Makes you wonder what was left in the 2 hour version after the first cut for the studio down from 3 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours. -- Amazing that Hughes allowed it to be cut further down to the 90 minutes we have come to love.
👍 Very cool. I agree with these that should of been left in / out of the theater movie release. I've read what I can find on the deleted train station sequence at the end of the movie. After Dell explains he doesn't have a home and Marie has long passed away he goes on a 2minute speech or so about how he ended up in his situation. He tells Neal how he handles his loneliness around the holidays by trying to find a church so he's not alone, but this year he didn't make it and kind of lost it. He apologizes again and is very aware of the mess he's put Neal thru. In interviews Steve Martin says the scene was so powerful he had tears running down his face during the scene. He couldn't believe it was cut out of the final release.
I first had this movie recorded from TV onto a blank tape. Years later I had the DVD but the DVD is missing the scene with the flight dinner and brownie. WTF??
Where are the rest of the missing scenes? Would love (love) to see John Candy's monologue at the final diner where he explains why he's been on the road for 15 years (original ending). Sounds like pure gold.
Dell getting punched in the right eye in the jail by Neal was very necessary, I think it was over Dell telling Neal he didn’t get the insurance for the rental car It must have been filmed for the first version to have 210 minutes then to 120 minutes Then it wash shaved again to 93 minutes for the finished edit. Hughes stated the original 210 minute version was most likely stored and likely lost to deterioration.
9:00: It would have been fine if they left it only because in some reactions videos I've watched, people don't understand why she's so emotional to see him in the end. For me, however, seeing is as an adult, her being suspicious that something is going on is obvious with every phone call. It's subtle but even more subtle is the suggestion that he's such a work-a-holic that he's hardly ever with his family. It's there but not enough for the story to commit to it. Even bringing it up now is problematic. The only way that it translates and even to us as kids is that Neil is finally in the warmth and comfort of his home, food and family away from the cold and chaos we've seen him go through. The focus has clearly shifted to Del being homeless. Susan's sub plot would have just weighed the movie down. In fact, the editor, Paul Hirsh agrees that cutting this was the right decision to make. He says that they also cut out other phone call scenes Neil makes along the way. Leaving those would have balanced all of this out and Hirsch also agrees that they could have made it work but, in his words, "The tone of the scenes was wrong for the overall film." 9:30: I would love to have seen 3.5 hours of this.
thank you for writing this, I realized after I posted it that I never did explain why seeing that scene set me off the way it did. Because Neil is going through so much we need to know that his wife is there as his rock waiting for him at home. Although it might explain why she calls Dell, Mr. Griffith when she finally meets him. It could be that she is relieved to see that he is indeed a man and that Neil was telling the truth.
Makes you wonder what was left in the 2 hour version after the first cut for the studio down from 3 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours. -- Amazing that Hughes allowed it to be cut further down to the 90 minutes we have come to love.
Great movie, I watch it every year. Thanks for doing this.
Hey, this is excellent! Oh, well done.
👍 Very cool. I agree with these that should of been left in / out of the theater movie release.
I've read what I can find on the deleted train station sequence at the end of the movie.
After Dell explains he doesn't have a home and Marie has long passed away he goes on a 2minute speech or so about how he ended up in his situation. He tells Neal how he handles his loneliness around the holidays by trying to find a church so he's not alone, but this year he didn't make it and kind of lost it. He apologizes again and is very aware of the mess he's put Neal thru.
In interviews Steve Martin says the scene was so powerful he had tears running down his face during the scene. He couldn't believe it was cut out of the final release.
Wow. I wonder if footage exists of this. I’d love to see it.
I wonder why that doesn't show up in the deleted scenes either.
So good that I watched it again - and subscribed! Goodnight.
Thank you!
thanks Mike! I love this movie
I first had this movie recorded from TV onto a blank tape. Years later I had the DVD but the DVD is missing the scene with the flight dinner and brownie. WTF??
My astronaut rings are still filled with helium.
Where are the rest of the missing scenes? Would love (love) to see John Candy's monologue at the final diner where he explains why he's been on the road for 15 years (original ending). Sounds like pure gold.
I love this film 🙂
Excellent review!
Glad you liked it! Thanks!
Steve Martin talked about John Candy’s scene in the train station that he said was Candy’s best acting ever. Was that scene not released?
Dell getting punched in the right eye in the jail by Neal was very necessary, I think it was over Dell telling Neal he didn’t get the insurance for the rental car It must have been filmed for the first version to have 210 minutes then to 120 minutes Then it wash shaved again to 93 minutes for the finished edit. Hughes stated the original 210 minute version was most likely stored and likely lost to deterioration.
This is an interesting tid bit. Del was punched? I only recall him getting punched in the gut, “that’s how Houdini died”
9:00: It would have been fine if they left it only because in some reactions videos I've watched, people don't understand why she's so emotional to see him in the end. For me, however, seeing is as an adult, her being suspicious that something is going on is obvious with every phone call. It's subtle but even more subtle is the suggestion that he's such a work-a-holic that he's hardly ever with his family. It's there but not enough for the story to commit to it. Even bringing it up now is problematic. The only way that it translates and even to us as kids is that Neil is finally in the warmth and comfort of his home, food and family away from the cold and chaos we've seen him go through. The focus has clearly shifted to Del being homeless. Susan's sub plot would have just weighed the movie down. In fact, the editor, Paul Hirsh agrees that cutting this was the right decision to make. He says that they also cut out other phone call scenes Neil makes along the way. Leaving those would have balanced all of this out and Hirsch also agrees that they could have made it work but, in his words, "The tone of the scenes was wrong for the overall film." 9:30: I would love to have seen 3.5 hours of this.
thank you for writing this, I realized after I posted it that I never did explain why seeing that scene set me off the way it did. Because Neil is going through so much we need to know that his wife is there as his rock waiting for him at home. Although it might explain why she calls Dell, Mr. Griffith when she finally meets him. It could be that she is relieved to see that he is indeed a man and that Neil was telling the truth.