Ultimate Fandango recap
Ok I've been meaning to write about this for the last month and a half. The Ultimate Fandango was an amazing experience. On July 17th in Austin, TX myself and several Fandango fans met up with Chuck Bush and Brian Cesak at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater to set out for a scavenger hunt and road trip to many of the filming locations. Brian Cesak rode with me and a friend in my car the whole trip. We all had breakfast together, then Chuck took us to where the 7-11 was where he was discovered by Kevin Reynolds back in 1983. From there we headed West to Rattlesnake Air Force base where the parachute scene was filmed. We were supposed to have access to the base, but the guy with the keys to the gate couldn't be reached. With a little luck, a section of fence "accidentally" fell down and we all drove in. Chuck and Brian shared many stories and pointed out where things were filmed. After that we stopped at Chata Ortega's, and then the old Toyah High School where the bathroom scene was filmed. We then headed to Alpine and got hotel rooms, then went to the Sonic for our "three chili-dogs and a malt". The next morning we made a quick trip to the gas station in Marathon, then headed for the ultimate filming location, the Dom rock. We took loads of photos and video and heard Chuck and Brian tell us about filming there. After that we went to the cemetery in Marfa where the firework battle scene was shot. From there we went to the square in San Elizario where the wedding scene was filmed, and where the screening was taking place. When we first got there I walked right past Marvin McIntyre without even realizing it. At the event Marvin actually wore the shirt that he wore in the movie. Before the movie started they had a contest to see who could recreate the Kevin Costner/Suzy Amis dance the best. Then there was a raffle and introductions from the organizers of the event, and Chuck, Brian, and Marvin had a question & answer session. Next we all got to finally see "Proof", which Marvin had brought. Very few people had ever got to see this before. Even Chuck and Brian had never seen it. When that was done we all got ready to watch Fandango, and got a huge surprise. Kevin Reynolds sent his personal print of the movie to the event. It was a VERY different version than we were all used to. It had extra scenes, different music, different audio in many scenes, it was incredible. Instead of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright" playing in the opening credits, the music was "The Song Remains The Same" by Led Zeppelin. I about jumped out of my seat at the end of the movie. Instead of the screen freezing when Kevin Costner holds up the bottle, he holds it up for a second, then is shown running down a hill towards the Rio Grande heading for Mexico. After the movie Chuck, Brian and Marvin talked to the crowd, then an actual wedding took place in the gazebo, presided over by Chuck, just like in the film. When the wedding was over, the couple did the dance from the film in the square. The actual dance choreographer who trained Kevin Costner and Suzy Amis taught them how to do it. The whole trip was just one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced since I'm such a huge fan of this film. Chuck announced he wants to do it again in July 2008. If you want to be a part of it, be sure to check out the Fandango message board at howboutafandango.com.
Official Fandango website ran by Chuck Bush
http://www.howboutafandango.com/index.htm
Message board
http://www.howboutafandango.com/disc1_frm.htm
Pics from the event on the site
http://www.howboutafandango.com/ultimate_2007/ultimate_2007.htm
My personal pics
http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t160/Fandango-Fan/Ultimate-Fandango-July-2007/
List of differences in director's cut of Fandango(scroll down a bit)
http://www.howboutafandango.com/info/missingscenes.htm
Was it worth it? Yeah... it was.