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media woes

Just to let you all in on the weirdness that is Japan: Chronicles of Riddick just opened in theaters here last weekend. I quite liked it, because it was an epic fantasy cast in the trappings of goffick science fiction, like the Warhammer 40k universe, but it felt like there were huge gaps in the movie's script. My googling efforts to find out why turned up several interesting bits of information. Apparently Twohy had to cut 50 minutes of footage from the film (a-ha). Compared to the US theatrical release, the Region 1 "Director's Cut" of the DVD will have 7 minutes of additional footage; which leaves me scratching my head about the other 43 minutes that might have been added back in.

As the director's cut of Aliens proved, it's not the amount of time, but the editing that can make a world of difference. The added shots of the xenomorph critters charging in, the near-overrun on the autogun, the little exposition at the beginning where Ripley finds out that her daughter has died while she was away... these are very welcome additions to Aliens movie. I wonder what the 7 (out of 50) minutes will be with Riddick.

I also found out that Riddick has an animated companion to go with the movie, as a sort of promotional tool, directed by Æon Flux's Peter Chung. Boo ya. Some people are complained that it's a 30 minute DVD for around US$10. The original Pitch Black is US$20 new from Amazon. Whiny curs. Check out what I have to deal with for prices on the Japanese domestic releases: ¥7875 for both -- that's the discounted price, as opposed to US$31.48 for both.

By the way, the rental editions of DVDs are (rather intelligently) incomplete in comparison to the retail edition. No extras. Seems like a smart way to encourage sales. Unfortunately DVDs are really overpriced in Japan in general, running between ¥4000-7000 for a new release.

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