I hate “alternate endings” on DVDs. I don’t mind them if they’re just an extra scene and it doesn’t radically alter the story. But often (like in the new “I Am Legend” dvd) they’re endings that are complete departures from the original story. It tells me that a director had no conviction about where the story was going and coped out with 2 or more versions. I heard one great screenwriting teacher say that all great stories start with a firm knowledge of the beginning, a firm knowledge of the ending… then the body of the story is the bridge the gap between the two. Without a solid conviction of where your story is GOING… the story lacks a sense of direction. Alternate endings to me are basically a confession of a director and a studio that “We had no idea what the fuck we were doing with this movie in the first place and just built it on a gimmick”.
Anyway, I also wasn’t thrilled with Cloverfield… but I enjoyed it a little and thought it was an ok brainless fun afternoon at the theater… but certainly nothing special. Well, according to our friends over at Shock Till You Drop, the Cloverfield DVD is coming out on April 22nd, and it’s going to have not 1, BUT TWO alternate endings. Surprise surprise. Here’s a run down of what will be on the disc:
• Commentary: Commentary by Director Matt Reeves
• Featurette: The Making of Cloverfield
• Featurette: Cloverfield Visual Effects
• Featurette: I Saw It! It’s Alive! It’s Huge
• Featurette: Clover Fun
• Additional Scenes: Congrats Rob
• Additional Scenes: When You’re in Japan
• Additional Scenes: I Call That a Date
• Additional Scenes: It’s Going to Hurt
• Additional Scenes: Alt Ending #1
• Additional Scenes: Alt Ending #2
• Easter Eggs: Slusho!
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest – JLVD Video 2
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest – JLVD Video 5
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest – JLVD Video 9
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest – JLVD Video 11
• Easter Eggs: Rack ‘Em & Pack ‘Em
• Easter Eggs: Fighting the X
Yeah… I’ll be skipping this one I think
I dunno about the DVD. I might get it cuz I liked the movie.
I personally enjoy alternate endings, just because they sometimes differ widely from the one shown, IE: I Am Legend, which i liked the “original” version more than the one shown in theaters. Plus i enjoyed cloverfield, and the though of there being alternate ending or 2 is promising, because the one thing that i didn’t like about the movie was the ending. Soo having there be 2 different ones would totally help the movie overall if an ending is important to you…and it should because a Kick Ass movie could still be shit if the ending doesn’t follow up to the rest.
Well, first off, I doubt you will have to sit through the movie to watch the alternate endings.
Secondly, the alternate endings might be the ones that were filmed to throw people off to the actual ending of the movie. I know that I read somewhere that they were filming the movie with a few different endings so that way the actual ending to the film wouldn’t get ruined by people posting it on the internet.
I tend to enjoy alternate endings. Its fun to see the different directions it could have gone and how it affects the rest of the story.
I also agree that its better for everyone to have a clear direction of where they are going with the story. But to throw in some “what ifs” at the end is also cool.
Ill be interested to see what these alternate endings consist of…on youtube, as I have no intentions of sitting through that movie again.
Damn i hate it when they do that, its ok as an extra but not fixed into the movie, i really liked the final few shots too
I am one of the few people that didnt like this movie. I loved the milatary part of the movie but thats about it. Its suppose to be a monster movie right and you see the moster for a total of like 90 seconds…….lame. Anyways, I dont think I am interested in watching it again at all.
John, Chark up there beat me to it. Furthermore, let’s go a step further: the director of this film is not the same person who wrote it. Also, in the past, there have been films who have original endings, filmed, as written. They get put up in front of a test audience. The cards come back, and everyone loves the film but the ending is underwhelming.
Yes, I thought the original ending of “Fatal Attraction” had more of a cerebral tone, but who can forget the ‘radically’ altered ending that Adrian Lyne thought up on the fly? Or, as bullshit as it was, the ‘new’ ending of “Pretty Woman”?
How about the original intended endings of “Little Shop Of Horrors”? “Blade”? The changes..better or worse? Did the changes come in whole or in part to audience test cards? Yes, they did.
I could go on and on with film after film, John. I think you get my point. But what bothers me about the post the most is that, in the past, you have said *exactly* the point I and Chalk above are pointing out. Film is a collabritive medium. The majority of filmmakers have to listen to thier producers and/or the studio backing them. All want to put out the best “cut” of the film possible. But, lo and behold, here you are…will the real John Campea please stand up?
I also note that while you talk of ‘alternate endings’ that do not radically change the story —I could have sworn you don’t mention what Cloverfield’s alternate endings consist of. For I know, they don’t radically change the story…and you don’t know if they do or not.
As for alternate endings myself overall on DVDs? I’ll pick on 28 Days Later. When that film was released, much was made about the “gimmick” of four different endings. When the DVD was released there was the “director/studio cut’ which I saw in theatres anyway, plus the other three. I checked out the other three, and all it was really was trimmed and/or re-edited footage. Not much of a radical change either way. By themselves…ho hum.
“Fracture” – good ending. But there was the ‘alternate’ endings which were not radical departures from the chosen ending, except for one or two lines and/or actions. Boring as hell compared to the chosen ending.
Unless the unused ending has a radical departure from the studio ending/director comprimise, I usually do find them hokey and uninteresting.
You do know that the alternate ending for “I Am Legend” was the original right. And the studio had Lawrence re-shoot it.
I’m a little baffled as to why anyone would resist alternate endings and deleted scenes on DVD. Sure, they may have been cut for a reason, but they were filmed for a reason as well. It’s a great insight in to the film making and story development process. Cliche of the millenium: You no like? Don’t watch.
As for the comment that alternate endings “tells me that a director had no conviction about where the story was going and cop[p]ed out with 2 or more versions”– it’s an unfair one. Studios wield a heavy hand with their large budget moneymakers and, sadly, give heavy heavy clout to test audiences. To say, because of studio intervention and handwringing, that to film an alternate ending is to cop out… I don’t think that’s the case. For invested directors, do you save the baby by keeping it in a dirty diaper… or just throw everything into the trash. Faced with such a decision, I’d probably opt for filming a new ending as well.
I think that any DVD that has additional scenes or alternate endings is stupid in the first place. There is a reason they arn’t the movie, and by watching them, it will take away the original movie going experience. The only extras worth watching are the behind the scenes and little documentaries.
Well, I guess on the upside there is no alternate ending that could make the movie suck any harder than it already did.
Apart from coming out with a headache I totally loved Cloverfield and can’t wait to watch it again, although don’t think it’ll have the same impact second time round or on the small screen.
Looking forward to getting the DVD though for the featurettes and commentary.
My brother I think saw this film in theaters and always refers to it as “CloverFAILED”.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the commentary on the disc because I’m a commentary whore. I just hope I enjoy the movie when I finally see it.