Many people have been ripping this release apart without so much as a glance at the product itself. While the DVD may fall short of other recent Collector's Edition DVDs, such as the Alien films, this is a superb presentation, with some genuinely interesting Special Features.What has sparked the most debate about this release is easily the "Unrated" cut itself. The film is largely the same, running only 6 minutes longer than the original cut. The added scenes are interesting additional dialogue with the counsellor in the opening, a few extra dialogue sequences between Pitt and Jolie before they learn each others identities, and a handful of alternate takes for certain sequences. Perhaps the most notable and most controversial is the extended love scene halfway through the film. The scene is very steamy, but those expecting excessive raunch or skin from the gorgeous stars will be disappointed. This is a love scene, not a sex scene, and there is only the tiniest hint of skin from both actors, with Pitt (or Pitt's body double, as the shot in question is from the neck down) showing the most.
And far the the SPECIAL FEATURES go, the disc is very careful not to double-dip. It includes: (1) Deleted Scenes, including an alternate ending. None of the deleted scenes are repeated from the original reelase, and many are well worth a watch. (2) A feature-length commentary from director Doug Limon that, while informative, offers little insight not mentioned in the original release's commentaries. (3) Doug's Film School. This section is essentially a breakdown of abandonded concept and sequences that never made it on film. Of note is a lengthy alternate version of the Desert sequence, located at a snowy mountaintop and ending in a hand-to-hand battle between a masked Pitt and Jolie, as well as several animatics for various sequnces throughout the films. Also of note is the inclusion of the deleted "villain" sequences mentioned of the commentary of the first release's commentary. (4)Confidential Files. This is actually where the deleted scenes are located. Also included in the "file" is a 4-minute gag reel, and a hidden Easter Egg (another deleted scene). (5) Behind the scenes documentary. This 30-minutes featurette offers more insight than that of the original release, as well as a significat amount of B-Roll footage from several of the film's major set piees, including the in-house battle and the desert scene. (6) Photo Gallery. 2 dull on-screen scroll-through photo galleries.
While this reelase has met with much criticism, those who enjoyed the movie should be informed that this is one of the rare double-dips that doesn't FEEL like a double-dip. No features are repeated from the original release, and the unrated movie itself is different enough from the theatrical version that it is well worth owning both versions. Also, the picture is much clearer and less grainy, and the sound more crisp.
The disc also includes a DVD insert, with random facts about the film anda Chapter List (36 Chapters).
Grade: B+
Basically, the unrated disc is a waste of money. For one, "unrated" only refers to less than a minute of previously cut footage from the big love scene. But for some reason, the people who cut this version of the movie actually cut OUT scenes from the original DVD -scenes that actually added to the plot, whereas none of the restored scenes do. This is quite aggravating. In addition, none of the extras make this DVD worth owning. They should have made this cut of the movie available on the original DVD release instead of giving it its own release. This was an obvious ploy to make more money, and I'm quite sorry that I fell for it. Here's hoping my review keeps you from doing the same.If you haven't watched the theatrical version of this movie plenty of times, you may not notice the minute changes from that version to this director's cut version.
Some of the dialogue has changed and some scenes are extended. The Bogota Dirty Dance scene has been extended, as was the War of the Roses fight and love scenes. The Dance of Death towards the end is also slightly different. Also different was the hidden lives of both Smiths weren't revealed until much later in the movie.
I truly enjoyed the original cut, but this cut cleared up some minor foibles I had w/ the first. Adam Brody's scene was cut out of the beginning, which I thought worked better for the movie because in the original his introduction went nowhere, other than his reappearance toward the end. There appeared to be a lot more character development in this version as well. Of course more Bogota scenes are dreamily sexy as was the love scene after their big marital spat.
If you're a huge Mr. & Mrs. Smith fan, I would recommend buying both the theatrical release and the Director's Cut. If you don't want to buy both, I think the Director's cut is actually better than the original.
The only part I wish was that Brad & Angie to do some of the commentary. The commentary on this disk wasn't as interesting as the Original Version dvd, because Doug Liman is constantly talking about the cost of the production which is kind of boring, I would have liked hearing more about the plot, tidbits about the sets, bloopers, more on why some scene got added or removed---anything but the cost and days of production.
As far as the Bonus disc, there are plenty of deleted scenes to enjoy. I would highly recommend getting this edition.
Read Best Reviews of Mr & Mrs Smith (2007) Here
No, I'm not. And I'll tell you why:When this was released, a lot of drama appeared in the tabloids regarding Brad and Angelina's then illicit affair. Many cynics (including myself) knew this was a cheap move on both actors' parts to promote a movie they felt insecure about letting stand on its own virtues.
Srangely enough, they didn't have anything to worry about, although I suspect nobody (actors, producers, marketing people, director) knew any better, except for perhaps the script-writers.
Many critics were distracted by the press storm Brangelina generated, and let that taint their opinion of this movie. And of course it drew the gossip-mongers and celebrity-worshippers among us to this movie in generous numbers.
What they found (and what you'll find, once you ignore the hype) is a well-thought out movie about couples therapy!
The clever writers of this movie managed to work into the plot an entire cycle of rebuilding the trust in a relationship back from nothing. Every requisite action sequence, sex scene, and conversation fits nicely within the context of an estranged married couple taking steps toward reconciliation.
For all the hype and unfortunatly unimaginative branding of this movie (suffering from luddite marketing, like "Mean Girls" only worse) this is a highly entertaining movie about the not-so-happy subject of repairing a relationship.
For this reason, I strongly recommend this one as a good choice for both male and female audiences, particularly married ones. At the very least, It's certainly a lighter take on mending a marriage than most other movies that stray into the subject.
Want Mr & Mrs Smith (2007) Discount?
First: I FINALLY get the Brad Pitt thing after all these years! He has aged marvelously and is both a great-looking guy, and an excellent actor and unexpectedly fabulous comedian, based on his performance in this movie. His facial expressions, body language, and dialogue delivery are superb, and complement those equally great ones by Angelina Jolie extremely well. Quite honestly, I can't remember when I've seen this kind of superlative chemistry between two leads in any recent movie. I had little expectations about this movie; after I'd seen it, I ordered the Unrated DVD so I could enjoy it again and again.So here's the bad part: the Unrated DVD. Yes, I expected there to be a few more possibly graphic or explanatory scenes included, but it never occured to me that there would be DELETED scenes and dialogue from the original movie!!!! And there are several key pieces missing here, including but not limited to:
The critical dialogue in the shed just before the end battle, where Jane says, "There's no place I'd rather be than here, with you." GONE
Eddie awakening to the $400K bounties for the Smiths on his Blackberry. GONE.
Jane saying, "We need a car," after their house blows up (you just see John say "The Colemans."). GONE
In addition, the Extras disc 2 isn't very intuitive about finding the extras. However, the Alternate Ending is great, and very prophetic given the current domestic situation of Brad & Angie.
I expected to get at least all of the movie I fell in love with and knew word by word, action by action, and this DVD version disappoints. Sad. And it will make me think twice about spending extra money on any future 'Unrated' DVDs from Amazon.
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