Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) - Three Wolves

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by Moe UK

What is the US 3 disc set like? I don't have any of these and having seen the first recently would like to watch the others.

I have that set... it contains the U.S cut which had some scenes cut, like the Christian Slater cameo, the "People never think how things effect the familly of a henchman" scene and the subsequent Rob Lowe cameo ; a bit odd that the later was cut, considering he was in Wayne's World and would star as the younger No. 2 in the next film... maybe they cut him, because they knew they were gonna use him again later on.

They also shorten the gap inbetween "I never forget a *****.... cat.", because the MPAA objected ; they discuss that on the commentary.

Looks like Blu-ray.com agrees with the MPAA.

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I remember getting told off by mum for reading the listing for the sequel out loud from the TV guide as a kid.

I remember the difficulty they had promoting it in some places ; saw the teaser trailer before a film and they cut the title off at the end. Also, remember going to my local Odeon and they had an Odeon sticker over the offending word on the billboard they had in the lobby. Everyone knew what it was censoring ; if anything it attracted more attention to it.

[PT Ryan]

Originally Posted by indisposed

I have that set... it contains the U.S cut which had some scenes cut, like the Christian Slater cameo, the "People never think how things effect the familly of a henchman" scene and the subsequent Rob Lowe cameo ; a bit odd that the later was cut, considering he was in Wayne's World and would star as the younger No. 2 in the next film... maybe they cut him, because they knew they were gonna use him again later on.

They also shorten the gap inbetween "I never forget a *****.... cat.", because the MPAA objected ; they discuss that on the commentary.

Looks like Blu-ray.com agrees with the MPAA.

I bought that US set, unaware that it only had the theatrical cut, and stupidly gave away my Australian DVD with the longer version (the one I’m used to).

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by indisposed

They also shorten the gap inbetween "I never forget a *****.... cat.", because the MPAA objected ; they discuss that on the commentary.

There's a very noticeable gap in the commentary every time Random Task appears where the lawyers very obviously decided they'd better edit out all references to Oddjob just in case EON sued.

[Moe UK]

Originally Posted by indisposed

I have that set... it contains the U.S cut which had some scenes cut, like the Christian Slater cameo, the "People never think how things effect the familly of a henchman" scene and the subsequent Rob Lowe cameo ; a bit odd that the later was cut, considering he was in Wayne's World and would star as the younger No. 2 in the next film... maybe they cut him, because they knew they were gonna use him again later on.

They also shorten the gap inbetween "I never forget a *****.... cat.", because the MPAA objected ; they discuss that on the commentary.

Looks like Blu-ray.com agrees with the MPAA.

Right that seem like one to completely avoid then. Thanks for the input.

Are there preferred versions to get for all 3?

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by Aclea

There's a very noticeable gap in the commentary every time Random Task appears where the lawyers very obviously decided they'd better edit out all references to Oddjob just in case EON sued.

I can't say I've noticed that, but I wouldn't be surprised considering how litigious Eon can be. I do vaguely remember them mentioning that Frau Farbissina was based off Rosa Kleb, though...

as for Random Task... I only recently found this out... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Son

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by Moe UK

Right that seem like one to completely avoid then. Thanks for the input.

Are there preferred versions to get for all 3?

I'm not sure there's a perfect set of all three. The sequels are probably the same the world over ; I know the U.K and American versions are the same, apart from DVDROM content that was on the American DVD, but I don't think anyone cares about that kind of stuff anymore.

Getting the first film uncut can be tricky, though. Maybe there's a German set of all three. That would probably be your best bet.

[Krynoid-Man]

Originally Posted by indisposed

I can't say I've noticed that, but I wouldn't be surprised considering how litigious Eon can be. I do vaguely remember them mentioning that Frau Farbissina was based off Rosa Kleb, though...

I remember that EON once threatened litigation against Paramount over an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 that spoofed the Bond films.

as for Random Task... I only recently found this out... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Son

Jesus!

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by Krynoid-Man

I remember that EON once threatened litigation against Paramount over an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 that spoofed the Bond films

What happened to "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"?

