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Reviews
Black Sunday (1977)
Why do they insist on re-editing these films?
A number of comments made here are based on the TV screening of Black Sunday. Since this is an R rated movies and made for the widescreen, any such review is suspect to start with. This is especially true when the reviewer has only seen a network TV version.
I saw the original version in the theater and it was fantastic. Then I bought the VHS version. Pan & scan I could almost tolerate, but I quickly noticed that the film had been edited. There are several, admittedly brief but certainly several, cut scenes in the tape. Proof of the cuts is even immortalized on the cover of one of the VHS editions.
In the scene where Robert Shaw breaks into the bathroom and catches Marthe Keller in the shower, the original included ¾ coverage of Keller in frontal nudity. Her hands were drawn to her face in shock and fear. In the VHS version, and now the DVD version, the nude scenes have been deleted. These scenes were responsible for the original R rating of the film. Now only the head and shoulder shots are present. On the back of one of the VHS versions is a still photo from the Keller shower scene that can't be found on the tape but was in the theatrical release.
Neither the VHS nor the DVD versions have a disclaimer saying they were edited for content, but they clearly have been edited. If you didn't see this movie in it's initial release, you missed a lot of the impact.
Joan of Arc (1948)
At 100 minutes this is a waste
Good editing always improves the rough vision of the accumulated daily takes. Chopping the heart out of a completed film, however, should simply be a hanging offense.
The original 1948 Joan of Arc at 145 minutes is magnificent. The 100-minute version that's been foisted off on the USA buying public is below mediocre. Key scenes were deleted wholesale with no regard to continuity or development.
The only enjoyment from the severely and amateurishly edited version is to see Ingrid Bergman do what she does best. But only if you have seen the original version can this chopped and cropped semi-copy have any marginal value.
Check the specifications on any version you are tempted to buy. If the running time is 100 minutes, don't bother. Some European versions are longer at 125 and 133 minutes. Hopefully, someone will offer this masterpiece in a full 145 minute DVD version