Pure curiosity would definitely have me wishing to see the fully filmed original version and ending. The recut one definitely kept That flair of life and death with the dark comedy theme strong, it’s all so cool seeing what you were able to bring together!

What never made sense to me in the original ending was in how bad of a shape their bodies were--surely in the 600+ years Lisle had been doing this, Madeline and Helen weren't the first potion-drinkers to suffer otherwise fatal injuries. This scene implies Lisle had people to take care of them, which would make sense, yet Ernest would've been a "God" who she wanted because he probably could do a better job than any of her other "beauticians". She needed him for reasons beyond Helen and Mad.

@XanArt21

7 ай бұрын

But they were outcasts in the final cuts ending, because they almost messed things up for Lisle so they were on their own. (Ernest says (of camera) in the original cut..: "I'm sorry for all the monsters I created!" And that was changed to "Sorry dears... you are on your own!") In the original cut they go after Ernest (who fished the intact potion bottle out of the pool) and eventually retrieve the potion bottle at the bar so appearantly Lisle was fine with them after that, allowing them to get touch ups by her guy...

@darian7802

7 ай бұрын

@@XanArt21Oh that totally makes sense I see. But, personally, I would not have let Lisle stay mad at me. If I paid her that much money she's taking care of me until the sun explodes, espc. since she and her dumb hot gaurds were stupid enough to let Ernest escape--not totally Mad and Hel's fault LOL

@XanArt21

6 ай бұрын

​​@@darian7802True it was Lisle and the guards own fault haha. If they ever do another movie I think it would be cool if Lisle could make the potion malfunction by sucking it out (with a strong hot kiss) or something haha... she will be furious with the guards and suck the life out of them turning them into frail old men.

@thegreenmanofnorwich

2 ай бұрын

I liked the idea that she might be much older (and heard a rumour she was supposed to be Cleopatra) but in the film, Lisle says she's 71 years old.

@HC-cb4yp

Ай бұрын

There's a cut line after the part where Lisle orders Mad and Hell to bring Ernest back. One of the women smirks and says: "Or what - are you going to kill us?" and Lisle says flatly: "I will bury you." And then Mad and Hell look shocked and race after Ernest.

I prefer the idea that if you drank the potion and "died" your body would rot while youre still conscious🤔

@TheEyeOfHorus69

2 ай бұрын

And you need to eat brain to ease your pain

Also the subject of "boredom" doesn't really belong in this situation. Because 27 years later the girls would be only 77. That's way too young to be suicidally bored. They'd need to skip at least a century for that. ;D And the subject of "immortality is bad" wasn't the best thought out either. Helen is so bored at 77 that she wishes for death, in contrast to Ern holding hands with his bartender girlfriend. But them holding hands doesn't automatically point to them having a good life - it just shows they have love. To contrast that to Mad'n'Hel, doesn't really portray the weird message of "eternal life is bad, early death is good!" It only shows that Mad'n'Hel are lacking love. They just want boyfriends! That's not a very deep message. The reshot ending deals with quality of life directly and showed their lives as pointless, I think it works much better. Or maybe one could say Helen subconsciously recognizes Ern and remembers the one that got away as her biggest regret in life. Which is pointless to Mad because Mad never regrets anything. In the reshot ending, they probably aren't even bored - their constantly falling bodies always provide them with something to do. The message is that they miss the point of anything and everything in their lives. That's the significance of the "Do you remember where you parked the car?" line - these girls miss the point of everything. The viewer can see the pointlessness of their lives. But Mad'n'Hel don't even when they fall apart right next to the funeral of someone that would be missed.

@XanArt21

7 ай бұрын

I'm 41 and already bored 😂

@OM19_MO79

Ай бұрын

@@XanArt21And that’s the point. You are bored at such an age for your own reasons, the way you look at life because of who you are, what you had lived and you believe. But them were awful people, what made them happy was to make those they hate miserable or annoyed, and that’s what kept them “alive”. The ending they kept not only works because it’s funny (something that a comedy is supposed to be), but because it honors the characters. The final act was already too preachy to have even more preaching and be depressing.