I know Cubby wasn't happy that Roger did The Cannonball Run, because he played a character who thought he was Roger Moore, playing the character of James Bond, but the whole thing plays like Moore having some early meta-fun at the expense of his screen image and acting style more than anything else. At the end of the film he says something like "next year we'll do this again", but he never turned up in Cannonball Run 2 ; I think Cubby had a word with him.

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by Aclea

There's a very noticeable gap in the commentary every time Random Task appears where the lawyers very obviously decided they'd better edit out all references to Oddjob just in case EON sued.

Given EON's reaction to the official Bond laserdisc commentaries, I don't blame them!

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by indisposed

as for Random Task... I only recently found this out... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Son

Sounds like a true Fleming-style Bond villain!

[malcy30]

Sounds horrific.
I see Wikipedia has his Austin Powers character is a riff on Odd Job.

[Markgway]

I happened to see one of those true crime programmes on Joe Sun.

An evil piece of shit, indeed.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by indisposed

I know Cubby wasn't happy that Roger did The Cannonball Run, because he played a character who thought he was Roger Moore, playing the character of James Bond, but the whole thing plays like Moore having some early meta-fun at the expense of his screen image and acting style more than anything else. At the end of the film he says something like "next year we'll do this again", but he never turned up in Cannonball Run 2 ; I think Cubby had a word with him.

In that case Roge said he opted out of the sequel because a stuntwoman ended up quadraplegic on the first film in a rushed 'piece of cake' stunt that saw her sued by the film's insurers for 'allowing' herself to be persuaded to do the stunt despite not being qualified for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the insert shot "It's Godzilla" joke in Goldmember was added as a last-minute dig at MGM, who sued them over the use of Goldmember as the title.

Austin Powers in Goldmember - Godzilla Scene - YouTube

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by Moe UK

Right that seem like one to completely avoid then. Thanks for the input.

Are there preferred versions to get for all 3?

I got the US set for all three and the Spanish BD for the International Cut of the first one. Think it was less than 15 quid at the time for everything.

[Scottishguy]

Originally Posted by Aclea

In that case Roge said he opted out of the sequel because a stuntwoman ended up quadraplegic on the first film in a rushed 'piece of cake' stunt that saw her sued by the film's insurers for 'allowing' herself to be persuaded to do the stunt despite not being qualified for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the insert shot "It's Godzilla" joke in Goldmember was added as a last-minute dig at MGM, who sued them over the use of Goldmember as the title.

Austin Powers in Goldmember - Godzilla Scene - YouTube

It's a great joke

[CompleteCount]

Originally Posted by indisposed

What happened to "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"?

I know Cubby wasn't happy that Roger did The Cannonball Run, because he played a character who thought he was Roger Moore, playing the character of James Bond, but the whole thing plays like Moore having some early meta-fun at the expense of his screen image and acting style more than anything else. At the end of the film he says something like "next year we'll do this again", but he never turned up in Cannonball Run 2 ; I think Cubby had a word with him.

The Cannonball Run was as close a parody as they could get, especially with the theme tune. After the film came out, Hal Needham was interviewed by EON about possibly directing a Bond film for them. The very first thing Cubby Broccoli said to him was "You were two notes away from being sued...".

[PT Ryan]

Originally Posted by indisposed

What happened to "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"?

EON is very litigious where their trademarks are concerned. They also played hell with Paramount over Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Bond homage "Our Man Bashir." Parody or not, they've likely got a big, expensive legal team to spook off any perceived infractions.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by CompleteCount

The Cannonball Run was as close a parody as they could get, especially with the theme tune. After the film came out, Hal Needham was interviewed by EON about possibly directing a Bond film for them. The very first thing Cubby Broccoli said to him was "You were two notes away from being sued...".

I'm trying to think what a Hal Needham Bond film would be like. I guess J.W. Pepper would be back

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by drush9999

I'm trying to think what a Hal Needham Bond film would be like. I guess J.W. Pepper would be back

The subsequent VHS open matte release would feature a lot of boom mics and trampolines.