[KevD]

My most enjoyable HD experience to date

Having owned/seen alot of the discs out there I was suprised how much I enjoyed this, Great picture and a very good soundtrack to go with it.

I never caught the film before, maybe I paid a bit more attention than the other HD films I owned which were watched for the 10th time and this made it stand out a little more but thought it was a very good revenge flick and Mel Gibson was great (whatever you think of him!)

Would defo recommend this one, even if you own the film already as this is apparantly quite different to the Theatrical cut.

[enablerbro1]

Point Blank is one of my most favorite movies of all time, alongside films like Get Carter, a no brainer top five movie. I was willing to hate this remake but I actually really like it. Not on the same level as Lee Marvin's tour de force but it is an enjoyable, entertaining flick and I can imagine it would look great in HD.

[McNab]

Is this just thew Mel Gibson film Payback?

What's with the Straight Up bit?

[enablerbro1]

Originally Posted by McNab

Is this just thew Mel Gibson film Payback?

What's with the Straight Up bit?

Big Paula Abdul fans?

[SeedyR]

Originally Posted by McNab

Is this just thew Mel Gibson film Payback?

What's with the Straight Up bit?

Basically the director's cut. It's shorter and with a lot of new scenes, score etc. Apparently the original version was the Mel Gibson cut.

[Jim Morrison]

Payback is one of my favourite flicks and i'm really looking forward to watching this new Helgeland cut on Blu-Ray.

[myersfan73]

Just watched this version & really enjoyed it! So much so, I'll buy the SD-DVD so I can see the Theatrical cut! Both versions are supposed to be total different but both great!

[MJeeves]

Helgeland was the films original director but when the studio saw the movie... they were NOT happy with the grittyness and the bleak tone of the film. Helgeland refused to change it so he was fired and the film was finished with the DP (Director of Photography) doing the directing. The film was over 30% reshot and the original score was replaced. Kris Kristofferson's character was also added to make the film longer and Gibson was asked to provide some "Lethal Weapon-esque" comedy. Neither the original or theatrical cut was Gibson's cut. He was kinda caught in the middle. It is a very interesting "behind the scenes" look at what CAN go wrong when making Hollywood movies.

A similar thing is currently happening with the new Tarantino / John Madden thriller "KILLSHOT". He made it like the novel but test audiences wanted a more upbeat and actionpacked film so he was ordered to reshoot some scenes and add others. Johnny Knoxville's character has been cut out totally!

It's not uncommon, although "PAYBACK" was an especially complicated and nasty example.

Glad the HD-DVD is good. I have it on order. Great flick!

[McNab]

Sounds interesting, I'm tempted to buy it now.

[BIGRED]

Watched this last night , great transfer (less washed out - more natural) and overall superior to the origional version , the tone of the movie is "harder" and with alot less humor which in my opinion is a good thing , the last 25 minutes of the film are completely different , highly reccomended

[enablerbro1]

Ordered a copy from amazonUS which was shipped today, am really looking forward to seeing how this differs from the cinema release.

[spuddy01]

Just ordered it myself from DVDPacific so hopefully have in a weeks time, I really enjoyed the first one so looking forward to this cut

[AgentCool]

Mine was shipped by MovieTyme last week but I haven't received it yet. I never saw the original version so this will be my first 'Payback experience'.

[Geoff_D]

I've always liked Payback, and as soon as I heard that Helgeland's cut was going to see the light of day I was very happy. I'm even happier now that Amazon have dispatched my HD-DVD version.

[Jim Morrison]

Originally Posted by markwpage

Mine was shipped by MovieTyme last week but I haven't received it yet. I never saw the original version so this will be my first 'Payback experience'.

I'm still waiting on mine from MovieTyme too. Anyone else had their copy through yet?

[AgentCool]

Received mine from MovieTyme this morning and watched it this afternoon. The picture has a fair amount of film grain but it's still got a lot of detail and there are no real issues. The DD+ sound is good to my ears as well though I am listening to it recoded as DTS through optical.

More importantly, the film is excellent!

[Jim Morrison]

Just finished watching Helgeland's version and whilst i thoroughly enjoyed it and found it fascinating seeing another vision of the same film, i didn't like at as much as the original theatrical cut. This quote from Fettastic at AVS perfectly sums up my thoughts:

As for the changes in the film itself, the additional harsher scenes were welcome but I really missed the voice over and the ending is kind of limp. it never really feels like Porter ever "gets in there" like he did in the theatrical version. There is a perfect version of this film out there that incorporates the harshes scenes, abandons the blue and maintains the much better third act. Maybe someday we'll see it, but I doubt it. In the meantime the theatrical version trumps this one in my estimation.