@tatik8682

Ай бұрын

@user-hz6fj9xy4y Hm, maybe. But Lisle claims to be constantly traveling around the world and has that huge crowd of clients. That means no matter which country her customer goes to, there will be Lisle's clients there. They are never alone. But one point the movie makes is about the emptiness of vanity. These people are skin-deep. That means even eternal youth is wasted on them. So they are bored as they are constantly traveling the world for entertainment, funded by their supposedly infinite money. They have everything yet they enjoy nothing. Probably got bored the same year they took the potion. Didn't even wait a decade. :D Damn this movie raises so many subjects but deals with none. Now I'm fantasizing what happens off-screen.

I like the introspection of this original ending -- authenticity beats superficiality and all the ways they manifest. The theatrical ending is comedic, but I always thought it was kind of sad. Hel and Mads were monsters but that's a pretty brutal ending even still. I never laughed, lol.

I like the idea of Ernest keeping his one young hand.

Page 128 is the part that has always confused me about all the people that get stabbed then the drop of temptation. Wouldn't the little bit that Lisle put on his right hand be enough to have affected his whole body to an extent, if only to have brought him to live noticeably longer, or at least made him to look more in his early 40s when he was noticeably in his late 80s?

Wasn't there an extra scene in the original ending when Madeline and Helen find out the old couple are Ernest and Toni and then go over to them over the road, only to get hit by a car and smashed into pieces just like the theatrical cut?

@XanArt21

6 ай бұрын

No...JoBlo got that from somewhere... but it's not true. The movie ended in a melancholic fashion, not hilarious. That would have been cool too though. I wish they kept everything and then only changed the ending, not completely cutting so much althroughout the film in consequence of the changed 3rd act and ending. More than 30 scenes were removed, lot of character development but also hilarious scenes: A frozen Madeline walking around the house scaring the maids____ Ernest declaring his love for Helen (so it's weird he fell for Toni later)____ Ernest encounters a dead priest in the morgue____ Helen buying the hardware to bury Madeline____ Dakota and Madeline having sex____ The actual wedding etc... Robert (or Universal) decided after the whole shoot and testscreening he wanted a different film. So it can feel kind of uneven (change of pace etc). They could just have tacked on an ending where Madeline and Helen have found out they have been duped by Toni and Ernest and go after them, there could have been a cool carchase and they eventually crash (resulting in the women shattering, but still going after them) and Ernest saves Toni by giving her the potion (just on a wound) or something. They probably thought of something like that but it would have taken weeks to shoot... and they didn't have that time. The new ending and the scene before it, were shot just 3 weeks before the theatrical USA release).

@LewisDavies2007

6 ай бұрын

@@XanArt21 That's a real shame.

@XanArt21

6 ай бұрын

​@@LewisDavies2007I've asked Robert Zemeckis' wife if he may consider doing at least an extended cut with some of these deleted scenes in it (not necessarily the original ending, that can be put on the extras if he has a heart haha). She did 'like' the comment and she is a big fan of the film too so who knows.

@LewisDavies2007

6 ай бұрын

@@XanArt21 It depends if the studio wants to release the original cut or not. I'm quite interested in seeing what the original version would look like. Especially the ending. If they don't release the deleted scenes after being remastered, they could at least, release the workprint of the film. That would be good too. If there is one exists.

@XanArt21

6 ай бұрын

​​​​@@LewisDavies2007 They have been bombarded with the request to release the original cut the last few years. Robert Zemeckis has immense creative control though. Universal even still use photos from the deleted scenes to plug the movie. The frozen Madeline still get's used on a lot of the bluray backcovers and the old theatrical trailer has been watched by many people recently (you can see parts of the removed scenes in there).

