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Spider-man 2.1 Discussion

post #1 of 30
4/17/07 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
With most places selling this for no more than 13 bucks, is anyone picking this up? It only seems appropriate for those who haven't bought Spider-Man 2, which everyone on the face of the Earth has at least three copies of.

We get 8 minutes with stuff between Peter and Harry, MJ and the chick with the weird nose from Death Proof, and a few more action beats. Still plenty of chocolate cake, though.

Here's the cover, which has a nice Mountain Dew Pitch Black flavor to it and 100% less rancid-looking damsel.

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post #2 of 30
4/17/07 at 2:34pm
I bought this last week (Walmart had it out early) and it's now my preferred cut of Spider-Man 2. Most of the additions are minor and spread throughout the film. Little details like (SPOILER) Peter turning on a police scanner late at night after returning to his apartment add to the film.

I only dislike two additions. There's a shot of Peter removing his mask in a car that's odd since there's so many people around and a visual beat in the "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" sequence that stands out.

The extensions to the action are great (Spidey and Doc Ock go another round on the train) but I hate that the music is so obviously tracked.
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post #3 of 30
4/17/07 at 2:38pm
Blips,

I agree. To me, this is the superior version of the film. For me, those additional eights minutes, whether needed or not, help to fill out the film more and let it breathe.

One of my biggest complaint about the theatrical cut was that it seemed like Peter's struggles and beatdowns were just one after the other, non stop. It felt like too much all at once.

Those additions just gave the room to breathe. My favorite new scene is actually the new MJ scene which fills her arc out completely in that film. We see why she made the decision she made to marry Jameson.
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post #4 of 30
4/17/07 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Swoosh
One of my biggest complaint about the theatrical cut was that it seemed like Peter's struggles and beatdowns were just one after the other, non stop. It felt like too much all at once.
I haven't seen the new cut (I didn't realize this was out yet), but I rather thought that was the point, and a real strength of the theatrical cut.
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post #5 of 30
4/17/07 at 4:16pm
Sure, it was the point, but I still felt it was too much, too soon, all at once. It's still there but the little additions don't make it feel so one on top of the other, all at once.

It just lets the film breathe a bit...and to me, that made a huge difference.
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post #6 of 30
4/17/07 at 4:31pm
The first and second acts are where most of the extensions are. Act three is pretty much the same except for a short addition to the train fight.

Most of the additions are just character beats. A few extra lines of dialogue here, a short scene there, an action or expression, but all the extensions make the situations seem more natural and the characters more realistic. Harry is made a much better character thanks to a minor addition to the birthday party scene. He's much more human, still obsessive, but that's not his only character trait.
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post #7 of 30
4/17/07 at 5:10pm
These sound like great changes- thanks for the heads up.
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post #8 of 30
4/17/07 at 5:42pm
I've heard that the supplements are quite worth checking out. Can anyone confirm this?
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post #9 of 30
4/17/07 at 6:46pm
I can't believe nobody's mentioned Jonah's Spidey envy scene. Puts a whole new spin on the character.

The only addition I didn't care for was the changing of the Hal Sparks elevator scene. Clearly they improvised a bunch of takes and just decided to use a different one for the sake of the re-release, but it was too forced. Liked the one in the original better.
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post #10 of 30
4/17/07 at 6:48pm
Most of the additions are just character beats. A few extra lines of dialogue here, a short scene there, an action or expression, but all the extensions make the situations seem more natural and the characters more realistic. Harry is made a much better character thanks to a minor addition to the birthday party scene. He's much more human, still obsessive, but that's not his only character trait.

Right on the money, Blips.
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post #11 of 30
4/17/07 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquafresh
I can't believe nobody's mentioned Jonah's Spidey envy scene. Puts a whole new spin on the character.
Shit, is the "JK Simmons in a Spidey outfit" scene in this??
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post #12 of 30
4/17/07 at 7:42pm
Holy shit, this is actually worth the money? Never would've guessed.

