The Inspector
07-21-2002, 03:55 AM
Okay, now that I've watched it twice (and had the verification of others) I've got to say something. The version of "The Fog" that's been playing on The Mystery Channel (God bless them) is some kind of "modified" cut of the movie. (The Mystery Channel rules, by the way. Night Gallery five nights a week and "thrillers" by the score. This is the reason I have cable.)
Now, I know that there's some kind of "t.v. cut" which I've never seen, but this is different.
Slight audio and visual changes are all over this thing. And I don't just mean the "letterbox" and then "not letterbox" shifts which annoy during the first 8 minutes of the film. First of all, the print is a little bit scratchier in spots than I've ever seen, especially during the reel which sees Jamie Lee and Tom Atkins finding and investigating the Seagrass. Definitely scratchier than the earlier video versions and the Image special edition laser disc. But that's also not quite the point I'm getting at.
First and foremost, the jump-cut zoom into John Houseman's face on "Suddenly!" has been cut. Now it's a simple, artless jump-cut to the close-up of his face as he says it. (An abrupt mid-S on the "Suddenly!")
Second, the death of the three fisherman on the seagrass has been modified. This is the second time I've noticed something strange with this scene on cable, but this version was even stranger. The first hissing "sting" when Hal is run-through has been replaced with audio which comes moments later in the film. I've seen this before, but now the audio actually jumps in more than one place, which is weird. There's actually a point where the radar ping from the bridge is heard as somewhat of a sting over a spot where it never originally appeared. It's as if a whole chunk of audio was accidentally "dropped" into the wrong place. And in this version, rather than a transitional shot of the Seagrass engulfed in fog, we get a shot of the fog stretching towards Antonio Bay, again, from a later scene in the film. (Screwing up continuity: Adrienne will look out her window in moments and see a clear night, a glowing fog visible just over the horizon, though the same view was obscured by fog only seconds before.)
The strange thing is, on the Image laser disc, this type of anomaly happened in another spot in the movie: during the finale, as Adrienne is fending off leper pirates on the roof of the lighthouse, some audio (with dialogue) from the church scene bleeds into the scene. In the Mystery channel version, this mistake has been FIXED. Weird.
There may be other changes I didn't notice, but the weirdest comes late in the film.
As Stevie listens to Weatherman Dan being killed, she now repeats "Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan!" from the same "Dan!" which was only said once in the earlier versions. They've actuallly dubbed in a repeat of her scream of his name four times and then visually cut in a repeat shot of her screaming it. Her quiet "...Dan..." as she hangs up the phone upon realization of his death, has been removed completely.
What's going on? Is this the version that will be on the new DVD? Why the subtle changes? What gives here? Anyone else noticed this?
Now, I know that there's some kind of "t.v. cut" which I've never seen, but this is different.
Slight audio and visual changes are all over this thing. And I don't just mean the "letterbox" and then "not letterbox" shifts which annoy during the first 8 minutes of the film. First of all, the print is a little bit scratchier in spots than I've ever seen, especially during the reel which sees Jamie Lee and Tom Atkins finding and investigating the Seagrass. Definitely scratchier than the earlier video versions and the Image special edition laser disc. But that's also not quite the point I'm getting at.
First and foremost, the jump-cut zoom into John Houseman's face on "Suddenly!" has been cut. Now it's a simple, artless jump-cut to the close-up of his face as he says it. (An abrupt mid-S on the "Suddenly!")
Second, the death of the three fisherman on the seagrass has been modified. This is the second time I've noticed something strange with this scene on cable, but this version was even stranger. The first hissing "sting" when Hal is run-through has been replaced with audio which comes moments later in the film. I've seen this before, but now the audio actually jumps in more than one place, which is weird. There's actually a point where the radar ping from the bridge is heard as somewhat of a sting over a spot where it never originally appeared. It's as if a whole chunk of audio was accidentally "dropped" into the wrong place. And in this version, rather than a transitional shot of the Seagrass engulfed in fog, we get a shot of the fog stretching towards Antonio Bay, again, from a later scene in the film. (Screwing up continuity: Adrienne will look out her window in moments and see a clear night, a glowing fog visible just over the horizon, though the same view was obscured by fog only seconds before.)
The strange thing is, on the Image laser disc, this type of anomaly happened in another spot in the movie: during the finale, as Adrienne is fending off leper pirates on the roof of the lighthouse, some audio (with dialogue) from the church scene bleeds into the scene. In the Mystery channel version, this mistake has been FIXED. Weird.
There may be other changes I didn't notice, but the weirdest comes late in the film.
As Stevie listens to Weatherman Dan being killed, she now repeats "Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan!" from the same "Dan!" which was only said once in the earlier versions. They've actuallly dubbed in a repeat of her scream of his name four times and then visually cut in a repeat shot of her screaming it. Her quiet "...Dan..." as she hangs up the phone upon realization of his death, has been removed completely.
What's going on? Is this the version that will be on the new DVD? Why the subtle changes? What gives here? Anyone else noticed this?