54 the version you didn't see

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 11:36pm

At the moment me and my co writer are working on play about the rise and fall of Studio 54, during the weeks upon weeks of research we have been going through we also managed to get hold of the original work print of the Mirimax movie 54....and wow, has anyone else seen this?

I enjoyed the original movie that what was released back in 98 but it felt somewhat empty and lacked the conviction a story about the club should tell, but judging by the work print before release it was a very different movie.

I know they had trouble on that film during the making, initially Mirimax were thrilled with it but at a test screening many reacted badly to gay kissing, the sex, drugs etc in the movie so the producers cut 45 mins off the film, they shot 30 new minutes which changed all the character motivations and sanitized the final product (the version that was released).

However the original version is brilliant, bold, daring, a real rise and fall story of not only the club but the 4 central roles. It has so many cut scenes in (mainly anything gay or racist), Ryan Phillipe and Breckin Meyers kiss went, as did Ryan's other gay encounters, plots are completely different (Breckin Meyer is not stealing money it's Ryan), some fantastic emotional scenes are in there and show Ryan at his best, Mike Myers has a bit more, the whole film plays much grittier and the happy ending has gone (which works better).

What a shame for the writer and director (Mark Christopher) and all the cast that the studio killed the film out of fear of what a few test audience members said.

So has anyone else seen this? it's a very grainy copy, hard to watch sometimes, also music is all temp and none of the news footage moments about the arrest of Steve Rubell are in, but it's a fascinating look at what could have been a brilliant film

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 11:40pm

"However the original version is brilliant, bold, daring, a real rise and fall story of not only the club but the 4 central roles. '

I always wondered if there were brilliance in the original. Despite the many flaws of the released version, I will always love Mike Meyers for not being too vain to puke down his own shirt and say, "I wanna sehck your cahhhk."

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 11:49pm

Mike Meyers is fantastic in it, most of his scenes are the same in the work print but he has a couple more and some are extended out. That scene you refer to has a few extra lines in as well and he has another scene with Breckin towards the end which is fantastic.

I really dont understand what Mirimax did to the film, such an odd move when what they had was great, the work print runs about 2hrs 5 mins, the original theatrical release was just over 90 mins and 30 minutes of that was new stuff they did in the reshoots so the work print is very very different. The only bad thing is Neve Campbell is in even less than she were in the theatrical release (i love me some Neve).

If they were smart they would restore the film to the work print version and re release it on DVD (i know the Blu Ray has a few minutes of extra footage in but even that is not footage from the work print, it must be stuff they cut from the re shoots). It;s amazing to see how great Ryan is in the film, in the theatrical release he came off as a bit bland and unmotivated, that's because they cut everything.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 11:49pm

I suspect the original was BETTER. I've long wished I could see it (well, I used to--but haven't really thought about the movie in years...) There was a website with clips, etc, about what was cut (some of which was in the trailer like Ryan's character getting his****stuck in a bottle--which of course sounds brilliant) but it seems to be gone.

Still it seems ridiculous Miramax agreed to the movie when it was plugged by a director who was most famous for a *gay* short film--and then got cold feet. Anyway would love if there's a version floating around online--I guess I should search. I remember when I saw the movie in theatres my friend turned to me and said something like "Well, that looked great, and it should have been great, why was it so meh".

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 12:24am

OK, no luck. If it was online, SongandDance I'd really appreciate you giving me a hint in the right direction.

Apparently it did screen in its workprint format at a gay film fest fives or so years back. I think it's just not a film with enough interest for them to financially have any reason to re-release uncut.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:16am

I didn't get online im afraid, a friend who should know better sent it to me.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 8:15pm

Just a few of the changes, for those who care

Few points of difference, feel free to ask about others, they are way too many to list.

Shane is the one stealing from the club, not Greg, Shane steals because he is spending all his cash fast and wants to join Greg dealing but needs some capitol so steals 1000 dollars from the club. When Steve fires his accountant he knows damn well it's Shane that took it but calls him an asset (its kinda clear he loves Shane). This leads to the scene that in the released 54 shows Shane giving money back to Steve trying to cover for Greg, in the work print that scene is the same but different with Shane admitting he took it and Steve been happy that Shane gave the money back.

Shane kisses Greg in the basement VIP section of 54 when the 2 boys are alone, Shane is so messed up and out of control that he kisses him and does not know why.

Shane also is seen making out with a few other guys, in the original 54 we see Shane get out of bed (butt naked scene) with a girl lying next to him, in the workprint it's a guy hes in bed with....and a girl.