Well, looks like I got a trip to Best Buy in my immediate future.
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post #13 of 30
4/17/07 at 7:49pm
Crow,

The biggest plus about the DVD, in my opinion, is that they remastered it. The quality of the image kills the previous release, including the Superbit version.

I had to do a double take when I pop this in last week and compared it to the first release and sure enough, Sony went back and remastered this film and it looks so much better than before.
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post #14 of 30
4/17/07 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sCinema
Shit, is the "JK Simmons in a Spidey outfit" scene in this??
Yep. And it's great.

Though not stuffed to the gills with new footage SM 2.1 has some great new beats. Worthwhile for any fan of the theatrical.
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post #15 of 30
4/18/07 at 7:00pm
Very cool. I was thinking of getting this and now I will for sure. I have been wanting to rewatch Spider-Man 2 anyways, so this is good timing. I'm actually kind of excited.
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post #16 of 30
4/18/07 at 7:48pm
I draw the line at this kind of shameless double dipping. Even the name scream "Fuck you consumer". I vow not to buy another copy of any Spider-man movie until it comes out on Blu-Ray.
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post #17 of 30
4/18/07 at 10:06pm
Got it today.

Haven't dipped into the bonuses yet (there's not a whole hell of a lot anyway, it looks like), but the film alone is worth every penny. Sure enough, the film is remastered, even recolored in spots (yes, I had my nerd moment, and popped in the original disc, and sure enough, the scene I used to test it out, the final confrontation with Doc Ock, is very slickly filtered to a more natural lighting scheme.) The sound's a lot cleaner and bassy. And the 8 minutes of footage do give the film some breathing room. The bits that don't work (the weird split screen during the Raindrops montage, and most of Hal Sparks' elevator scene, with the exception of "...a men's cologne called 'Thwip!'") don't detract from the film in the least.

And yes, best of all, both Doc Ock/Spidey fights get extra footage, and I can see why they got snipped: They're both pretty brutal, in the best possible way.

It's worth the $13.

Yes, I'm just as surprised as the rest of you.
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post #18 of 30
4/20/07 at 5:33pm
Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's feedback. I will be picking this up after work and watching the shit out of it. That's right - my eyes have the ability to virtually bleed the excrement found in most bad-ass comic book movies. I know. My wife thinks its weird but you have to play your strengths up.

No really - thanks for the comments!
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post #19 of 30
4/20/07 at 9:53pm
They never should have cut the JJJ Spidey suit scene. It provides a real jolt of humor to the film at just the right moment.
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post #20 of 30
4/20/07 at 10:12pm
I was thinking this was supposed to be the extended cut that played on FX, which I had heard didn't have that much of interest edited back in.

Glad to hear that isn't the case. I'll have to pick up a copy of this just to see the JJJ scene.
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post #21 of 30
4/20/07 at 10:28pm
Allow me to go on record that the extras suck, unless you're a special effects nut. The preview for Spider-Man 3 is the same one that's been running on Starz the last few weeks. The featurette about 2.1 is flimsy. The score featurette is minor stuff with Elfman babbling on in the lower right. Granted, there IS some cool stuff in the effects documentary, particularly about the subway fight, and I continue to be fascinated how F/X companies come up with solutions for CG water. And there are scattered tidbits about Sony Imageworks finishing the extended fight sequences specifically for DVD without any new source to go on (indeed, the ugly jump cut after Spidey gets smacked with the train is explained as a "we had no choice" moment). But that's about it.

Still, I maintain the movie itself was worth the money.

By the way, I continue to be puzzled by people who didn't "get" the chocolate cake moment.
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post #22 of 30
4/20/07 at 11:40pm
I rarely watch SFX special features because aside from finding them clinical and dull, they detract from whatever magic I experience from the film. Sure, I know it's all CGI, but I don't need the affirmation. Let me suspend my disbelief. I was shocked to find out that in most FX heavy scenes in the Spider-man films, even the background plates are CGI. I thought at least the cityscapes were based on real backgrounds. Not so. I don't need to know that shit.

