Is there an alternative cut of The Truman Show?
When I saw The Truman Show at the cinema, it was edited more heavily to make it look like a documentary about how the show was made, by whom and the actors in it, etc.
Some things were mentioned about Truman's best friend, Marlon, being an alcoholic in real-life and yet still having to advertise beer (via product placements) and have a "brewski" with Truman.
Also, Truman's wife is questioned about her part and is asked if she is "compensated for any sex-acts" with Truman. She throws a hissy-fit and tells them to turn off the cameras, shouting that she was promised there wouldn't be any questions like that.
These things and a few other, small bits, are not in the DVD print - although some are in the deleted scenes section.
Much as I like the film in the form I have and as much as it loses nothing of the story to cut those scenes, I have always felt that the version I saw originally had a much darker tone because of them and was a better version of the film. I really would love to see it in that form again. Does anyone know of an alternative cut, directors cut or theatrical print?
Also, does anyone know why the film would have been altered in this way between theatrical release and DVD print?
Best Answer
I'll admit I'd never seen it in cinema, so I was unaware of some of these bits.
The only reason I could see to cut those bits would possibly to alter the censor ratings, it's a well known fact that sometimes films (and tv series) when rated get given one thing for cinema/broadcast but when they are put onto a media format sometimes the show/films wants to try and get a lower bar of entry.
A good example is with 'Bruno', there was a part with a swinging 'gentlemans part' and in most countries (e.g. Uk/Australia) where this gave the film an automatic 18 rating. To combat this the film had 3 seconds removed so that the rating was then changed to 12 or 15.
As another example, Red Dwarf famously had an episode that spoke about virginity and was given (at the time) a higher classification (15 I think it was), when it came to releasing the original VHS of the show, the standards had changed so that the episode would instead have been a 12, but the rules were that a show could not be reclassified unless there had been some changes to it. In light of this, there was a 10 second clip added after the credits of starbug being stuck on the ice planet. This was enough for the show to be reclassified and given the newer lower rating.
Pictures about "Is there an alternative cut of The Truman Show?"
Are there different versions of The Truman Show?
Andrew Niccol's script existed in at least 16 different forms before Weir came on board, originally titled The Malcolm Show, and sometimes being prefaced by a quote by Lily Tomlin (\u201cWe're all in this alone\u201d), or an image of Edward Hopper's painting \u201cA Room by the Sea\u201d.Is The Truman Show staged?
No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine.\u201d But unlike The Real World, where contestants know they're on air, and talent shows that reward performances or behavior, Truman has no idea that every person he's ever met is an actor and his entire world is a constructed set.Is there a Truman Show Part 2?
That The Truman Show does not have a sequel, even though it could justify one, holds significance. Looking back on The Truman Show casts fresh light on what's wrong with peak sequel. In turn, today's glut of sequels makes it all the more apparent why The Truman Show is so special.Why did Dennis Hopper leave The Truman Show?
Hopper cited an agreement he made with producer Scott Rudin that he'd start filming the movie, and then should his work not measure up, he'd be let go. It took two days before he was sacked.The Truman Show Deleted Scene - Growing Suspicious (1998) - Jim Carrey Movie HD
More answers regarding is there an alternative cut of The Truman Show?
Answer 2
I know you may not want to hear this, but is it possible you're mis-remembering things?
It would be against the law for the film to be released under a different cut on home video without it being re-assessed by the BBFC. As you can see on their website, however, no changes were made.
(The running-time difference due to the change in frame rate from film to PAL, and is entirely consistent with no changes having been made.)
Is it possible that you saw this version on a plane? According to the IMDB a longer version was prepared for flights...
A lot more pseudo-documentary footage on the making of the fictional Truman Show was shot but not used in the theatrical version. Only some short segments have been included in the released film, in the pre-credits sequence. Segments of this outtake footage, featuring Meryl Burbank and Marlon being interviewed and talking about their roles on the show and their personal lives, have been included in some airline versions, presumably to pad the running times.
If you're absolutely sure about what you saw, then I suppose it's possible that your cinema got shipped the wrong print. (I heard stories of the Coen Brother's film "The Man Who Wasn't There" getting shipping some colour reels instead of the intended black and white ones, for instance.)
In that case, your experience was an unintended fluke...!
Answer 3
I don't know if it was ever included in a print of the film, but I found a "documentary" that played on Nick at Nite on YouTube that is exactly the footage you are describing:
Answer 4
Weird because I had almost the opposite recently happen. I had seen The Truman Show numerous times in the past, and recently saw it again and I swear there were whole scenes in this Bluray release that I had never seen before, and I remember the original being structured differently.
In the Bluray release, we only start seeing the viewers watching the Truman show halfway through, which changes the whole feel; it's a bit jarring. In prior watchings, I could have sworn these started earlier, and the transitions between the different points of view (viewers, actors/producers and Truman) were more common, with the viewers right from the beginning.
That's probably my faulty memory though, since I can't find any information about alternate cuts, except for descriptions of these extended versions that you've described.
Answer 5
Since this question was bumped....
From the Alternate Versions section of IMDb.com:
A lot more pseudo-documentary footage on the making of the fictional Truman Show was shot but not used in the theatrical version. Only some short segments have been included in the released film, in the pre-credits sequence. Segments of this outtake footage, featuring Meryl Burbank and Marlon being interviewed and talking about their roles on the show and their personal lives, have been included in some airline versions, presumably to pad the running times.
Answer 6
Perhaps a bit in a different direction, but it's interesting to get hold of Niccol's early script (available somewhere online), which is darker and angrier. The studio asked for rewrites to lighten the mood some. Niccol revised the script twelve times before the final cut.
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