OSTERMAN WEEKEND Peckinpah's director's cut rediscovered

[mike siegel]

Released in 1983, the final release version of the film was heavily altered by the producers.
Peckinpah owned a negative of his own director's cut. Peckinpah's friend and archivist
Don Hyde made a 35mm interlok print from that negative back in 1983 which was never
shown in the last 35 years. It is the only print in existence, the whereabouts of the negative is unknown.

In 2002 a very bad video copy of this cut (minus titles) based on a BetaCam tape was included
on the Anchor Bay DVD.

A year ago Don had decided to give me his print, to make Peckinpah's version better known.
This will happen now. I made a 2K scan of the print (which will hopefully receive a full
frame-to-frame restoration in the future) as well as a 2K scan of my own theatrical release print.
An upcoming Blu-ray release will therefore include three versions of THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND.
And new supplements of course. For instance a 64 minute long full comparison video - I was
quite surprised regarding the high amount of differences between both versions:

[Novecento]

Wow! I never thought this would happen. Peckinpah?s version is so much better. I remember posting about exactly why on the old Sam Peckinpah forum.

I cannot wait to see this!

[mike siegel]

It is indeed a different film and so much better. Before I did this now I never fully realised, I guess I had watched
that video copy only once back then, suffering too much (quality) to enjoy it...

[dave jenkins]

I hated Osterman in the theater, but would be very interested in watching a better cut of the film. I don't think even Peckinpah at his best, though, could redeem a Robert Ludlum novel.

[stanton]

Actually he did, as the film is much more intelligent than the forgettable novel. And different enough as far as I remember.
This film could have become so much better, and one main problem is the action. Well made in itself, but wrong for that film. The only time that action in a Peckinpah film works against the film.

Of course the main Problem was that Peckinpah was long finished, and nobody wanted him to do a good film, maybe not even Peckinpah himself.

[Novecento]

Just found what I wrote over on the Sam Peckinpah forum back in 2014:

One thing that I really don't understand is why when Sam's cut was re-edited, they completely destroyed one of the best sequences of the movie. In Sam's version, the main characters are introduced in a brilliant sequence that cross-cuts between Tanner's three friends and Tanner on his TV show. In the re-edited version, this cross-cutting is removed for a more chronological sequence that is simply boring by comparison (and also removes the introduction of Chris Sarandon's character). It's mind-boggling to me how anyone could have thought the re-edited version better and more likely to appeal to the public.

The theatrical version removes that clever cut [at the end] where we see Fasset raising his gun on the screen and we expect to cut to Tanner being at the door about to shoot him, but instead we cut to reality with Tanner opening the door to find his wife and kid

[Novecento]

Seeing that Don Hyde was Peckinpah?s archvist, could he shed any light on that ?pre-release? cut of Convoy that some lucky folks were able to see back in the day?

[stanton]

I would prefer a 180 min cut of Major Dundee with some bloody slo mo ...

[mike siegel]

Seeing that Don Hyde was Peckinpah?s archvist, could he shed any light on that ?pre-release? cut of Convoy that some lucky folks were able to see back in the day?

Not really. But at least we now have the Japanese premiere cut, which is 7 minutes longer...
And in all those years I could not clarify why the OSTERMAN agent would shoot himself:

[stanton]

Not really. But at least we now have the Japanese premiere cut, which is 7 minutes longer...

From Convoy or from Osterman?
Convoy I think. any plans for that version? And what's new in it?

[mike siegel]

CONVOY was released two or three years ago in JAPAN. I co-produced for KING RECORD (Cross Of Iron too):

[Novecento]

Not really. But at least we now have the Japanese premiere cut, which is 7 minutes longer...

Wow, I had no idea. The specs listed on Amazon Japan seem to list 5 rather than 7 mins longer. Is there anything substantial in those extra minutes? Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print already.

[mike siegel]

Yes, 5 Min.
I wrote a long piece about it (and OSTERMAN) for one of the next CINEMA RETRO issues...

PS: Sam's OSTERMAN director's Cut is NOT the preview cut (Videotape / old DVD).

[Novecento]

Yes, 5 Min.
I wrote a long piece about it (and OSTERMAN) for one of the next CINEMA RETRO issues...

Nice. I?ll look out for it.

It?s a shame that Japanese Blu-ray is totally OOP. I can?t even find anyone selling used copies. Presumably it was a very limited print run? Having said that, does the 5 minutes add anything of real worth? Or will I have to wait to see the Cinema Retro article for an answer to that?

PS: Sam's OSTERMAN director's Cut is NOT the preview cut (Videotape / old DVD).

Wait, you mean the one on the old DVD is not the same as the cut you received? How are they different?

[mike siegel]

Nice. I?ll look out for it.

It?s a shame that Japanese Blu-ray is totally OOP. I can?t even find anyone selling used copies. Presumably it was a very limited print run? Having said that, does the 5 minutes add anything of real worth? Or will I have to wait to see the Cinema Retro article for an answer to that?

Wait, you mean the one on the old DVD is not the same as the cut you received? How are they different?

Again, the Director's Cut I just finished working on is Sam's Final Cut. The preview cut is a preview cut. He was dismissed
and made his changes nevertheless - but nobody ever saw his Final Cut. Until now...

CONVOY: there are some nice moments. I do not have the time to write a lot here, I work 50 hrs a week
on Peckinpah, right until x-mas...  RETRO PREVIEW:

(JAP 15) 1:35:58    To hell with?em  (7:02)
After the dramatic dialogue beween Dirty Lyle and the Rubber Duck in the destroyed Alvarez? jail, the Duck is suddenly smiling, checking out the damage: "To hell with them if they can?t take a joke, right?". A good moment.

(JAP 16)  1:37:40    Road songs  (1:58:10)
The longest 'missing' sequence: on their way to Mexico, the truckers are singing songs. It starts with a laid-over verse from Al Martino?s song 'Spanish Eyes', then we hear and see Kristofferson singing a weird version of 'La Adelita', that famous song from the Mexican revolution! Next comes Madge Sinclair performing 'I don?t know why I love you like I do', a 1940?s classic most prominently recorded by Frank Sinatra and, later, Dean Martin. Everybody is in great spirits and Melissa takes pictures of Rubber Duck. The fourth song we hear is the famous 1939 hit 'South of the Border'. The sequence ends with everybody singing all over the place and a trucker laughing: "Oh, what an experience!". (in the final cut we only hear the 'Jesus freaks', in reality Kristofferson?s band, singing 'Shall we gather at the river'.)