Payback - The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition)

First of All, Both were Full Movies, Both are Great. Any Bad Reviews are B.S. Neither Versions are Boring.Payback (1999) Porter’s a ruthless thug who goes after what he wants with a vengeance. After he's been double-crossed by his partner and wife, he wants some "payback" for the betrayal he's endured and the money he's owed. However after Porter learns that his partner has used the money to join "The Outfit," he decides that they owe him instead. With the aid of a prostitute he used to work for, he pursues what he's entitled to. The theatrical version and director’s cut share the same material. Although they are similar, the endings are not. Porter’s more edgy, brutal and less humorous in the director’s cut. Also the film's color is less noir-suggestive and more dynamic looking. Some of the actors have changed too. Other changes include a score replacement, narration removal, and no softening quips. Either way, ‘Payback’ is a tour de force of single minded unfettered brutality! In the spring of 2006 the Director's Cut was produced and it comes close to Helgeland's original version. The latter, however, probably never existed as a final cut. The Director's Cut still differs a little from it. As in the theatrical version Porter enters the syndicate hotel without having to distract the guards in the hotel lobby.In general the new version has been tightened a little bit and thus runs a little shorter than the first version. Other differences include music, which has partially been re-written for the DC. As peculiar struck me that many shots in the DC are a few frames shorter. If this has been intentionally arranged while editing the movie or if it was depended from the material that was used, is unknown. Those differences aren't mentioned in the report. Please, Decide for yourself. Finally I recommend the Director's Cut for everyone who liked the theatrical version. It heavily differs from the latter and is worth another sit-through. Theatrical Version: 97 minutes; Director’s Cut: . 90 minutes.

Remaking a classic is never a good idea at the best of times, but when Brian Helgeland's remake of Point Blank ended up being shelved, heavily re-edited, rewritten (by Terry Hayes) and reshot by another director (production designer John Myhre) to make it more `accessible' to an audience after committing the triple sins of having a hero who doesn't get the money and doesn't get the girl and - worst of all - having a character kill the dog, it must have seemed like an out and out suicidal one. So much of the film's last third was dumped that half the footage in the film's trailer (and even its poster image) were nowhere to be found in the finished film itself by the time it made it to the theatres. Somehow the version of Payback that did get released turned out to be both surprisingly good and more surprisingly commercially successful, but now that, eight years later, Helgeland's finally had the chance to restore his version for DVD, the only response to the theatrical version's tagline `No more Mr Nice Guy' is "Oh yeah?"This time Mel Gibson's Porter doesn't have a voice over to excuse his actions, and they're not diluted by focus groups either. So he steals from a homeless guy? So what, it's not as if the guy is faking a disability in this cut, he just wants his money. So he asks a barman for information by breaking his hand? So what, he doesn't have time for subtlety, he just wants his money. So his wife O.D.s after he beats her up? So what, she shot him anyway, he just wants his money. So he kills a handcuffed heavy after disarming him? So what, he didn't like the guy, he just wants his money. In fact, Porter doesn't care what happens to anybody as long as he gets his money. The only thing that makes him the hero is that the guy who has his money is even worse than he is.Unlike most Director's Cuts, this really is a very different version of the film: while the first hour has more or less the same structure as the theatrical version, the last third is a significant departure. Running some ten minutes less than the theatrical version, there's no convoluted kidnapping subplot, no Kris Kristofferson character in this version, only a couple of shots of prominently-billed John Glover at the end, though sadly no Angie Dickinson either: although originally providing a link with John Boorman's film as the voice of the syndicate boss in Helgeland's first cut, for some reason she's here replaced by Sally Kellerman on speakerphone. Instead we get a much better realized and rather more organic finale at a transit station that brings the film to a more convincing conclusion and is more attuned to the character's strengths and weaknesses than the kind of plot contrivances that gave the theatrical version its more explosive resolution. Oh yes, and everything doesn't look blue anymore.There are differences from the first cut that Helgeland submitted that was floating around as a bootleg for years - the fire truck diversion to get into the outfit hotel and the infamous elevator scene where Porter blinds a henchman are missing, while this time round the money doesn't end up in the hands of a homeless guy - but while it's a shame these aren't included on the DVD, it's a leaner, meaner movie, playing it down and dirty (none of Boorman's "Is he really dead?" ambiguity here) and on its own terms. Is it a great film or a lost masterpiece? No, just a good movie with a heart of darkness underneath the studio sheen, but that's good enough for me.Paramount's DVD is a good package, with a three-part documentary on the making and unmaking of the film (with Gibson surprisingly prominent among the new interviews) and an interview with author Donald E. Westlake that run longer than the main feature itself, as well as an audio commentary by Helgeland.

After a successful robbery of a gang of Chinese henchmen, gunman Porter is betrayed and shot and left for dead. And that's only the beginning...After his recovery, Porter looks for revenge, and his share of the loot: $70,000. "Payback(1999)" is a rollicking good-time, if you like violence, pretty girls, and Mel Gibson. And here is Gibson at his finest. First-time director Brian Helgeland sports an uncanny flair for Hollywood smaltch, and he ain't afraid to show it. Helping out is a sound supporting cast, including Maria Bello as his girlfriend(Porter's wife dies early in the film from a Heroin overdose.). Also along for the ride is Gregg Henry, as Val Resnick, a Mafia connection(There are several). Among the devious reprobates are Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn(very good), and a delicious performance by William Devane as Carter. Devane licks his lips, pulls on his $10,000 suit, and oozes evil. Porter manages to get shot, beat-up, and tortured in one scene after another. What a guy? A pawn shop provides him with a Smith and Wesson Model 27 .357 Magnum with a four-inch barrel and custom wood grips. Late in the party, one gangster home is filmed at the Doheny Mansion , on Mount St. Mary's College, 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles.

Very interesting the two releases-I prefer the original theatrical version.

THIS WAS on tv but nissed the start,.saw it with a friend in cinema years ago so ordered it...its lively and well made..having FOUND my old cooy on a shelf I now have TWO BUT BOTH have flip side two aspect rations..oho..one wider than the other WHY cant rhey all be like that, pretty please,, as amazon often dont put aspect details up...or unknown meaning they dont know which issue..its chancey. MULBERRY BUSH is a n no,.,ITS NOT as adververtised.. both discs same copy..full screen...another reviewer said the same..my reoly from bfi manager says its impossible WELL...HOW MUCH is it worth then..it seems the BBC1 version IS the original 1-85 version. NOT the official release on dvd, theres been a whopping mistake.CHECK them..but its impossible..

Not a Mel Gibson fan at all but this was a thoroughly enjoyable film. Bought it after reading comments in one of the Ed Brubaker's comics and I was glad I purchased the Blu-ray. The sound and image quality was first rate. One I will be re-watching again and again

Hardboiled revenge & action flick.Gibson plays it tough as nails in one ofhis best roles.The whole thing moves alongat pace,spiked with violence and black humour.This is the German 'flipper disk' release,one sideis 4:3 (no,me neither),the other is lovely 16:9.Extras include cast interviews.GUM....SHIELD

In a similar vein to the two different cuts of Superman II - This is the two different cuts of the cult favourite Payback.This is a more violent version and the last third is completely different to the theatrical cut!

Mel Gibson when he was good!