When a VCR Dies

Everyone knows that 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte is the definitive Gothic romance. My favourite movie version is the one with Timothy Dalton from 1983. The stage lighting is wretched, but for Timothy as Edward Rochester, I'll put up with anything.

Now a few weeks ago - my VCR died. I know - everyone threw out their VCRs and VHS tapes 200 years ago and I'm the only one hanging onto mine, but I figured that as long as they still worked, there was no reason to replace them. Well, my VCR died in a huge way - eating my copy of 'Shallow Hal' until the tape literally broke in half. Oh well, I only owned about 30 tapes anyway. Not the end of the world. I was going through my tapes and wondering if there were any of them that I wanted to replace. I was surprised at the number I wanted new copies of - hardly any. Here's my list:

1. Jane Eyre
2. Highlander
3. Six Days Seven Nights
4. Decameron Nights

So, I ordered 'Highlander' and 'Jane Eyre'. When I got my copy of 'Jane Eyre' it said on the back that it was the complete unedited mini-series. My old copy was four hours long, but this one was 311 minutes. I looked at it and said, "Wow, that's a lot more footage and I bet there's not even 30 seconds extra of Timothy." I love it when I'm right, but in this case - I really hate it when I'm right.

My copy of 'Highlander' turned out to be the director's cut, too. Yuck! I was actually pretty mad about that because I tried hard to make sure it was the final cut. I had seen the director's before and I didn't like it. I thought that the stuff was that was cut was cut for a reason and I agreed with the decisions in the final cut. There are three main differences - there's more with Connor in Scotland (which is fine - I don't care one way or the other), then there's an extra scene where they show him rescuing Rachel during WWII (I don't have such a problem with the scene itself, but I think that the place they put it is inappropriate and rudely interrupts the viewer's train of thought - making the film appear choppy and bouncy - too much bouncing around) and lastly there is a scene with Brenda at the zoo. I confess that I skipped over it because I can't stand it when Brenda's like, 'Don't lose your head'. ONLY SEAN CONNERY CAN SAY THAT LINE WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE A LOSER. And that's a fact, but I saw that the scene had a redeeming quality - the way he holds her hand was ... utterly romantic. Why then with the loser line? Cry. Oh, and this new copy has been lightened, so that the whole film is less dark. WHY! AAH! I loved the dark! I loved the angst! And both have been downplayed by the stupid DVD release! ... I know ... I need to mellow.

I also hate the director's cut of 'Blade Runner'. They cut Harrison Ford's narrative throughout the film, which I think is vital to sympathizing with his character, and there's the scene when he dreams about a unicorn - which the back of the box leads one to believe that he's also a replicant. Well, kids - I've read the book. He's not.

I mean, I was frickin' raised on these films and so they're special to me.

Lastly, I went and read a portion of a fan-written bio for Timothy Dalton and they had a quote about how happy he was with 'Jane Eyre'. I don't know why, but it made me really happy to read that it was something he thought well of. It's probably because I always suspect actors of being hopeless snobs who are too good for their own work and look down on the parts they receive - believing that they are better than the work they get. I just think an actor would be better at covering what makes them disgruntled than an ordinary person.