Way back in 2005 I was in New York covering the King Kong junket when a chance to watch The New World came up. I am not sure what the length of the film was at that time because I didn’t go, opting to go see Fun With Dick and Jane so I could interview Jim Carrey the next day just before my flight took me back to Seattle.
I didn’t end up seeing The New World until sometime in January due to that and at that time I was watching the 135 minute cut of the film and while most critics didn’t really like it I found it mildly entertaining, and certainly beautiful. Malick has this ability to make his films look like they are for National Geographic they are so intensely beautiful.
The main complaint with Malick’s New World seemed to be that it was too long, boring, style over substance, mundane and as Bill Muller at the “Arizona Republic” puts it, “There’s a problem when the movie about the European conquest of America seems longer than the actual conquest itself.”
So, what is Warner Home Video going to do? They are going to lift their noses at the naysayers and release a 2 hour and 52 minute extended cut of the film on October 14 accompanied by a comprehensive, ten-part documentary called “Making the New World” capturing the unique challenges of creating this historic epic.
It’s an odd move, but it also feels like Warner is continuing a tradition of giving fans what they want. Malick fans should be overjoyed by this news, even the ones that didn’t really like the film. Just imagine if Disney and Miramax were as understanding of fans and finally released Tarantino’s extended cut of Kill Bill.
Strangely, the press release is very short and without much detail. I was also up set to see there won’t be a Blu-ray version seeing how this film would look immaculate on the high-definition format. Oh well.
For those not familiar with the film or need a refresher, you can get that right here.
