Mask of the Phantasm

[Cassandra]

All right, I was reading a thread about this movie earlier, but I logged out and now I can't find it.
So I'll just ask- it's something that's been bugging me ever since I saw the movie in the theatres. (me and ten other people, apparently)
There was one scene that was cut. It wasn't in the VHS I bought but it was, I swear it was, in the movie I saw in the theatre. Just a little moment with Alfred talking to Dick on the phone about Bruce.Dick says something like "We're as close to him as anyone, but neither of us really knows him." This is driving me nuts. Can anyone out there prove me right?

[The Mad Hatter]

Er. I don't remember Dick being in the movie at all, a detail like that would have stuck out in my mind. And none of us remembers a scene getting cut... if it did, we would have obscessed the matter to death by now. Sorry...

[Mr. Obsession]

Originally posted by Cassandra
All right, I was reading a thread about this movie earlier, but I logged out and now I can't find it.
So I'll just ask- it's something that's been bugging me ever since I saw the movie in the theatres. (me and ten other people, apparently)
There was one scene that was cut. It wasn't in the VHS I bought but it was, I swear it was, in the movie I saw in the theatre. Just a little moment with Alfred talking to Dick on the phone about Bruce.Dick says something like "We're as close to him as anyone, but neither of us really knows him." This is driving me nuts. Can anyone out there prove me right?
I don't think so.... Having seen the movie on DVD, VHS and TV (sadly I never got to see it in theaters :(). If that was a cut scene than I'm sure somebody would have brought it up by now.

However the scene does seem familiar. Are you sure you're not thinking of something from an episode of B:TAS? I remember similar scenes from “I Am the Night” and "Night of the Ninja."

[Cassandra]

No, no, Dick wasn't in the movie at all, it was just his voice on the other end of the line. I saw it three times at the movies, (sad, isn't it?) and I remember distinctly being surprised when I bought the movie.
Though....I suppose if there were similar scenes in other episodes I might have mixed things up but I'm almost positive, unless I've finally started to crack up.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Do you remember any of the bracketing sequences in the movie where this conversation took place? I can't imagine a spot for this scene in the movie. The closest one I can think of is when Alfred makes the "I diapered your bottom, sir," comment and Batman storms off, but even then, a call to Dick doesn't really seem to fit.

In any event, I did see the movie in the theatres and I can't remember any such conversation either. Not a sign of cracking up, just that you're in the early stages of CRS Syndrome -- short for "Can't Remember, uh, Stuff" ;). Can strike at any time and at any age. I've had it for most of my adult life, as do many people.

-- Ed/Ace

[Karkull]

It wasn't in the movie, but I'm pretty sure that it was in the novelization of the movie. It was a good book--it also reveals how the Phantasm got her name!

[Cassandra]

I think the scene took place after Andrea and Bruce got together again, and Bruce is confused about where his life is going. Then Dick called because he saw footage of the big police manhunt that had gone on the night before on the news, with the cops shooting at batman and nearly catching him.
I did buy the book, though, I liked it a lot. Maybe that and some similar scene in another episode caused a mild brain hemorrage or something.

But dang it all, I remember that scene!
(clutching stuffed Batman Bear)
'sob'

[The Game]

I was a huge Robin fan when I was a kid, and I saw the movie, and remember being disapointed that he wasn't in it, so I'm pretty positive it was not in the theatrical version.

[Barb Gordon]

What year did the movie come out? Cause it just really bugs me that I never saw it in theaters *sobs*...but I'm assuming I was little, because then it would make sense that I hadn't seen it. 'Nother question, when did the old Batman/Robin cartoons start airing?

Barb^-^

[thanos28542]

Barb, the MOTF hit the big screen around X-mas of 93 cause I went to see it on X-mas eve. The Bats N birdboy started in 94. I know Bats started in 92 but I'm pretty sure they started calling it the Batman/Robin adventures like in 94. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. By the way I am sure the scene with Alfred n Robin talking about Bruce was took place in "Night of the Ninja". Not MOTF. :D

[thanos28542]

Barb, the MOTF hit the big screen around X-mas of 93 cause I went to see it on X-mas eve. The Bats N birdboy started in 94. I know Bats started in 92 but I'm pretty sure they started calling it the Batman/Robin adventures like in 94. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. By the way I am sure the scene with Alfred n Robin talking about Bruce took place in "Night of the Ninja". Not MOTF. :D

[Tim Drake]

I never saw it in theatres, but I'm skeptical such a scene exists. I remember reading an article that said only two changes were made to the movie. The first being the blood that flies when Joker's miniplanes hit batman dissappears off the screen quicker and something else which I cannot remember right now.

[James Harvey]

I saw th emovie in the thereatre and don't remember that scene at all. It makes no sense that they would cut it out after it was already released. The scene wasn't in the comic adapatation either, which was based on the final draft of the script (although Puckett made a few changes). I'm betting it was in the novelization.

[Cassandra]

Crap.
That's really frustrating, it's bothered me for years.Funny how your brain can play tricks on you. It must have been the novel.
Of course I could never ask anyone about it until now, since I only recently got online-

Me:
"Say, do you remember that scene in "Mask of the Phantasm", where.."
Random Guy:
"The WHAT?"
Me:
"The first animated batman movie?"
Random Guy:
Blank Stare
Me:(Frustrated)
"The cartoon?With Batman and Robin?!"
Random Guy:
(Begins to smirk)"That thing with King Tut in it?"
Me:
(Intense grinding sounds coming from my teeth)
Random Guy:
"Say, did you know you've got a vein sticking out of your forehead?"

