Highlander: Vengence cut despite director's protests

[Paul]

<a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32882">In an emotional interview with Ain't it Cool News</a>, Highlander: Search For Vengence producer Galen Walker has revealed that his company, Imagi, decided to edit Yoshiaki Kawajiri's version of "Highlander: Search For Vengence" (reducing the length of the film), leaving the Ninja Scroll director feeling somewhat unhappy.
<ul>"He didn't like it at all. I totally understood and respected his position, and basically, I humbled myself and asked him please to consider these cuts and consider how we tried to keep the authentic feeling and view of the film. But, you can be the judge when the director's version comes out, which will probably be out later this year. See both versions, and you can see the differences where the length and timing of it changes."</ul>
You can read the <a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32882">full interview over at Ain't It Cool News</a>; it's an interesting account of a man who has directly collaberated with a Japanese animation house (Madhouse) to produce a Western story with an Eastern anime aesthetic and style. The Imagi cut of "Highlander: Search for Vengeance" will be coming out in the UK on Mon, 9th July.

 

[Ushio]

The Imagi cut of "Highlander: Search for Vengeance" will be coming out in the UK on Mon, 9th July.

Danm that kinda sucks. Guess we'll have to wait a year or so for a director's cut or something to surface.

I saw it at the all-nighter and it was fine, but it's a dropped a few notches on my buying priority list anyway. :cry:

 

[Sy]

I hope this doesn't discourage other Japanese directors from working closely with the west.

 

[Paul]

The Imagi cut of "Highlander: Search for Vengeance" will be coming out in the UK on Mon, 9th July.

Danm that kinda sucks. Guess we'll have to wait a year or so for a director's cut or something to surface.

I saw it at the all-nighter and it was fine, but it's a dropped a few notches on my buying priority list anyway. :cry:

Yup, I must admit this news has tempered my enthusiasm to see the movie now. A lot of it sounds like they are trying to dumb down the story (adding an opening narration etc). Also, why not just release both versions in the same set? It's not as though many people are actually going to care about a director's cut

 

[Ice Climber]

The Imagi cut of "Highlander: Search for Vengeance" will be coming out in the UK on Mon, 9th July.

Danm that kinda sucks. Guess we'll have to wait a year or so for a director's cut or something to surface.

I saw it at the all-nighter and it was fine, but it's a dropped a few notches on my buying priority list anyway. :cry:

You have got to be kidding me! That is the worst piece **** that I have ever seen. It's not even so-bad-it's-funny. IT'S JUST PLAIN BAD.

Anyway, cut or not it is not worth seeing at all.

 

[Ushio]

You have got to be kidding me! That is the worst piece **** that I have ever seen. It's not even so-bad-it's-funny. IT'S JUST PLAIN BAD.

I've got my opinion, and you can keep yours. Swearing at me or using capitals won't make me change my mind.

Edit: I'm not trying to start a fight, I was in a funny mood last night. Peace! 8)

 

[Jaymii]

You have got to be kidding me! That is the worst piece **** that I have ever seen. It's not even so-bad-it's-funny. IT'S JUST PLAIN BAD.

There's a well constructed piece of criticism for you.

I've got my opinion, and you can keep yours. Swearing at me or using capitals won't make me change my mind.

I don't actually know what he/she was complaining about. It was quite a logical statement. And anyway a lot of people would rather watch this in its original uncut format.

 

[Martin]

I think Walker would have made his case better if he had actually stated his reasons for the cuts - even though they weren't enough of an explanation for Kawajiri it would still be of interest to viewers.

I'm not sure why they're delaying the Director's Cut though, especially when that's what Walker himself recommends we watch both versions! Surely it would be better to let the buyers make up their own minds by making both versions available equally...?

 

[Espy]

It was probably cut because Highlander's a Western property and whoever made the cuts believed that they made the film more suited to a Western audience.

 

[Paul]

The reasons for the edits are in the interview, you guys should read it

A lot of it just seems to be tweaking for a Western audience. Obviously the story telling styles are fairly different in Japan and I guess the US producers (who basically bank-rolled the entire thing) want to make this as accessible as possible. It is somewhat disappointing though, especially since Kawajiri is one of the biggest names in the anime industry and his work has such a distinctive style (I must have seen the Ninja Scroll movie well over ten times).

 

[Sy]

Does that ever turn out to be a success in the long run?

 

[Ushio]

It is somewhat disappointing though, especially since Kawajiri is one of the biggest names in the anime industry and his work has such a distinctive style (I must have seen the Ninja Scroll movie well over ten times).

This'll be Kawajiri's third made-for-America anime (after Animatrix and Vumpire Hunter D: Bloodlust). In all honesty, I'm surprised it's taken so long until someone's upset his work like this.

I'm a bit of a fan of his older work as well, so I take an interest regardless.

 

[thekendyman]

I just don't understand why major anime companies edit for DVD Release anymore, cause the second its released everyone starts to Bitch and moan cause its leaving stuff out

Take 4Kids as an Example, Think of the uproar about One piece getting edited to the point that its a shell of itself, No Blood, The loss of Proper fight sequences and weapons were made to look like toys

 

[Noratav]

I just don't understand why major anime companies edit for DVD Release anymore, cause the second its released everyone starts to Bitch and moan cause its leaving stuff out

Take 4Kids as an Example, Think of the uproar about One piece getting edited to the point that its a shell of itself, No Blood, The loss of Proper fight sequences and weapons were made to look like toys

Comparing this to 4Kids is a bit extreme. It's a bad decision, yes, but not anywhere near that league.

Secondly, it's not edited for DVD release per se, it's edited for non Japanese audiences. I'm not trying to justify the decision, but the guys doing the editing are the ones that produced the movie, they're the ones who commisionned Kawajiri and Madhouse to create the movie and they were represented on the production committee. Also the company doing this isn't an anime company, they're an american company that makes CGI films so they probably don't know any better. The best comparison here is with Steamboy which was also cut by it's american distributors because they thought it might improve the pacing.