Thief (1981)

[monologuerecords]

Awesome news, I love this movie.

But does anyone else think this artwork is fricking AWFUL?!?

[Batmon77]

When the first letter boxed LaserDisc of "Thief" came out in 1995, it was billed as a "Special Director's Edition" and contained a new scene and a few minor (or major depending on your view) changes to the film. This was ported over to DVD in 1998 and remains the only version of the film available in Region 1.
Special Director's Edition: Changes 1. Added new scene with Wille Dixon on the bank on the Chicago river. Scene takes place directly after Caan's car drives away from the opening heist. A slow dissolve has been added that transitions to this new scene (normally the film cuts directly to Frank at the car lot). 2. Beach Scene - Mann removed a slow-motion shot of Tuesday Weld walking with the baby. First she is smiling, then looks over at Frank with a sort of melancholy expression. The whole shot is only about 7 seconds long -- but it is nowhere to be found in the "Special Director's Edition". In order to make up for the lost seconds, Mann make two editorial choices that end up hurting the original music/visual flow of the film. a) In the theatrical cut, we clearly see Caan light up the cigarette, then he nods his head a few times -- then on the music beat change -- cut to the Beach Scene. Perfect match of Tangerine Dream's music and visual cut. b) In the Special Director's Edition -- Mann cuts a few seconds from Caan's victory nod -- then cuts to the Beach Scene *before* the music cue change. Then Mann just slows down the images of the waves (to make up for the time lost) before the camera pans up to Frank. No music-visual cut transition. 3. House Exploding - when comparing the Theatrical and Director's Edition, there seems to be better clarity in the explosion. Screen appears to blow-out to white in the Director's Edition that looks different. This is only very slight and probably only noticeable if you watch both side by side. 4. Confrontation Shootout - Mann used a post-production technique to speed up several shots/frames during the final shootout. a) When Frank shoots Attaglia, the body appears to hit the ground faster. b) When Frank is shot by Carl (Dennis Farina), and you can see the window break on the car and Frank falls to the ground -- all this has been sped up. c) When Frank shoots Carl, he falls back (in three cuts) into the bushes. These shots have also been sped up in the Director's Edition.

If someone asks later.

[GreenGaijin]

Just saw this movie last night on Crackle.
I love it. It didn't pick up for me until that scene in the dinner. Does James Cann know how to send in a resignation or what.
This movie is better then Drive in my book.

[Batmon77]

Originally Posted by GreenGaijin

This movie is better then Drive in my book.

Easily.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Youre My Boy Blu!

I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing Criterion work their magic at restoring this one.

Criterion themselves are restoring this?? Do they have a 4K telecine?

[format916]

i wish there was an isolated score on this. otherwise im buying.

[trip66]

Wow! I nearly shit my pants this morning when I saw the announcement! Thief and Rififi! Two of the best heist films ever made! And in the same month! I saw Thief not long after being blown away by Collateral back in 2004. Thief-Heat-Collateral is a perfect 1-2-3 punch from such an amazing director. Thief feels like a sort of prequel/warm up to Heat, has all the same elements of character and style. After seeing Drive for the first time it immediately reminded me of the plot structure of Thief (I also love Drive as well).

I can't wait to see the water soaked streets reflecting all the neon lights under the L train when Frank is trying to lose his tail with the Tangerine Dream song pulsing away.

[Deke Rivers]

finally! been waiting along time for this one and for it to be a Criterion release thats just icing on the cake!

[klauswhereareyou]

Awesome, just hope Mann went back and fixed his "speeding" up of the slow motion shots towards the end of the movie that he did for the director's cut, because they look kind of cheesy (like silent film comedy). Still, it'll be good to finally have a good version of this film in my viewing library (the dvd was a visual travesty in 1998, let alone now!).

As for The Keep, yeah, it need released. It's a terrible movie, but....it has really good cinematography, so if anything that would make it worth owning on blu-ray.

[PowellPressburger]

I wonder if Criterion will be allowed to use the United Artists opening logo's or if they will be gone with only that horrible MGM logo that is only for distribution. I hate the missing logos.

[slasherdisc]

Way overdue!

[larrys]

Looking forward to FINALLY throwing away the 1998 non-anamorphic, piece of junk DVD. Haven't watched the DVD in years because of the horrible PQ. I have seen Thief on the MGM HD channel several times over the last few years and it never gets old or boring. Reminds of watching it on HBO late at night during my college years in the early 1980s. It should look fantastic as a Criterion Blu Ray.

While nowhere near a perfect film, it is, in my very unknowledgeable opinion, a perfect, textbook example of how to write a 3 Act screenplay. Also contains alot of terrific, gritty, realistic tough guy dialogue throughout.

Without giving too much away to anyone who hasn't seen Thief: Leo's speech to Frank in Act 3 (near the end of the film) is about the most menacing, badass speech any mob boss has given in the last 40 yrs of movies.

[ctyank]

Very happy about Thief. I don't own a lot of Criterion, but this is a must buy.

[warrian]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I wonder if Criterion will be allowed to use the United Artists opening logo's or if they will be gone with only that horrible MGM logo that is only for distribution. I hate the missing logos.

Hear, hear!

[JoeDeM]

Great news indeed

[retablo]

Originally Posted by GreenGaijin

This movie is better then Drive in my book.

Well, Drive was atrocious. And Mann is a master craftsman. He actually writes characters, unlike Drive which was all style and zero substance.

[PowellPressburger]

I asked Criterion directly regarding the original United Artist logo and here is their response.

Hello there,
The Criterion Collection release of THEIF will have the Criterion logo, followed by the MGM logo, followed by the original United Artists logo. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have further questions and I'm happy to help. Thank you for supporting Criterion!
Best, Jon Mulvaney

[dwk]

Originally Posted by monologuerecords

Awesome news, I love this movie.

But does anyone else think this artwork is fricking AWFUL?!?

According to the designer, it is what Mann wanted.

[al cos.]

It was also the deluxe laserdisc cover.

[Fightertown]

Finally, Mann's 'Thief' in full Blu-Ray glory!

A digital copy would be great. Wishful thinking on my part.