I always "got" the chocolate cake moment; it just struck me as odd because there's no real payoff in SM2. I hear there is a payoff in 3.
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post #23 of 30
4/21/07 at 3:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crow
Allow me to go on record that the extras suck, unless you're a special effects nut....
*Raises hand*

I actually picked it up today and will be giving it a spin (edit: ugh.) over the weekend.

Thanks for the heads-up.
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post #24 of 30
4/21/07 at 5:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crow
By the way, I continue to be puzzled by people who didn't "get" the chocolate cake moment.
Ok, I'll be honest. I don't "get" that moment at all. Can I get an explanation? Was there another scene cut that referred to it or something?
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post #25 of 30
4/21/07 at 10:00am
As someone mentioned before, the main conflict in the film is Spider-Man/Peter Parker getting his ass thoroughly stomped by life itself scene after scene. While we don't get her whole story, we get the sense that Ditkovich's daughter kinda in the same boat: insulted by her father, a certified klutz, the way she acts around people screams that she's been put down of her entire life. And though it's obvious she has sort of a crush on Peter, she knows he's too busy to ever spend any time with her..

It's a beautiful thing that, in that scene, they're the only people in the world being genuinely nice to each other, even for a moment. It's Peter's one true reprieve before the whole "We love you Spidey" unmasking moment on the train. It's just a standalone moment of kindness, and the film needed that.
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post #26 of 30
4/21/07 at 10:17am
Not much to add to what's already been said but I agree that the Jameson-in-Spidey-costume gag is hilarious and never should have been cut out of the original version. A couple of other beats (police scanner, extended train fight, etc) are great, while all of the new MJ scenes only make me wish that Kirsten Dunst would just disappear from existence all the more.

Yeah, the extras are kind of thin. But considering they covered absolutely everything under the sun so well on the first "2.0" DVD, I'm not sure what more they could do. If Sony was smart, they would have combined everything from the 2.0 release in with the 2.1 release. But as Sony continues to prove on almost a regular basis, they are not smart.
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post #27 of 30
4/21/07 at 10:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Litmus Configuration
Yeah, the extras are kind of thin. But considering they covered absolutely everything under the sun so well on the first "2.0" DVD, I'm not sure what more they could do. If Sony was smart, they would have combined everything from the 2.0 release in with the 2.1 release. But as Sony continues to prove on almost a regular basis, they are not smart.
They did it for the luxury of saying "All new special features!", which is perfect sucking in people like us who have the unrealistic expectation that those special features be good.
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post #28 of 30
4/21/07 at 10:45am
I agree with what Crow said, but also - I think it's the first time Peter's eaten in a goddamn month.
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post #29 of 30
4/21/07 at 11:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crow
They did it for the luxury of saying "All new special features!", which is perfect sucking in people like us who have the unrealistic expectation that those special features be good.
Yep. That's why I believe modern marketing to be the cancer of film.
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post #30 of 30
4/21/07 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crow
As someone mentioned before, the main conflict in the film is Spider-Man/Peter Parker getting his ass thoroughly stomped by life itself scene after scene. While we don't get her whole story, we get the sense that Ditkovich's daughter kinda in the same boat: insulted by her father, a certified klutz, the way she acts around people screams that she's been put down of her entire life. And though it's obvious she has sort of a crush on Peter, she knows he's too busy to ever spend any time with her..

It's a beautiful thing that, in that scene, they're the only people in the world being genuinely nice to each other, even for a moment. It's Peter's one true reprieve before the whole "We love you Spidey" unmasking moment on the train. It's just a standalone moment of kindness, and the film needed that.
Thanks for that, Crow. And for doing it without any sarcasm or snark.
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