I want to see it completely uncut with Tracey Ullman I love this film but to cut out one major actor with no explanation is odd I bet it’s better uncut

@XanArt21

Ай бұрын

There are 7 other actors cut out including Nancy Fish the maid.... she actually gets fired by Ernest when she comes in for work and busts them (Madeline is stuffed in the fridge). Adam Storke as Dakota had an earlier scene where he is making love to Madeline (before she goes to the beauty salon). Matt Fewer plays an orderly who sees Ernest & Madeline sneaking out the morgue... and a few others like the drunk in Tracey Ullman's bar, Jonathan Silverman as Madeline's agent... It's pretty bizarre they cut it down so much with barely any funny side characters left in anymore... It resulted in a relatively short cut compared to the original cut.

But what if you could be beautiful AND deeply in love forever... or at least a lifetime? Moral of the story: ugly or beautiful, life's too short for frenemies... even if it's forever. 😁 PS: Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell definitely understood the assignment! 😉 #2341

@the_glitter_is

Ай бұрын

The moral is outer beauty doesnt bring you happiness.

I'm pleased they changed the ending because I don't think that it makes sense with the rest of the film. They are dead, you see the problem with that in the main film.

@XanArt21

2 ай бұрын

It did fit with the original cut of the film that was over 2 hrs. People now judge it in the context of the current cut of the film but it had more to it. It was just a bit more of a bittersweet ending.

@MikeTMike

Ай бұрын

I think the problem is people want revenge. How dare they remain the same? Why weren't they punished?

Hey I just realized something else about this ending. The released ending, Mad'n'Hell are stuck together against their will. Lisle blacklisted them, and they can't find another mortician. They need to repair each other while hating it. They are each other's punishment. But in the original cut, they are flawless works because Lisle is for some reason, providing them with a mortician. What this means, is that Mad'n'Hell don't need each other. They are together by choice. The two women who hated each other so much, are now choosing each other. That the scenes don't comment on that, is a waste. They should have discussed this! The more I think of it, the more I like the released ending. It just makes so much more sense. This whole movie runs like one hell of rewrites, like it's been rewritten 100 times, and for the sake of that - countless versions of the plot existed, listed not as scripts but as summaries. And because of those countless different versions of the plot/scenes, the movie takes turns sometimes making sense, sometimes not. Along with this bizarre situation where they supposedly made a first version then edited it - which should have meant that the later edit is butchered - but that isn't so - the later edit that should have been butchered, instead makes more sense than the first unreleased version. I take it that's because these two versions aren't one edited into another, but two equal version created at the same time, existing at the same time, probably designed to be easily edited from one into another on purpose, should the production ever change their minds. So what actually happened, wasn't that they made one script, then edited it into another. But that they had two (or more) versions, then first went with one, then later changed their mind and swapped into another. Just a feel I have.

@XanArt21

Ай бұрын

I don't think so... they would have filmed Ernest walking out of the poolroom without the potion as well but they kept the shot where he is still holding it. There is a reason it is such a close up when Ernest comes out of the pool without the potion (the other with the potion was shot from the side and further away), cause the set probably was (partly) dismantled. The same goes for Madeline & Helen having the peeling scene outside in the front of the house instead of inside (also a set). Goldie also mentioned the ending was rewritten after the movie was tested. The Toni & Ernest plotline was not needed anymore in their view and then the major cuts started to happen... probably even before the new ending was shot (that was shot beginning of july... Ernest getting out of the pool without the potion on june 19th). Which was a poor way to go about it imo... They should just have only cut the original ending off... keep the reshoot scenes with Mad & Hel only... add some cgi peeling on the women's chests and have the whole Toni & Ernest plot intact but just with that new ending... the ending for Ernest's character is just way too abrupt now in the final cut (and they knew it and that's why they started making the film more choppy all throughout). They could still cut the movie together like this if they have all the footage.

So mad and hel where rich or something?🤨

@XanArt21

3 ай бұрын

They were still on good terms with Lisle and they probably sold all of Ernest's stuff... got his will etc. Ernest left everything behind... Madeline confirmed him dead in the original 3rd act.

😮

Why does Ernest have the hand of a 25-year-old?

@XanArt21

2 ай бұрын

Cause Lisle put the dagger with the potion on his hand to tempt him.