Steve has a second scene with Greg at the end where Greg finds out that Shane has not put in a word for him about the bartender job, he stands in front of Steve and gets he penis out for Steve to suck, Steve tells him he would rather watch him and Anita have sex. Greg angry starts to leave so Steve tells him that he saw Shane and Anita have sex, this leads to a big punch up between Greg and Shane in the coat room where Anita also get's pushed over and tells Shane never to speak to her again and to move out (this is just before the raid)

Shane's dad is clearly a bit racist in th work print, the first scene the family has together when Shane is telling him about Studio 54 sees the dad uncomfortable with him hanging around with African American's. We also have a superb scene when Shane is moving out, a brilliant argument between Shane and his dad where both actors are on fire, we also find out that Shane was a wrester in school and that's what his dad wanted him to be.

When Shane first gets in to 54 the scene is way longer, the cuts in the club are brilliant (more sex, drug use), the knock on wood performance is longer and cut with some great moments. Shane runs in to Greg on that first night, literally runs in to him knocking greg's glasses he had collected to the floor, it's then revealed that the 2 boys know each other from wrestling matches (which makes way more sense when he lets him move in with him).

Neve Campbell is in it much less (sad), the bowling Alley scene is not in it and they only have a few lines with each other when they are having coffee, the scene outside where they had coffee though is longer and we see a great connection between them. We also hear a club patron early on in the film say that Julia (Neve) had slept with many casting agents.

In the bathroom at the fancy house where Shane and Anita had dinner with the NEW York upper class, we see it play as normal (Troglodyte, cave man etc) but when Shane finds out Anita is going to sleep with the record producer to get her ahead....Shane laughs and encourages it, he also reveals how he has got an audition, both are gonna make their way to the top, anyway.

The ending of the film ends with Shane getting kicked out of the club and wrapping the bin liner around him (he asks 2 guys who go to the club for change as his wallet is inside and they call him a fa***t). Greg runs out (Shane tried to get him to leave the club earlier because it was getting raided). This is the same night they have had their bust up, greg stares at him like he wants to punch him again but Shane opens his bin liner to him and invites him to join him. Anita then joins them and it ends with them walking away from the club, their lives kinda destroyed as the club is getting raided. No happy ending, no going back to the club when Steve got out of jail, no If i Could Read Your Mind performance.

Disco Dotty is a bit more foul mouthed in this version, great one liners. Shane never finds out she's called Mona (it's never mentioned) as the scene at the drug store is not in, when she dies he just keeps calling out Dotty. That scene plays great with him just starring up at the disco ball realizing the club is destroying him and people around him.

In the original 54 when Shane and Steve have the argument at the end and shane says *beep* You...you troglodyte to him' it always looked like he threw something at him but we never saw him holding anything. In the work print he does indeed throw something at him, it's Dotty's wig.

The scene when Steve is on Good Morning America and says the line that brings the club down is now on the TV when Shane and his dad are watching it.

Couple of other scenes with all the bus boy's and staff after the club has closed were in the workprint, one involving 2 guys kissing.

The footage outside the club of Shane and others trying to get in is longer and has some great put downs by Steve

A great moment is during the big argument with Steve at the end, Shane looks away and we see the club in slow motion, all the faces he has seen throughout dancing away, that's when his realization about the club hits.

Coming back for New Year Shane has decided to pull his life together, he apologies to Greg for kissing him and tells Anita they can just be friends and gets rid of his drugs and stops dealing, that night though is when Greg finds out he slept with Anita and a few other bad things happen to Shane, as the club is about to be raided we see Shane also crashing again smoking crack.

Andy Warhole has a few funny lines that are cut, also the scene in the VIP basement is longer, Steve takes Shane down there to show him off to the guests like a piece of meat, this is where Shane first gets hit on by a guy.

We see that Shane not only takes the bartender job right under the nose from Greg (like in the theatrical release) but also his 'garbage detail' job (taking the stolen money out to Anthony) because Steve no longer thinks Greg cares (in reality it's because Steve is annoyed Greg did not sleep with him)

Most scenes that you know from the original 54 are either re edited to change the motivation of the scene and film, extended out or cut. No police officers, no scene at the police station etc, most of the reshoot stuff seemed to have been things outside the club (drug store, police station, bowling alley etc)

This was one hell of a film, i can not stress enough how good it is, THIS was the 54 i was wanting them to make, shame on Mirimax

Updated On: 7/13/13 at 08:15 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 11:26am

When I saw 54,not knowing a thing about it's troubled development, I could tell something was missing- the movie makes no sense for one. I'd love to see the "director's cut."

I hope my favorite line survives- possibly my favorite line in film, ever: When Greg complains to Anita that he will never be a bartender because he's too short and he doesn't suck dick, Anita sympathetically points out "Aw honey, you can't help being short!"

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/14/13 at 3:55pm

Haha i love that line as well, and yes its still in