The Triple Dip

When movie studios release a movie on DVD, they typically release another version a little while later as a "Director's Cut" or "Anniversary Edition" or "Uncensored & Unrated Edition". This kind of double-dipping is a fact of life, much like death & taxes.

I actually don't mind the double-dip - as long as the subsequent version is chock full of extras, like behind-the scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and audio commentaries. The more the better. Heck, add a second or third disc if you like; the more the merrier. What I like best is when they release a standard edition and a special edition at the same time (like the standard and collector's edition of Walk The Line). At least you have a choice, and you're not trapped into buying the same movie twice if you really liked the film. Sadly, this is the exception to the rule; more often than not, when you see a Saw, you know there's going to be a Saw Uncut Edition about twelve months later.

Today however, we have what will probably be the first of many: the triple dip.

The Replacement Killers was a good movie; I liked it a lot. It was the movie that introduced Chow Yun Fat to American audiences. It was the first directorial effort for Antoine Fuqua, who went on to direct Tears of the Sun and Training Day. Heck, it even had Academy-award winning actress Mira Sorvino. It was a fun movie with a lot of Hong Kong-style gun-blazing action.

The original Replacement Killers DVD came out in 1998, the same year the movie came out. It was kind of a bare bones DVD, with only a "making of" featurette. This was actually the first DVD I ever bought. Later in 2002, the Special Edition came out. This version had a lot more extras, including a director commentary, a Chow Yun Fat featurette, deleted scenes and an alternate ending. All these extras should have probably been on the original DVD. I haven't watched the Special Edition DVD yet, but I bought it because I wanted to see if Chow Yun Fat gets to make out with Mira Sorvino in the alternate ending.

Now eight years after the movie originally came out, the Extended Cut DVD is getting released in April. While this version apparently has the same featurettes as the Special Edition, it adds on a whooping 11 additional minutes to the movie. Plus, it's got a different cover.

Oh, great. I'm sure all the burning questions left unaswered in the movie will totally make sense now.