Dick Tracy's 20th Anniversary

[Kamdan]

June 15th will be the 20th anniversary of the film Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty. I thought it would be appropriate to open a discussion on this film.

[Catwoman]

loved this movie. need it on dvd.

[Tarzan1941]

I too loved this movie!  In fact I just bought the novelization at a flea market for a dollar this past Saturday.  I almost bought the movie on VHS for a dollar too, but decided to save my money and buy some Batman related stuff from a great guy I know that works there.

I have to admit though, in 1990, I was turned off by all the hype surrounding Dick Tracy, because in my simple mind I thought people would fall in love with Dick Tracy and totally forget about the previous summer's Batman.  I didn't want that.  I wanted Batman!  I wanted more merchandise!  I wanted to protect my King as it where; I didn't want people to think it was a better film than Batman, because as far as this 13 year old kid was concerned, Batman is the greatest movie of all-time!  So, I didn't see Dick Tracy until it hit cable later on.  Glad I did.  It's a fun, great movie that simply is a nearly two hour comic strip come to life.  Even, what maybe considered the cheesy special effects work for me, such as when Dick Tracy confronts The Kid's father in the wooden shack and the walls go back and forth as they fight.

I highly doubt Disney or Warren Beatty do it, but I would love to see a 20th Anniversary special edition.  Can't you just imagine what all those colors would look like in high definition?   OK, well me either, since I don't have HD/Blu Ray, but still, if what I have heard and seen on the TV adverts and in store demonstrations are true, then I think it would totally rock!  I understand there is a longer version, a director's cut that was rumored to have been released when the VHS came out, but that never happened.  And even with the DVD, it is just the standard movie, no special features what-so-ever.  This movie needs a special edition DVD.  Plain and simple.

[The Joker]

I highly doubt Disney or Warren Beatty do it, but I would love to see a 20th Anniversary special edition.

I'm not sure about how interested Disney would be, but I would imagine that Warren Beatty might just participate in a SE DVD for this film. As I recall, Beatty made mention of wanting to do a sequel back in 2005 (shortly after Sin City, BTW), but the Tribune Company stepped in and said he doesn't have the rights to move forward with that project.

This movie needs a special edition DVD.  Plain and simple.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[johnnygobbs]

I completely agree with everything said so far.  I love this film and was lucky to see it in a theatre when I was a kid.  Technically it's flawless, and the performances from Pacino, Beatty and yes, even Madonna are a joy.  I also have something of a soft spot for musicals which Dick Tracy is to some extent and Stephen Sondheim's songs are excellent.  I love the whole artiface of the film, especially scenes like the one pointed out by Tarzan where the brutality of Tracy knocking the living daylights out of the guy in the shack is simply illustrated by longshot of the wooden building's walls moving back and forth.

As for the special edition, I remember Beatty issued a press release about eight years ago suggesting that he would like to relase one on dvd featuring among other extras a longer (apparently darker) cut of the film.  It's a massive shame this hasn't materialised as I'm sure I feel like many of us that it would be a must-have purchase. 

I can't help thinking Disney are being difficult since they were apparently underwhelmed by the film's success at the time for not being as big as Batman.  Fools...

[Kamdan]

Good call on purchasing the novelization, Tarzan! Max Allan Collins, who was a writer for the Dick Tracy comic strip, made it a good read by expanding out the story and making lots of more references to the original strip. Some of these references made their way into the final film.

I have seen the film in HD on the SciFi channel and it was quite outstanding, but it will be even better when it is released on Blu-ray.

[gordonblu]

Good call on purchasing the novelization, Tarzan! Max Allan Collins, who was a writer for the Dick Tracy comic strip, made it a good read by expanding out the story and making lots of more references to the original strip. Some of these references made their way into the final film.

I really appreciated how he used Itchy's real last name (Oliver) from the comics and not the "Jake Itchy Rossi" tie in crap that everyone else was using. I also liked the scene where they identify the five thugs in the opening. That was another area in the novelization where Collin's really gave the card game a little story and it wasn't just blow 'em away as quick as possible.


I'm all for a "darker" directors cut as well, that would lean it even more toward the blunt and brutal style of the strip. I'm glad it wasn't an R rated Dick Tracy though.


Actually, if I have one major complaint about the film, it's that they got rid of the Brow way too soon. He was a major villain in the strip and they didn't utilize him to his fullest.

[Kamdan]

Yes, sir, Collins was excellent at spotting those inaccuracies. I never quite got why they used Rossi instead of Oliver. I believe that Collins at first fought the fact that they killed off some pretty heavy Dick Tracy villains and tried to include other characters, but Disney really got on his ass for deviating himself from the screenplay. I think the biggest thing that Collins included was referring back to the death of Tess Trueheart?s father, which made Tracy a cop in the first place. It was exceptionally well in the scene where D.A. Fletcher tells Tracy that he can?t prosecute Caprice due to his alibi. This is an EXTREMELY small scene in the film, but Collins gave it more of a punch referring to Mr. Trueheart?s death being the only reason why Tracy wants to get back at Caprice.

I?m not sure exactly what would make Dick Tracy ?darker? if some of the deleted material resurfaced in a director?s cut. All that I have noticed that was missing, according to one of the scripts, is that Tracy uncovers the bodies at the garage shootout and identifies them. Then, there was material from the montage sequences that were actual scenes in the film, like when The Kid plays pool. If you REALLY want to see something different, get your hands on the first drafts of the scripts which have A LOT more set ups.

[Tarzan1941]

OK Darrell I have a question now and it seems like you are the go-to man on this.

I haven't started reading the novelization yet.  (I have too many books to read now.  I just bought Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey series and I just picked up another of Max Allan Collins novelizations, Waterworld on Friday.)  But I just read that Max wrote one version that came out before the movie where the identity of The Blank is not revealed, and another version that came out after the movie where the identity was revealed.  Then I just read on Wikipedia that Max fought with Disney and there was seven total versions of the book printed.  So, my question is, which version did I buy?!  It's a simple mass-market paperback with a yellow background and a Dick Tracy logo.  Is there any special way to tell which version I have, either through UPC or ISBN number, or is what I just reported a bunch of hogwash, and there is only one version of the book?

Incidentally, if anyone is interested, there are some good deals on the novelization on Ebay, ranging from $1.00 - $2.50.

[Kamdan]

I was just about to ask you about that Tarzan. What you need to do is go page 258 and see if the chapter ends there. If it ends on that page, then you have the copy which didn't revile The Blank's identity. I have both editions of the book.