By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders.
Payback Director's Cut
I probably haven’t seen Payback since it came out, so this is less of a comparison between the director’s cut and the original and more of just a clean viewing of the film. It is interesting because I’d always heard Mel Gibson took the film away and reshot the ending, but it doesn’t end up making a drastically different impression than I recall leaving the movie theater eight or so years ago.
DVD Review: Payback Director's Cut
It’s shorter. That’s more convenient. But it’s still the morally reprehensible Porter stealing money from the homeless and working class, killing his criminal partners to get a piddly amount of money back. It’s a cool perspective on revenge, making him so unlikable (but still entertainingly so) and the pursuit so hollow.
Even at only 90 minutes though, the film feels slow. There are no big action set pieces since it’s more about mood and instant violence. I don’t know if that’s the cut of just my own aging perspective on pacing. I do recall a big explosion ending the theatrical cut and that is gone, so perhaps this version is simpler, more bare bones.
Obviously, perspective changes a lot of things. Back in the ‘90s, Gibson was the most lovable guy in Hollywood so this was a shocking 180. Perhaps that is lost now, or perhaps I just need to watch the theatrical cut right away and do a real comparison, but who has that time?
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