[The Mad Hatter]

You can believe that we all get the same reactions when we try to bring up B:TAS in public...

[Karkull]

Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
You can believe that we all get the same reactions when we try to bring up B:TAS in public...

Fortunately, I save it all for here now, :).

[Russkafin]

I just wanted to say that I can totally identify. For a long time I remembered there being a scene in Batman Returns where Selina is squeezing blood from a cut on her finger into her boss's coffee, and I was wondering why it was missing when I finally got the movie on VHS. It wasn't until recently that I realized that had been in the novelization, and not in the actual movie. Isn't it funny how we can visualize things so clearly when we read, that we come to believe we actually saw them in the movie?

[Toddman]

Aw, man can I ever sympathize. I'm giving away my age here, but I can remember seeing the original Superman movie in the theaters in 1978 and again on TV (ABC I think) around 1980-81. I was a little kid at the time and I loved the Superman movies.

A few of years later, when VCRs became reasonably available for the first time, I rented the first Superman movie. After I watched it, I thought that the home video version cut out some of my favorite parts of the movie. Where was the scene where Superman walks through the gauntlet of machine guns and flame throwers? Where was Luthor feeding raw meat to his "babies?" Where was the part with Noell Niel calling her daughter "Lois Lane?" I know that I didn't just imagine all of that! Those bastards were screwing with one of my favorite childhood memories! Or so I thought.

It wasn't until years later I read that the network TV version of the movie ADDED about 20 minutes of footage that was never released theatrically. So it turned out that the home video version of the movie WAS the original theatrical version of Superman after all. I was so young when I watched Superman on TV for the first time, that I didn't realize that some of what I was seeing was brand-new. I simply assumed that the movie was exactly the same as it was in the theater.

Luckily the DVD version of Superman contains all of the missing footage I remembered as a youth. Now, after 20 years, I can sleep peacefully at night again...

Toddman

[Apache Chief]

You know, I caught this in theaters and I consider it far and away the best Batman film ever made. But much about the Phantasm remains mysterious - as I guess it was meant to be. How exactly do her powers work? At one point she renders herself (seemingly) intangible, and later she is able to run ahead of the Batplane. Karkull, you mentioned that the novel explained her name. Would you care to elaborate?

[Terminatah]

Originally posted by Russkafin
I just wanted to say that I can totally identify. For a long time I remembered there being a scene in Batman Returns where Selina is squeezing blood from a cut on her finger into her boss's coffee, and I was wondering why it was missing when I finally got the movie on VHS. It wasn't until recently that I realized that had been in the novelization, and not in the actual movie. Isn't it funny how we can visualize things so clearly when we read, that we come to believe we actually saw them in the movie?

I had the same exact problem with the novelization of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. I can't watch that movie without getting all stressed out.

-Terminatah

[Russkafin]

Oh, come on, Andrea tells us where she learned all her mad skills the first time she visits Wayne Manor...

Miss Hovey's Self Defense Class For Girls ;)

[Cassandra]

Toddman-

Wow.
Oh my god.
I didn't know there were scenes cut from the first Superman movie. I just got a DVD player for christmasIhavetogogetthatholycrap-
Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'm so excited, this is so great!!!

[Heehaw]

It wasn't until years later I read that the network TV version of the movie ADDED about 20 minutes of footage that was never released theatrically

It was closer to 45 minutes of footage, and the DVD version of Supes contains roughly 10 minutes of it. There are a couple of other scenes that weren't edited back in, that are in the supplemental section, so you're looking at about 15 minutes or so. Most of the stuff that wasn't put back in was pure garbage, though there was quite a bit of interesting material involving Luthor, Otis, and whatshername trying to highjack the nukes.

There is also an extended Superman II with about 22 minutes of extras(if you are fortunate enough to get a composite with all extra footage from all broadcasts that have shown around the globe), a Superman III with roughly 20(ABC version), and Superman IV with about a whopping 3 minutes(syndicated version). There is also the legendary test screening cut of Supes IV that is was roughly 138 minutes in length. The theatrical cut was 88 minutes. It was rumored to have appeared on TV a couple of times, long ago, but that has never been substantiated. It's claim to fame is the completely exised 2nd Nuclear Man(actually the one that is in the movie is the 2nd, but I won't go into that).

[Terminatah]

Originally posted by Heehaw
and Superman IV with about a whopping 3 minutes(syndicated version). There is also the legendary test screening cut of Supes IV that is was roughly 138 minutes in length. The theatrical cut was 88 minutes. It was rumored to have appeared on TV a couple of times, long ago, but that has never been substantiated. It's claim to fame is the completely exised 2nd Nuclear Man(actually the one that is in the movie is the 2nd, but I won't go into that).

That sounds kinda interesting. If you ever get a chance, please start a topic or something and let us know what that extra footage was supposed to be exactly. Thanks.

-Terminatah

[Russkafin]

Somewhere I have a magazine from when Superman IV first came out that has a picture of Superman fighting Nuclear Man #1... he looks kind of like Bizarro.

[Heehaw]

Thar she blows:

http://www.deceptions.net/superman/superman4/exfoot4.htm

[The Mad Hatter]

Hmmmm, never knew about that. Thanks for the info!

[Cassandra]

Mmmmm.....It's been a while since I saw Superman IV, but I seem to recall that it was crap. The webpage says the test audience didn't like the longer version, but I wonder if the movie was better with it. I like bizzaro allright, he's not so bad...