Backtrack / Catchfire (Dennis Hopper)

[Yami]

Carlotta will be releasing Dennis Hopper's Catchfire, or Backtrack as it is known in its director's cut, on July 7th.

Between this, Kino's new release of The Hot Spot, and Out of the Blue coming later in the year, it's a banner year for Hopper on Blu-Ray.

[AstroChicken]

I literally just watched this on Prime Video Canada, but the runtime was only 99m35s so I guess the Blu-ray will be the only way to watch the 116m cut.

movie starts out like typical low-brow early 90s thriller fare (which is something of a comfort food for me) but eventually turns into something far weirder and more interesting, if not very convincing.

I am a little confused after reading the "Alternative ending (Backtrack)" paragraph on Wikipedia. virtually everything described on there is what I saw in the 98m35s version I watched, which also happened to have the "Backtrack" title card so it didn't seem to be the original "Catchfire" release either. curious what are the actual differences that could add a whopping 16 minutes.

[jkoffman]

Anybody buy this or find a review?

[dreamon-86]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Anybody buy this or find a review?

There's a review here (in french)

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by dreamon-86

There's a review here (in french)

Hey thanks! Looks like a good grade and decent extras. Cheers.

[jkoffman]

Since no US version has materialized I'm considering pulling the trigger on this. Can anyone confirm that neither cut of the film has forced subtitles?

[NKB2017]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Since no US version has materialized I'm considering pulling the trigger on this. Can anyone confirm that neither cut of the film has forced subtitles?

I too want to know this.

By the way... how big is Catherine Keener's part in the movie?

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Since no US version has materialized I'm considering pulling the trigger on this. Can anyone confirm that neither cut of the film has forced subtitles?

Got this a few weeks ago but have yet to watch it. French subs are optional on both cuts, I just checked.
It's been decades since I last watched the shorter "Catchfire" cut, don't even remember Catherine Keener in there, sorry. One of her earliest film appearences apart from TV shows. She's listed as "Trucker's girl" (sounds like she's just an extra), I don't know if she's even in that cut or just in Hopper's "Backtrack" cut.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

Got this a few weeks ago but have yet to watch it. French subs are optional on both cuts, I just checked.
It's been decades since I last watched the shorter "Catchfire" cut, don't even remember Catherine Keener in there, sorry. One of her earliest film appearences apart from TV shows. She's listed as "Trucker's girl" (sounds like she's just an extra), I don't know if she's even in that cut or just in Hopper's "Backtrack" cut.

Thank you! Next ask, is it region B locked?

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by NKB2017

I too want to know this.

By the way... how big is Catherine Keener's part in the movie?

You can watch for free via Amazon > IMDB TV, though with commercials.

Screen Shot 2022-01-20 at 12.10.52 PM.jpg

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Thank you! Next ask, is it region B locked?

Yes, it is B locked.

[jkoffman]

Received my copy from Fnac (France) to the US in just 5 days! I sampled a bit of everything on the disc and wanted to add that the extras are all with English 2.0 audio and optional French subtitles. This looks like a really solid and English friendly release!

Extras (translated to English by Google):

• “Art in Backtrack”: documentary by Nick Ebeling with interviews with Dennis Hopper and unpublished testimonies from his faithful collaborators and friends (HD, 17')
• Behind the scenes of “Backtrack”: back in pictures on the set during the filming of some scenes from the film (7')
• Hopper art collector: Dennis Hopper unveils his impressive art collection, combining personal creations and works by famous contemporary artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat or Keith Haring (8')
• Original trailer

[Jorvic]

I understand there English audio on the film (both cuts) itself on the Blu-ray? The listing on this site says there is, but the back of the Blu-ray case doesn't seem to mention it.

It's a rather odd film but I'd watch it again.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by NKB2017

I too want to know this.

By the way... how big is Catherine Keener's part in the movie?

If you didn't know, in the theatrical she's in one scene, she's with a truck driver and Jodie's character asks her a favour.

[BillyDuffyLove77]

Originally Posted by chip75

If you didn't know, in the theatrical she's in one scene, she's with a truck driver and Jodie's character asks her a favour.

Thank you! I wonder if she's got a bigger part in the other cut???

[chip75]

Originally Posted by BillyDuffyLove77

Thank you! I wonder if she's got a bigger part in the other cut???

I think her part is the same in both.

[Protozoid]

Originally Posted by AstroChicken

I literally just watched this on Prime Video Canada, but the runtime was only 99m35s so I guess the Blu-ray will be the only way to watch the 116m cut.

movie starts out like typical low-brow early 90s thriller fare (which is something of a comfort food for me) but eventually turns into something far weirder and more interesting, if not very convincing.

I am a little confused after reading the "Alternative ending (Backtrack)" paragraph on Wikipedia. virtually everything described on there is what I saw in the 98m35s version I watched, which also happened to have the "Backtrack" title card so it didn't seem to be the original "Catchfire" release either. curious what are the actual differences that could add a whopping 16 minutes.

I saw this, too. I was confused so I did a little research. The version I think we both saw is the edited-down theatrical cut known as Catchfire, but for some reason, it had the director's cut title on it. If memory serves correctly, they even changed the font of the Backtrack titles to the Catchfire font, so this wasn't a matter of them simply replacing the titles from Catchfire with the titles of Backtrack. I believe the credit sequences from both films might be edited different, too, so it wouldn't have been possible to make a simple substitution.

Since they used the font from the original theatrical version, and it's the original theatrical cut, my guess is that it was an international print of the movie from an English-speaking country (Canada? UK?), dating back to the original release, where for whatever reason the distributor wanted to use the title Backtrack.

But I can't find anything about it anywhere on the internet so that was entirely conjecture on my part. For a moment I thought it was some kind of elaborate b.s. from the producer trying to trick Hopper fans into watching the butchered version, but I think the international version theory is more likely.

[Resident Evil Labs]

Any good? Thinking of getting the Kino disc

[Protozoid]

Watching the Kino disc now. Seems like an old transfer, but looks acceptable. It has both cuts of the movie, and the sole special feature is rather good: a commentary track with the two, uncredited writers of the film (Alex Cox and Tod Davies). They were on set for much of the shoot, and they are overflowing with colorful stories. It's a really good track.

I don't have the other disc, but comparing the features, I'd rather have this track than those featurettes.

[zepol]

Originally Posted by Resident Evil Labs

Any good? Thinking of getting the Kino disc

Jody Foster has like 2 nude scenes and she in an erotic scene too where she wears garter belt, and you see her thighs up close.