Wasn't he doing 2 versions? Hope both gets a theatrical release so people can choose. I'm going for R-rating.
Knowing Ridley, the father of Director's Cuts, that'll probably happen only on video. But in this case, I wish it wasn't a choice. Now I'm not against releasing alternate versions of films on video (I prefer a lot of extended/unrated versions myself), but when it comes to this franchise, making it tamer hardly adds anything new except the hope they'll fill in seats in the theater. That's it. Here are some comments from our one and only Damon Lindelof again speaking at ComicCon.
"I think a PG-13 movie can be very, very scary, but it just has to be more clever about how it’s scary. This movie is not going to be gory. It’s going to be a psychological underpinning of how something very, very bad is about to happen. I don’t know what that bad thing is, I’m very nervous about it, and I know that it’s coming. That’s very cool."
And this one from another source.
"if the original 'Alien' were released today, minus the F-bombs, you could still get a PG-13. 'Alien' is a very 'Jaws'-ian movie: Theres no sex, and while theres lots of violence, most of it is off-camera. Maybe youd have to cut away from certain scenes two seconds earlier, but it could be done."
Ugh... Yeah. Anyone remember all those critics and fans who demanded a tamer cut of our beloved classic? Anyone ever catch the fan edits that impose their own PG-13 cut of Alien?
I hate PG-13 with a vengeance. Things that should be more open get grittier for a PG-13 (Star Trek) and things that should be more grittier get toned down for a PG-13 (AvP, Live Free or Die Hard).