@boogersanchez

Ай бұрын

Yes! Precisely

So the original cut had the plot hole of, if they earlier said they need Ern for touchups, why would they be still stunning 27 years later. Did life just come back to them off-screen? They claim "we need you" but apparently they don't. I like the reshot ending better. I can see why they deleted the OG ending. It's holey and kinda stupid. First the girls claim they need him then stay stunning 27 years later. Then Ern first steals the potion in order to expose the killer of Shakespeare and Max Factor! But then changes his mind one hour later, easily. Lets the killer go free just to be safe himself! And is rewarded for it with everlasting love! Love with some random bartender who decides to abandon her own life and follow some crazy guy as he escapes to live an illegal life in hiding. There isn't an apparent reason why she goes with him - just because the script says so. And his reward isn't even a fulfilling life, no. Just the love of the bartender. And the question "why would the bartender love him?" is unanswerable. "All these people are horrible" was the point the movie was making. Ern is a spineless loser that first cheats on his fiance, then abandons her for another, then plots to kill his wife because divorce is expensive, then kills his wife because she called him flaccid, then lets a murderer go free to save himself. Which trait exactly the bartender fell in love with? This original ending is just weak and oddly written in so many ways. It kinda stands out from the movie that was brilliant before the end. Why'd they allow such a weak script to exist in the first place, then actually shoot it, then delete it 3 weeks before release? What an odd series of decisions.

@XanArt21

7 ай бұрын

I know Ernest is a weak man, but yeah.. it happens with lots of men haha, he even apologizes to Helen for breaking her heart in another deleted scene and then says he still LOVES HER. This would be so weird, since he would end up with Toni later... yet this was in that original version and is not in the final version... where it would make actually more sense... since there are just 2 'love' interests left. At their first meeting in the movie Toni even says... you still love her don't ya? And they are talking about Helen. Madeline even says that Ernest and Helen were perfect for eachother... in the deleted scene at the beachhouse when she is in bed with Dakota. The script is definately flawed. There was an earlier scene with Toni at the bar (after Madeline tears the card from Chagall) and we see Toni being sympathetic to Ernest's situation... she says she admires him for staying with Madeline cause he made a promise but has every right to divorce. I dunno... it's fine I guess... I don't think they went into hiding they just happened to be at the same place as the eternal ladies were (since they are travelling because they are bored). Helen at one point says: "He's no Ernest" so they did have someone to take care of their bodies. Lisle arranged that. They did say "we need you"... but were totally unbothered when he fell for real. They were sent after Ernest by Lisle cause if they didnt retreive the potion she would stick both of them into the ground. I find the whole scene at the bar funny but it really lacks something (logic I guess) and when the 'identification' scene (with the giving up the potion) starts you just feel it deflating... and the 27 years later thing feels very... depressing somehow haha. I think you are right, the motivation for giving up the potion is very flawed. If I were one of the writers I would have been fine with the Toni storyline for Ernest but they should just have changed it when Ernest and Toni think they are getting away with it but not give up the potion. Madeline could just misidentify him (the dead guy had blood over his face since he hit his head in the blender) instead of thinking it's him because he had the potion on him. A scene with Ern and Toni in Toni's car and have them being chased down by Madeline and Helen (who realised they had been duped) and they just can't handle that... plus Ernest being with a new woman. Their cars crash into a ravine and the potion gets tossed between them. Mad & Hel break to pieces and come crawling out of the ravine when the cops have arrived... they all stand there looking at the moving limbs... while Ernest heals a cut on Toni's face with the potion.. and yet he doesn't take any of it eventhough he has some wounds. Mad and Hel's heads stare at the others. What are ya looking at!!! and the movie ends. Maybe they thought of something similar to this but it would just be impossible to shoot in such short time. They could just have stuck the maid in the funeral ending... I don't get why they didn't think of that... she had 3 or 4 cut scenes. It would be rewarding for the audience to have one character you could really root for.

