826 The New World

[tavernier]

"So, let's talk brass tax here."

That is an undeniably great line, worthy of Armond.

[Perkins Cobb]

Mocking DVDTalk reviews is like shooting fish in a barrel ... albeit smaller fish than DVDFile reviews, I guess.

[Scharphedin2]

I am excited to read that this new DVD is a completely new and longer edit of the film. At 172 minutes, this edit will be a good twenty minutes longer than the original theatrical cut, which is released on DVD in Italy, and almost forty minutes longer than the standard theatrical release of the film.

The Italian DVD has both the 135 minute standard edit, and the 150 minute cut. It also (if I remember correctly) has the extras that were included on the original standard DVD release of the film. So, for completists, a copy of the Italian release is needed in tandem with the new extended DVD.

[John Cope]

A fine assessment of the new cut by veteran NW enthusiast Matt Zoller Seitz.

Edit: According to a comment posted in the Home Theater Forum, the digital version of the film that is included on the new disc is, in fact, the fabled 150 minute first cut. If so, this is one hell of a boon and the best possible extra feature (I don't know yet myself as my edition has not yet arrived--perhaps someone else could check?).

[miless]

I have to say that this new extended cut of The New World is fantastic. I always felt something was lacking (it seemed just a little rushed), but the added 30 minutes really flushes out the intimate connection between Captain Smith and Pocahontas, making their last encounter all the more heart-breaking (I felt the tears welling up, which had never happened with the theatrical cut).
Now I just wish I could see this cut in the theater.

[King Prendergast]

and unless I'm mistaken, I don't remember the overture to Das Rheingold appearing _three times_ in the previous cut. Here it does, and I'm not sure that much meaning or emotion is accrued. The music seems to be used for its most obvious (and in this case, redundant) association: water.

the overture was used 3 times in the original theatrical cut. i remember the first time i saw the film on video, after seeing it once in the theaters, the second use of it was rather annoying, but the bookending uses of it were as powerful as ever.

[Mr Sausage]

And unless I'm mistaken, I don't remember the overture to Das Rheingold appearing _three times_ in the previous cut. Here it does, and I'm not sure that much meaning or emotion is accrued. The music seems to be used for its most obvious (and in this case, redundant) association: water.

The overture is not just about water, but gold. There are two possible reasons for its use: as an irony, given how the settlers come to America expecting abundance and good living only to spend most of the time miserable and starving; or, to parallel the destructiveness wrought by Alberich's greed when he came and stole the Rhine maiden's gold with that of a similar destruction wrought by the settlers when they descend on the natives.

Seriously, tho', it's just a beautiful piece of evocative music that fits the images and the editing rhythms. No other reason is needed to justify it (although you're welcome to the ones above). I never did understand this need to dismiss the use of a recognizable piece as a motif simply because it's recognizable.

[yoshimori]

The music seems to be used for its most obvious (and in this case, redundant) association: water.

Always a tough call to use music in your movie if we've heard it before in another. All I can do when I see these scenes is think about Herzog's Nosferatu.

Still, much more jarring at first, but ultimately more satisfying, was the Mozart Piano Concerto.

[whaleallright]

Was anyone able to successfully download the "first release" version from the Web? I tried, and not only did the process involve a labyrinthine series of steps eventually leading into a Web site called "Cinema Now," but it seems only to work on a PC (I had thought that only the downloaded file was supposedly platform-specific, not the process of getting it).

I purchased the DVD, so I have a right to the file, but it looks as though I won't be able to download it.

[Oedipax]

Whoa, that's really cool if it's the 150min 'Academy' version.

I'm on a Mac, but it's an Intel-based one so I do run Windows occasionally. I had to start Windows up (using VMware Fusion; Parallels or Boot Camp would also work), go to the Warner site, get referred over to the CinemaNow site, download a Firefox plug-in, download a standalone application, and then finally the movie started downloading. It's 2.47gb so the quality should be pretty good. I can't confirm yet whether it is, in fact, the 150min cut or just a digital copy of the Extended cut. Somewhat promisingly, though, is that on some titles this program will let you burn a DVD. It'd be pretty awesome if that were the case here (assuming it is the 150min cut).

Edit: Holy cow, it really is the 150min cut. At least, it runs 2:30:06 according to the player software. I scanned through and saw a few shots that seemed new to me, but I'm not super-familiar with the film having only seen it a couple times when it first came out and once again on DVD. Seems Warner really dropped the ball on letting people they were getting both alternate versions of the film with this DVD. Now I just need to figure out a way to convert this file into a DVD for permanent safekeeping!

