned him about being careful with women. As it turns out, that is what Mathilda has become to him even though he resists and doesn't like that fact. Second, as you said, he crosses a line by telling her he loves her. The relationship can't go anywhere from there. Therefore he dies. And before he does, he shows and gives his love to Mathilda by avenging her which is what she wanted from life most badly, and leaves her alone to grow up like a more or less normal kid and have a normal, ideally non-murderous relationship when grown up.
OT, Natalie Portman's performance is mindblowing for that age. -
TheAnimalMother — 12 years ago(March 22, 2014 02:12 AM)
I'm not so sure it's right to call the 110 minute version the theater version, simply because the international theaters originally showed the 133 minute version. The 110 minute release was strictly a North American release only, due to the wishes of the producers the film was cut because they believed that shorter films in North America tend to get bigger crowds. It had little to nothing to do with censorship from what I've heard, it was more about generating interest in the film.
I first saw the 110 minute version, in fact I saw it twice and I only rated the film at that time a 7.5 out of 10. Once I saw the full cut, I changed my rating to an 8.5 out of 10. I think the films longer version is actually much better, there's more character development, the whole film just works a lot better. The Matilda - Leon relationship/characters, as well as the Stansfield character are really the most interesting aspects of the film to me. So definitely, the more the better.
Apparently now there is another cut with an extra 3 minutes, I wonder how true that is???
My body's a cage, it's been used and abusedand ILIKE IT!! -
TheAnimalMother — 12 years ago(March 22, 2014 02:26 AM)
Just another quick note: My local Cineplex/Galaxy theater is replaying Leon next week as part of there Most Requested Movies offering. However they are showing the damn 1 hour and 50 minute cut the dumbasses. If they were showing the 2 hour and 13 minute version or the illusive 2hr 16min version, I'd go see it in the theater, but I'm not going to pay to see the chopped up version again.
My body's a cage, it's been used and abusedand ILIKE IT!! -
windupatheist — 11 years ago(April 28, 2014 12:59 AM)
The uncut version is markedly superior. The Russian roulette scene is the best thing Portman has ever done and practically sells that cut by itself. You do see the occasional opinion in favor of the cut version, but in my experience those opinions usually boil down to little more than misplaced and tiresome moral squick over one or both of two things:
- Leon bringing Mathilda along on hits. Sure Mathilda never kills anyone or even handles a real gun in action, but she watches Leon shoot a dude down at close range and doesn't even blink. The fact that both of them are apparently deadly serious about her training irritates people who want to view Mathilda as an unsullied soul and Leon as merely humoring her. To this I say, whatever man, a young girl being trained by a hitman is sort of the plot of this movie. It's edgy, it's French, deal with it.
- Mathilda's fizzled attempt to seduce Leon. I mean sure he rejects her attempt out of hand, but the fact that he never actually says "Because you're way too young!" in the process bothers the beep out of some people. To these people I say, beep off already. He never shows any sexual interest in her and it's sure as hell not because he's afraid of the law, so how about shutting up already.
Anyway, I fell in love with the cut version when it was all there was, but in my opinion the uncut version is the definitive one.