@tatik8682

7 ай бұрын

@@XanArt21 I suppose it makes sense for Lisle to have a handy mortician, because surely Mad'n'Hel can't be the only two cases to ever happen. She says the warning because she knows from experience the warning is needed. That's why Lisle wanted Ern - because he makes "corpse masterpieces". xD In the original cut Ernest and Toni were definitely in hiding because Lisle kills those who reject her. What's the point of feinting Ern's death if they aren't hiding afterwards? That means Ern never could live in LA again, or maybe even in USA. And had to change his name, too. And get fake documents etc etc. And live an illegal life for the rest of his days where he stiffens at the sight of police, and lives in constant fear that Lisle's people just might find him after all. So his new life may have been fulfilling but also flawed. If that is his life, then I'm sure his recurring thought must be "I should have just divorced Madelyn. Damn you Helen for putting me up to this!" And he probably has to literally start his life from scratch because he can't even clear his bank account - since he hides from Lisle, then when Mad learns he cleared his bank account, she'll report that to Lisle. Because Mad now depends on Lisle. And he "has no talent for poverty". xD So this would be an entire lifetime of difficulty that Ern is pulling Toni into. xD "The script is flawed" actually thanks for your glorious work gathering all this information, after knowing this movie all my life, I come to form the coherent thought that this movie is sort of weak in how only some scenes are strong and some are worthless. Maybe that's why so much has been cut - the direction in the cut scenes was too weak to keep it? Because it contrasted with the other scenes with the direction of gods too much? A lot of the scenes even in the final product run kinda weakly. Don't feel like this is a million dollar production. The movie sorta feel like they originally just had the 2 scenes in mind - "Mad twists her neck", and "Hel with a hole initiates a shovel catfight". Then they build the rest of the movie around that. That's why so much has been cut - because they were constantly rewriting things of the go. Because they didn't really know what they want to do with this movie other than have those 2 scenes. That's why there's such difference in quality between different scenes - not all scenes were equally inspired and made with the same level of care. I think occasional "weak direction" may have been more apparent in the original cut. Look at the "He's dead, Ernest is dead, everybody's dead" shot. Goldie is delivering her lines but she isn't in a close-up, they aren't framed in any way, instead they're standing in line facing the camera like this is a sitcom, and Toni is "crying" like this is a kindergarten production. And this is a shot from the final product. Maybe that's why Zemechis hides the cut scenes? Because the production was a mess of embarrassing scale, so he's ashamed of this movie even when the final product is top-notch. All he can think is the mess this was to make, and his mind on this movie is forever stuck in the process of constantly rewriting it and looking for flaws and different takes to rewrite it more and more? If so I wish he got over it and showed us the deleted footage. xD Love your take on the final scene. This movie had this feel that other than the few key scenes, it could be adjusted infinitely and each version wouldn't be worse than another.

@XanArt21

7 ай бұрын

​​​​​​​@@tatik8682That whole moralistic plot will be liked by a certain audience though... but the makers ended up freaking out and going for the more edgy variant, leaving the other audience with... in their eyes... nobody to root for. The original movie was more of a comedy/drama meets fantasy than a quirky fast paced ghoulish comedy... but both have the same message so I don't really see the problem in releasing the scenes. Everyone knows about it now... it's not gonna taint the movie. Goldie said: I can always tell you what the movie was originally about (hints to her thinking it was changed too much)... she sounded a bit pissed... "I could be blamed for doing a movie that's totally about... nothing". I think every second of this film is fantastic, the line delivery, the grittyness of the colours contrasting with the high class sets, fashion etc... I doubt the original scenes suck... I just love these actors and the guy (who did the old make up on Tracey) and even Zemeckis himself said it was all really great stuff... they just went for a different tone in the endscene resulting in many cuts in other places to 'up' the quirkyness (Removing basically the entire weddingvows scene and just having them walk out the hall is a good example of this). I bet they wanted to keep some stuff that got deleted but Universal probably was a pain as well. I bet Bruce and Goldie were pissed... and it all worked more in favor of Meryl Streep (her character now wasn't the only one without a redemptive story arc... Goldie now too). I bet the original ending still was macabre enough to fit with the rest of the film... it just hit people differently. I also think back then people had a problem rooting for an anti hero... well those times really have changed. Just stick all the deleted scenes in the extras Bob... I'll make my own cut. 😂