[John Cope]

An excellent discussion of the new cut.

BTW, did anyone else have trouble downloading the 150 minute version? It frustrates me no end but Warner Bros. has made the process absurdly difficult. After installing a whole other application in order to dl it I still ended up losing it somehow along the way. Multiple emails to Warners have so far been unsuccessful at resolving the issue.

[miless]

I downloaded everything only to learn that it is not compatible with OSX, and I'm not about to go and buy a PC just to download it.

[Giles]

and I was completely rivetted by the new cut of the film, I doubt Warner's will release this as such, but I sooo buy this in Hidef (blu).

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Couldn't find any other New World thread, so I'll ask here:

Has anyone read William T. Vollmann's Argall and if so, how does it compare to Malick's film? Is it similar in any way, does it inform the style or approach Malick took? Having read other work by Vollmann, it would seem dissimilar, but it would be nice to have another interpretation of the subject beside the Disney version or whatever standard historical texts that are out there, and I haven't seen any reviews of the book or the film mention the other's existence.

[Elephant]

Couldn't find any other New World thread, so I'll ask here:

Has anyone read William T. Vollmann's Argall and if so, how does it compare to Malick's film? Is it similar in any way, does it inform the style or approach Malick took? Having read other work by Vollmann, it would seem dissimilar, but it would be nice to have another interpretation of the subject beside the Disney version or whatever standard historical texts that are out there, and I haven't seen any reviews of the book or the film mention the other's existence.

Well, Argall is far less "pretty" than Malick's film. With Malick you get a very seamless, controlled, beautiful film (in addition to many other virtues, obviously). With Vollmann you often get the opposite: sloppy and restless and seeming to pack more in than the book can handle, and not on the surface stylistically beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of both, having watched and re-watched Malick countless times, and having read 90% of Vollmann.* But they're pretty dissimilar artistically--and Vollmann's about as far from Disney as you can get. I read Argall several years before The New World was released so I'm afraid I haven't done a direct comparison. Both men are geniuses, no doubt, and these are certainly two of the more faithful approaches to this bit of history: both struggling, I think, to achieve/represent a truth which the Disney versions, etc, willfully disregard. Argall is, however, one of the most readable and gripping of Vollmann's works--it only took me three or four days to get through its 700 or whatever pages.

*I just got the galley for Vollmann's forthcoming Imperial, which is the largest book I've ever seen.

[knives]

This may have been discussed before, but which cut does Mallick prefer?

[barrym71]

Blu-ray is finally announced for September. Hopefully, Warner Bros will forego using DNR on the image.

[denti alligator]

Yes!!!

Best news of the year!

[Matt]

I love this movie so much, I won't even complain about buying it a third time. But look at the company it's keeping on that list. It kills me that that's the reputation of this film at New Line / Warner Bros.

[denti alligator]

I love this movie so much, I won't even complain about buying it a third time. But look at the company it's keeping on that list. It kills me that that's the reputation of this film at New Line / Warner Bros.

It's sad, I know.

But who am I to snigger when we'll be getting this masterpiece in the format it deserves. I will gladly buy it again, and encourage friends to do so, too. One friend has already been converted to Malick. He thought no film could top The Thin Red Line, then he saw The New World, and changed his mind.

[criterionsnob]

This is one movie that I can watch repeatedly and never grow tired of. Great news that this will be coming to Blu-ray. I won't even complain that we're not getting the shorter cut on the same disc.

[Matt]

I won't even complain that we're not getting the shorter cut on the same disc.

I will complain about that. I'm of the opinion that this is not just an extended cut, it's a completely different film. I'll still hang on to the first DVD release in case I want to revisit the way I saw it in the theater.

[criterionsnob]

I actually prefer the shorter cut, but perhaps it couldn't be included due to disc size issues. Maybe we'll get a chance to buy it a fourth time when they release the shorter cut on Blu-ray in a couple of years.

[swo17]

I actually prefer the shorter cut, but perhaps it couldn't be included due to disc size issues.

Yeah, no room to house the shorter cut on another disc, but I bet cash money they include a friggin digital copy.

[Forrest Taft]

I won't even complain that we're not getting the shorter cut on the same disc.

I will complain about that. I'm of the opinion that this is not just an extended cut, it's a completely different film. I'll still hang on to the first DVD release in case I want to revisit the way I saw it in the theater.

Buy the Italian DVD, it includes the 135 min theatrical cut, and the 150 min academy cut. I still haven´t bought the extended cut, so this is great news. One version on blu, the other two on DVD.