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Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC) | ![Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PW4nskTOL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Actors: Mel Gibson, James Coburn, Lucy Liu, Jack Conley, Maria Bello
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
Buy New: £6.38
New (13) Used (3) from £6.38
Rating:  3 reviews
Format: Colour, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Published)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: PARD041164D
UPC: 097360411645
EAN: 0097360411645
ASIN: B000M3439O
Theatrical Release Date: April 10, 2007
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW items direct from the USA. Please allow 5 to 10 business days for delivery.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Director's Cut that draws some real blood for once May 10, 2007
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
Remaking a classic is never a good idea at the best of times, but when Brian Helgeland's remake of Point Blank ended up being shelved, heavily re-edited, rewritten (by Terry Hayes) and reshot by another director (production designer John Myhre) to make it more `accessible' to an audience after committing the triple sins of having a hero who doesn't get the money and doesn't get the girl and - worst of all - having a character kill the dog, it must have seemed like an out and out suicidal one. So much of the film's last third was dumped that half the footage in the film's trailer (and even its poster image) were nowhere to be found in the finished film itself by the time it made it to the theatres. Somehow the version of Payback that did get released turned out to be both surprisingly good and more surprisingly commercially successful, but now that, eight years later, Helgeland's finally had the chance to restore his version for DVD, the only response to the theatrical version's tagline `No more Mr Nice Guy' is "Oh yeah?"
This time Mel Gibson's Porter doesn't have a voice over to excuse his actions, and they're not diluted by focus groups either. So he steals from a homeless guy? So what, it's not as if the guy is faking a disability in this cut, he just wants his money. So he asks a barman for information by breaking his hand? So what, he doesn't have time for subtlety, he just wants his money. So his wife O.D.s after he beats her up? So what, she shot him anyway, he just wants his money. So he kills a handcuffed heavy after disarming him? So what, he didn't like the guy, he just wants his money. In fact, Porter doesn't care what happens to anybody as long as he gets his money. The only thing that makes him the hero is that the guy who has his money is even worse than he is.
Unlike most Director's Cuts, this really is a very different version of the film: while the first hour has more or less the same structure as the theatrical version, the last third is a significant departure. Running some ten minutes less than the theatrical version, there's no convoluted kidnapping subplot, no Kris Kristofferson character in this version, only a couple of shots of prominently-billed John Glover at the end, though sadly no Angie Dickinson either: although originally providing a link with John Boorman's film as the voice of the syndicate boss in Helgeland's first cut, for some reason she's here replaced by Sally Kellerman on speakerphone. Instead we get a much better realized and rather more organic finale at a transit station that brings the film to a more convincing conclusion and is more attuned to the character's strengths and weaknesses than the kind of plot contrivances that gave the theatrical version its more explosive resolution. Oh yes, and everything doesn't look blue anymore.
There are differences from the first cut that Helgeland submitted that was floating around as a bootleg for years - the fire truck diversion to get into the outfit hotel and the infamous elevator scene where Porter blinds a henchman are missing, while this time round the money doesn't end up in the hands of a homeless guy - but while it's a shame these aren't included on the DVD, it's a leaner, meaner movie, playing it down and dirty (none of Boorman's "Is he really dead?" ambiguity here) and on its own terms. Is it a great film or a lost masterpiece? No, just a good movie with a heart of darkness underneath the studio sheen, but that's good enough for me.
Paramount's DVD is a good package, with a three-part documentary on the making and unmaking of the film (with Mel Gibson surprisingly prominent among the new interviews) and an interview with author Donald E. Westlake that run longer than the main feature itself, as well as an audio commentary by Helgeland.
Seventy grand, I want it back. August 4, 2007
Shawn Watson (Badger's Brook, Scotland)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Before studio execs and Mel Gibson got all uppity with Brian Helgeland, Payback was a darker, meaner film. But after an apparently poor test screening in 1997(honestly, what IS the point of these?) they put Payback on hold for over a year so Mel could do Lethal Weapon 4 before going back for some re-shoots, with a new director, to make the film happier.
So they approved a script of a dark, moody revenge thriller, green-lighted it for production and changed their minds to make it lighter because a ragtag audience didn't understand/like it? Man, Hollywood is one weird town.
The resulting film, which was eventually released in 1999, seemed a bit tacked together. There were scenes that just seemed out of place and irregular. It was obvious that any scene actually shot back in 1997 was shot on location and any scene shot for the 1999 cut was just shot in the generic 'street set' on the Warner back-lot. Despite all of this, Payback was still a fun film that failed to go all the way with it's concept.
The new DC is a superior version, no doubt and is about 33% different. There are new scenes and odds and ends through out the running time and the last act is completely different. Kris Kristoffersen is gone and replaced by Sally Kellerman (voice only, Bronson is never seen). James Coburn and John Glover also have smaller roles. The narration from Porter is gone as well as the blue tint to most of the film. Now most scenes are just lit as normal without any post-production filtering.
There is also a new musical score. The jazzy feel to the opening scenes is still there but through-out the rest of the film the score is more atmospheric and understated. Both are as good as each and fit the differing tones, so there's no better of the two.
It does end a bit abruptly and without any truly satisfying conclusion. I guess this is what annoyed test audiences. But a disgruntled audience should not be a decision-making committee when it comes to making movies.
The HD DVD is in glorious 2.4:1 1080p with Dolby Digital+ sound and loads of extras.
 STILL SHORTER THAN THE UK FILM! August 26, 2007
BOOK BOY (USA)
0 out of 18 found this review helpful
The UK DVD is 97mins long, this USA "uncut" version is 90mins!
Allowing for PAL and NTSC differences that means the UK DVD is more than 10 MINUTES LONGER!
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