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[GrahamS. 803]

 

I have to take a minute—in compiling this list, I have to say they have the complete 220-minute Heaven’s Gate cut here. The original, widely distributed cut (which killed United Artists in 1980) ran 150 minutes. I’ve seen the 220 minute cut, and I would suggest splitting it into two nights, but IT IS FUCKING FASCINATING. Good or bad, it doesn’t really matter—this film is an uncut piece of history that is well worth watching. It cost the studio a bundle (I think $50 million in 1980 dollars) and the spectacle is on screen. 

But HURRY, because everything in This post is leaving VUDU (and are replaced by more trashy films) on 9/1!

Also, I’ll mention a classic GREAT film that everyone needs to see: This Is Spinal Tap. Please watch this before any of the others listed if you haven’t seen it. Please watch it before any of the others listed if you HAVE seen it. Please respect legit greatness. And now for the trash.

Here’s the list (I have not seen all of these and am going by title/rating to judge their trashiness, just FYI)! I’ll also write HDTGM next to films that have been the subject of an episode.

Robot Holocaust

The Rage: Carrie 2

Dream Lover

Disturbing Behavior

Pumpkinhead!

Cherry 2000

The Animal

Abduction—HDTGM EPISODE

Raw Deal

The Assignment

Sucker Punch—HDTGM EPISODE

Wild Wild West—HDTGM EPISODE

Havoc

The Honeymooners (2005)

Imagine That

Fatal Instinct

Silver Bullet (which is one my bad movie picks)

Graveyard Shift (haven’t seen it since high school, but I remember it sucking then. I’m sure it still does).

Leprechaun:Origins (got 0% on RT! Take that for what it’s worth)

The Butterfly Effect 2

Young Guns 1 &2 (how the fuck have THESE not been an episode yet?)

The Fog (2004)

Man on a Ledge

The Last Witch Hunter ((with Vin Diesel!)

Vampire Academy—HDTGM EPISODE

Demolition Man—HDTGM EPISODE

Terminator 3

Ghost Rider

Failure to Launch

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theworstbuddhist 572]

On 8/28/2019 at 1:10 AM, GrahamS. said:

 

I have to take a minute—in compiling this list, I have to say they have the complete 220-minute Heaven’s Gate cut here. The original, widely distributed cut (which killed United Artists in 1980) ran 150 minutes. I’ve seen the 220 minute cut, and I would suggest splitting it into two nights, but IT IS FUCKING FASCINATING. Good or bad, it doesn’t really matter—this film is an uncut piece of history that is well worth watching. It cost the studio a bundle (I think $50 million in 1980 dollars) and the spectacle is on screen.

There is a fascinating book about Heaven's Gate by one of the producers. I read it before seeing the film for the first and only time I saw it, 25 years ago or so. Not sure which cut it was, it was split over 2 VHS tapes, and it felt like ages.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

I just noticed Disturbing Behavior on the list - is that the one with Katie Holmes as a goth girl who goes around saying "razor" as a synonym for "cool"? And Barry Watson I think? That would make a decent podcast episode.

[GrahamS. 803]

7 hours ago, theworstbuddhist said:

There is a fascinating book about Heaven's Gate by one of the producers. I read it before seeing the film for the first and only time I saw it, 25 years ago or so. Not sure which cut it was, it was split over 2 VHS tapes, and it felt like ages.

That was the original cut. The 220-minute cut was only released by Criterion a few years ago (and I saw it through the library). It is definitely slow, but I split it up over two nights and ended up having  a lot more respect for it than I thought I would (there’s a rumor that Deadwood was partly inspired by its unglamorous Western style). The longer cut adds over an hour of material and apparently fixes the glaring plot holes from the original cut, including giving us more Christopher Walken, which I’ll never complain about. I’m not saying it’s flawless, but in some ways I enjoyed it more than the Deer Hunter (which was Cimino’s previous three-hour epic).

[muttnik 476]

On 8/27/2019 at 9:10 PM, GrahamS. said:

The Last Witch Hunter ((with Vin Diesel!)

I really like this one. It's very bad, but it's also charming? It's a shame they ended it trying to set up a sequel, but I get why they did (XXX, Riddick, F&F).

[grudlian. 4725]

13 hours ago, GrahamS. said:

That was the original cut. The 220-minute cut was only released by Criterion a few years ago (and I saw it through the library). It is definitely slow, but I split it up over two nights and ended up having  a lot more respect for it than I thought I would (there’s a rumor that Deadwood was partly inspired by its unglamorous Western style). The longer cut adds over an hour of material and apparently fixes the glaring plot holes from the original cut, including giving us more Christopher Walken, which I’ll never complain about. I’m not saying it’s flawless, but in some ways I enjoyed it more than the Deer Hunter (which was Cimino’s previous three-hour epic).

The extended cut of Heaven's Gate is great. It could have been shorter I suppose but I've never seen the theatrical cut to compare. I do think it's weird that the shorter cut left in the full roller skating scene which felt long in the extended cut.

[GrahamS. 803]

Agreed. Although the  roller skating scene is pretty amazing. 

[GrahamS. 803]

Honestly, i’d rather have more expensive, artistically ambitious films like Heaven’s Gate than a lot of our current, insanely expensive blockblusters (I made a typo but I like it that way!) that arent’t ambitious at all (looking at you, Justice League, BvS, etc).

[GrahamS. 803]

This list is now obsolete—unfortunately—but when VUDU offloads their next batch of free stuff, I’ll try to make a new list. If anyone else wants to add their own suggestions of free crap to watch on VUDU, have at it! 

P.S. They also have legitimately good movies on there too.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

Since this is the only place and the only people I can think of who might care about this: I recently acquired a SpectraVision laserdisc of the second half of Heaven's Gate.

I also picked up Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, Bogdanovich's Paper Moon, and Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge, which I have never seen but now I think I kind of want to. I should add that I do not have a SpectraVision disc player, and have not even seen one since the early 1980s. But if you have one, and would like one of these movies, I'm sure we can work out something out.

[GrahamS. 803]

23 minutes ago, theworstbuddhist said:

Since this is the only place and the only people I can think of who might care about this: I recently acquired a SpectraVision laserdisc of the second half of Heaven's Gate.

I also picked up Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, Bogdanovich's Paper Moon, and Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge, which I have never seen but now I think I kind of want to. I should add that I do not have a SpectraVision disc player, and have not even seen one since the early 1980s. But if you have one, and would like one of these movies, I'm sure we can work out something out.

I remember those discs! You had to flip them every 15 minutes or so.

i have to wonder why someone would only sell the second half of Heavens Gate. Is the second half worthless? Is the first half awesome unto itself? It’s a riddle whose answer may never be known!

 

[theworstbuddhist 572]

3 minutes ago, GrahamS. said:

I remember those discs! You had to flip them every 15 minutes or so.

i have to wonder why someone would only sell the second half of Heavens Gate. Is the second half worthless? Is the first half awesome unto itself? It’s a riddle whose answer may never be known!

 

I'm guessing someone grabbed the first half, and thought the second disc was just a duplicate copy, not realizing the movie is super long and would require two cartridges just as it required two VHS tapes. These all came from a free stuff bin outside a record shop here in town.