In addition I really missed the opening scene in Payback 1999 when we see Porter having surgery with Gibsons voice-over. When Porter says: "That's what they took from me and that's what i was gonna get back" before opening his eyes - well that's one of my favourite moments from the theatrical.
I also miss the original score and found this new soundtrack nowhere near as emotive. That aside, as a big Payback fan, finally seeing this version has been a joy and it's one of my most prized BD discs. Now if only Paramount will release the theatrical cut to accompany this one.

[enablerbro1]

Have to say that whilst I generally disagree with studios interfering with a director's intended movie this version of Payback is on a par with the Redux of Apocalypse Now. The original cinema version is actually better.

This version really exposes Mel Gibson as the totally wrong actor for the role, Clint Eastwood could have done it no problem but Mel is just the wrong actor with the wrong "nuances"/tics. Gibson needs the light comedy and this role just isn't light comedy, Point Blank wasn't light comedy and the Parker books are not light comedy.

Ditto the above re a cinema release of this. Yes, it's good to have seen this version but it is the lesser of the two.

Disc is worth it to me just for the Westlake interview alone.

[Geoff_D]

I thought that Mel nailed Porter in the DC. He's a mean, nasty piece of work and Mel delivered a suitably assholic performance. I think that some folk can't divorce him from his comedic persona that he's trotted out time after time, and so it's a shock when he delivers a character as menacing and coldy aloof as Porter. Is he Lee Marvin? No. But then no-one can be.

Basically, I loved this new (original!) version. I didn't miss the voice-over one little bit, liked the more natural colour balance and the goddamned dog stays dead. I will concede that it's a shame that the swaggering music score was replaced with something more subdued, but it wouldn't have fitted stylistically with the more downbeat DC so I can understand the change.

Don't get me wrongo, I like the theatrical version, but it's too upbeat at times which really sets it at odds with all the toe-smashing and whatnot. The DC feels more like the brutal '70s films that it owes a debt to, and not the stylised '90s mishmash of ideas that the theatrical version represents. The ambiguous DC ending isn't neat, it isn't perfect, and it's not supposed to be.

Cracking stuff, and one of my HD-DVDs of the year so far.

[enablerbro1]

Originally Posted by Geoff_D

I thought that Mel nailed Porter in the DC. He's a mean, nasty piece of work and Mel delivered a suitably assholic performance.

But he can't help being "goofy", he doesn't play it consistantly straight. I think the original cinema release was the studio's attempt to even out his performance by allowing the schtick continuity; he can't help being Riggs of LW1 and playing the Three Stooges.


Interesting comment by Westlake that he felt Duvall gave the better Parker performance. Physically, Marvin was Parker and I liked his unremitting ruthlessness. I'll have to go back and rewatch The Outfit.

[Geoff_D]

Originally Posted by enablerbro1

But he can't help being "goofy", he doesn't play it consistantly straight. I think the original cinema release was the studio's attempt to even out his performance by allowing the schtick continuity; he can't help being Riggs of LW1 and playing the Three Stooges.

I dunno if you're looking for it a bit too much, but I didn't notice any trademark goofiness.

[enablerbro1]

Originally Posted by Geoff_D

I dunno if you're looking for it a bit too much, but I didn't notice any trademark goofiness.

I guess it was most obvious to me any time he's subjected to physical violence including his fall down the stairs of the subway station after being shot but you could be right, maybe I'm just looking for it. As Point Blank is one of my favorite films and I'm a big fan of the Parker books it might be that Gibson just doesn't sit so well in the pure "tough guy" imagine which, in my mind, was set in stone by Lee Marvin. I also hated Sin City The Movie where I loved the original graphic novel.

Maybe I enjoyed the lighter comedic cinema release of Payback as a Gibson movie rather than a reworking of Point Blank where maybe this version is more of an attempt at a reworking of Point Blank/The Hunter which I don't think works. Still, I'd advise anyone who enjoys either version to read some of the original Parker books though maybe not the newer ones as Parker hasn't aged too well in my opinion.

[Andy Leitch]

Just watched the DC, although I like the DC for the storyline, I definitely prefer the look of the TC.

Why wasn't this released on a BD50 with both TC & DC?

A wasted opportunity.

[CrackDown]

Didn't like the directors cut. I liked the more film noirish look and sound to the theatrical, and the tongue in cheek. The ending was superb in the theatrical too, moving you to the edge of your seat whereas the directors cut I was left feeling a bit cheated.