Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" in HD...did I miss it!?

shanewalker

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So I had my DVR set up to record "Brazil" this past weekend on CinemaxHD, Sunday at 4:45am CST. I was super excited to get this classic in HD...but a bit nervous because it was happening during the Daylight Savings time shift.

Well, my skittishness proved warranted because the recording didn't work.

I've looked and don't see that "Brazil" is going to be on CinemaxHD in the foreseeable future. Was it a mirage, a dream, a bait to get my hopes up (like that winged warrior in the film)...or what?

Anyone?
 
I also had it to record and for some reason the DVR cut it off and it was not "Brazil". I deleted it from my recording. I never watched this movie so I was looking for DeNiro and could not find him. I could only conclude that it was not Brazil.
 
One of the best movies ever made - BUT if it is not the Director's Cut, it is not worth seeing.

It is one of those movies that was completely butchered by the Studio.

Criterion released a 3 DVD set with 3 different versions of the film.

In short, the Director's Cut in SD would be better than the Studio's version in HD - but from the above posts, I would have no way of knowing which was shown in HD.
 
One of the best movies ever made - BUT if it is not the Director's Cut, it is not worth seeing.

It is one of those movies that was completely butchered by the Studio.

Criterion released a 3 DVD set with 3 different versions of the film.

In short, the Director's Cut in SD would be better than the Studio's version in HD - but from the above posts, I would have no way of knowing which was shown in HD.


Ahh, I understand your preferring the Director's Cut, but to say the original, the CLASSIC is not worth seeing...I don't buy it.

I also say that the original Blade Runner (itself 'butchered' by the studio) is my preferred cut/version. I like the V.O. and I like the tacked-on romantic 'Shining' excised-footage ending. Hate the 'unicorn' symbolism of the Director's Cut. Sue me.

All for Director's Cuts and Special Extended Editions, but I say ALWAYS give us the original theatrical release. It's the version that the world fell in love w/, so it's got to have its merits...sometimes people other than the director end up shaping a film into its best possible shape/form. I'm all for auteurism, but film is a collaboration.
 
I also had it to record and for some reason the DVR cut it off and it was not "Brazil". I deleted it from my recording. I never watched this movie so I was looking for DeNiro and could not find him. I could only conclude that it was not Brazil.

I wonder if it was a mistake in the guide. I haven't seen it pop up since...hope not, I'd truly love to see this one in HD.

Oh, and 'animalhouse' is correct, DeNiro only does a cameo in the film, as a sort of surreal plumber (a 'duct repair specialist' actually)...a small role but one very crucial to the plot (won't give away why).

You MUST see this movie...its not on so many folks' top 10s for nothing.
 
Ahh, I understand your preferring the Director's Cut, but to say the original, the CLASSIC is not worth seeing...I don't buy it.

I also say that the original Blade Runner (itself 'butchered' by the studio) is my preferred cut/version. I like the V.O. and I like the tacked-on romantic 'Shining' excised-footage ending. Hate the 'unicorn' symbolism of the Director's Cut. Sue me.
I won't sue you :D but I do not agree that having a studio executive change the ending to something more commercial, can be an "improvement".

The reason that "happy endings" that don't fit the concept of the movie, are more "commercial", is that people want movie-going to be an enjoyable experience, rather than a painful experience.

Neither Brazil, nor Blade Runner, are intended to have "happy" endings. Both stories are about how humans cause pain and cruelty, both intended and unintended.

By the way, the "voiceover" in Blade Runner was imposed over the Director's objections, but he admits that they came out very well, and three of them will be included in the Blade Runner Ultimate Edition that comes out this month.

UPDATE: Here is Terry Gilliam talking about this:
How did the European distributor of BRAZIL react to the film, as opposed to its American distributor?
Fox in Europe behaved just as most film companies would: there's the finished film, it's got its flaws but there it is, and they were really excited by it. And, in fact, in their contract they had the same time clause as Universal had, which is a running time of 2 hours 5 minutes, and they just waived the clause. And unfortunately with Universal, for a variety of reasons – some to do with internal politics, some to do with the fact that it's a different group of people and that Universal is far closer to the bureaucracy that was portrayed in BRAZIL – they were just stunned by it. And they didn't know quite what to make of it. And even though the script was shot as approved and all of those things, they just weren't sure, because they're very nervous people. They're paid enormous sums of money to be able to predict exactly what the public wants. And I think that can lead to real neuroses on their part because it's an impossible task.
And so their immediate reaction was a nervous one: 'We're not sure what we've got, so let's try to change it into something that we do understand.' And I refused to play ball with them. I said, 'Sorry, this is the film that we agreed to make.' And then it got into this legalistic argument. And the only thing they really had over us was the time clause, and that's what they used to try to make us change the essence of the film. There is in fact a cut version of BRAZIL which I haven't seen but I've heard what it is and it's a totally different film. And then it just got into this battle: I wasn't going to budge, and Sid Sheinberg [President of MCA, Inc., Universal's parent company] in particular had to show that the studios were in control. So we were locked in this sort of silly, long, drawn-out war of attrition. I don't think they were expecting me to be as immovable as I was, because they're used to working with people who live in Hollywood, and whose bread and butter is very much dependent upon the whims and friendship of the people at the studios, and I sit here 6000 miles away in London saying, 'Why should I change it if it's the film we agreed to make?' And I don't think they were prepared for that attitude. And on it went. I think what was awful about it was that it wasted a year of my life, when I should have been getting on with the next film. The frustrating thing about it was that it became like a repeat of the film itself.
 
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I agree that the Director's Cut of Brazil is superlative (see the wording of my post above)...I was saying that the theatrical relase MUST have merit, otherwise we wouldn't be talking about this film, n'est pas? There are other studio-induced changes in the original theatrical release that I DO like, btw, like the cloud footage intro (footage originally shot for "The Neverending Story," for you trivia fans). Great little bit and something Gilliam didn't 'intend' but fits perfectly and offers a nice humorous moment w/ the open time/date title (which he ended up doing again in a similar fashion in "Baron Munchausen").
 

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