@tatik8682

7 ай бұрын

@@XanArt21 I personally think the reason they changed the tone of the movie had nothing to do with morals - changing the morals was just the consequence of changing the tone. One flaw that remains in the final product, is that the first 30 minutes are dull. It takes forever for the movie to pick up pace. I suspect that's why they cut so much - this was a very dull movie that for some reason had a few fun scenes in it, and those few fun scenes stood out from the dullness of the rest of it. Which was a directional failure - who the heck makes a boring black comedy? So they probably cut so much to try and reduce the dullness.

@XanArt21

7 ай бұрын

​​​​​@@tatik8682Well Zemeckis actually said that it was the wrong story for this kind of movie so... Dull? because it has no special effects or 'action' in the first 40 minutes? It's anything but dull... I love the opening, Ernest arriving at work, Fat Helen... the bookparty etc. The chemistry is delicious... and we love it for it... some people just don't have much of an attention span these days.

Im confused, i thought we were going to see actual footage that was cut. Plus no volume with them talking at the end... And umm whos Toni cause i don't remember seeing his wife at all in the movie, at his funeral but i also thought her name was Claire? Thats what the priest said anyway..

@XanArt21

Ай бұрын

Robert Zemeckis has a huge amount of artistic control over his movies and didn't want any of this deleted ending to be seen ever. The person who did the make up on Bruce Willis and Tracey Ullman wasn't even allowed to share anything so it's a miracle at all we got the 2 images of them with their old make up. Universal however doesn't always realise what is in the movie and what not so we have a nice amount of images of all the other deleted scenes. Toni was Ernest's other love interest who works at a bar. All her scenes were removed... including the ending. She had 3 big scenes. She was supposed to be introduced right after Madeline tears up the card from Lisle's when Ernest visits her bar for a drink. Originally the potion bottle survives it's fall and Ernest finds it in the pool and goes to the bar with it (You can even see him holding it in a shot where he leaves Lisle's poolroom). Toni helps him out by staging his death (one of her clients drops dead) and she returns the potion to Mad & Hell to distract Madeline when she is identifying what she believes to be Ernest's body. There is other videos on this channel that explain those scenes. The focus had to be on the background in the last footage because that's where Ernest & Toni sat on the ground having food and wine that's why I removed the audio (youtube gives a lot trouble with copyrighted audio anyways). I already had to remove the original ending's music from the video and reupload. The funeral ending was a reshoot (and the scene before it as well and the shot of Ernest getting out of the pool without the potion) and since Toni's scenes all got cut they came up with a different name for his wife. The new ending was shot only a week before the New York premiere. The movie was very different originally and has 15 deleted scenes and more than 15 extended scenes.

@user-sk7fh9xp9o

Ай бұрын

@@XanArt21 see this is what I hate about extra footage , things that are cut wether we can see it or not. I'll go with what I know and see. This makes things confusing in all aspects or maybe people have to much time on their hands sitting in front of the TV watching movies all day. Sorry but I don't delve into all that extra stuff. Because what's the point when it's cut anyway? Right. And other lover? Heh so Ernest was a hypocrite, he was no better than Madeline and Helen either.

@XanArt21

Ай бұрын

​​​​​​​​Well thanks for the appreciation 😂 but this movie was cut up very shortly before release date. The trailers, tv spots, lobbycards, soundtracks all had deleted stuff in them... if they hadn't people would not have cared so much I guess. Things like this, on this kind of scale would never happen these days cause movie companies could get sued for false advertising with using so much footage that isn't even in the film. People have been asking for the original cut for more than 30 years so I thought it would be nice to have a place people can find all the info on it... so to come on a channel dedicated to that and then make a big deal about how useless it is, is kinda... odd & pointless.

@user-sk7fh9xp9o

Ай бұрын

@@XanArt21 I never said it was useless.