I have always liked this movie but something that bothers me is the editing, sometimes I feel that there are lots of scenes that were left on the cutting room floor or perhaps it's that 80s style of editing and some of the music that confuses me...
Regarding possible missing scenes from the final cut does anyone know if the director has addressed this on a dvd commentary or interviews?
Film distributor Orion insisted that the movie be less than two hours. The first rough assembly of all the scenes ran much longer than that, forcing the filmmakers to cut many scenes.
A two-disc Collector's Edition DVD was released in 2005. (It has a basketball pattern on the packaging.) It contains a group of 13 deleted scenes, each introduced by the director and writer/producer. This DVD also includes film commentary from the director and writer/producer, as well as a few other special features.
The one-disc Blu-ray DVD released in 2012 contains these special features as well.
Thanks
shareSome of the deleted scenes do add clarity on some of the confusing plot points.
When and how Buddy returns to the team, probably the most glaring plot hole in the theatrical release cut, is explained.
In the official theatrical cut, Buddy smarts off and walks out the door during Norm's first practice, then in the second game of the season, without any explanation, he is back in the starting lineup.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
The original script included more scenes that dealt with Buddy's disappearance and return. In the first scene, when Norman notices that Buddy is absent from class, Rade informs him that Buddy has transferred to a nearby school. Later that day, Norman storms into Cletus's office and demands to know why Buddy was allowed to leave. And at some point after the first home game of the season, Buddy visits Norman at home and expresses remorse about leaving Hickory High. The first scene is not included in the group of deleted scenes on the DVD, but the second and third ones are.
I like that the director and writer/producer introduce each deleted scene on the DVD with a bit of commentary. Unfortunately, though, in most cases they don't really explain what the scene is and where it goes in the story. For example, with the scene where Buddy tells Norman he wants to return, they say that everyone always asks them how Buddy got back on the team and that they didn't want to delete this scene. But they don't explain that Buddy transferred to rival school Terhune and that's what he's talking about in this scene. And when they introduce the scene where Norman storms into Cletus's office, they don't explain that Norman is mad because he just found out that Buddy has been allowed to leave Hickory High. They just say that this scene is another example of how Norman has trouble controlling his temper.
Deleting so many scenes caused certain plot points to be hard to understand. Even after watching the deleted scenes on the DVD, I had to read the original script to completely piece everything together.
"Hoosiers" ended up being a big enough hit, you would think they would have released a 'director's cut' that restored most of the deleted scenes.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
One issue is that, if you watch the deleted scenes on the DVD, you'll notice that their visual and sound quality aren't great. These scenes were taken from an early rought cut of the movie, not from the original negatives. It's hard to say if the quality of these scenes could be fixed enough to put them at the same quality level as the finished movie.
Another issue is that it's likely that even more scenes were filmed than the 13 deleted ones included on the DVD. Because those scenes apparently have been lost forever, they couldn't be incorporated into a director's cut. Therefore, any director's cut still wouldn't quite represent the movie as originally envisioned.
I've seen the movie half a dozen times over the years and I never knew that Rade and Whit were brothers.
When Whit comes back with his father and asks the coach to rejoin the team, I always assumed it was another practice (perhaps a few days later).
It was the same day-- about an hour later. Which meant the George went out and stirred up a whole bunch of trouble in about an hour after he left-- without ever seeing the coach's methods!
It's funny-- because you sure don't get a sense that Rollin is Rade's father.
I guessed I missed a line because when Rollin says they boys get mixed up at times and to talk to him if they gave any more trouble, I thought he meant Whit and Buddy-- he was obviously talking about Rade.
It was always my assumption that Rollin spoke to Buddy (off camera) and that's why you see Buddy suddenly show up at the second game of the season.
AE36
Whit doesn't return the same day. It's the second or third practice. At the first practice, Norman is wearing a white shirt. At the practice where Whit apologizes, Norman is wearing a blue shirt and gray sweater vest.
The original script had three practice scenes, separated by other scenes:
The first practice had the argument between George and Norman and the exit of Buddy and Whit.
The next scene took place on Cletus's farm.
The second basketball practice featured Norman's line "Let me be very clear what we're after here. Team, team, team."
Then came the scene where Norman meets Shooter for the first time.
At the third basketball practice, the townsmen come in and sit down to witness the coach's "pig crazy ways of coachin'." Rollin and Whit enter, and Whit apologizes.
Yes-- you're right about the practice sequence. I originally thought it was a later practice but then read a review where its mentioned that its supposed to be the same day. However, the points you make about this are very valid. That reviewer (and myself as well) had it wrong.
I still can't get over that Rade and Whit were brothers. I missed that completely for years. There's just not a lot of signs of that in the movie that I can see.
If you miss Rollin's line to the coach about "Rade or Whit giving any trouble" etc. you're pretty much in the dark about that. I think the line is somewhat muffled, and its easy to assume that Rollin is talking about BUddy.
Earlier in the film, where Whit walks out with Buddy, Rade says "it's your funeral...". This I suppose could be taken as a brother to brother warning that they'll be a price to pay (namely, what happens when dad finds out). However, I always took it as a "friend to friend" warning.
AE36
There's one other subtle indication that Whit and Rade are brothers--but it's in one of the deleted scenes on the DVD. In the scene where the players and fans are preparing to depart in a caravan to the state finals, some of the Huskers are shown with their loved ones. Opal is next to Jimmy as Myra hugs him. Strap stands with his parents. Everett stands alone, looking contemplative. And Rollin walks toward the team bus with one arm around Whit and the other around Rade. Rade playfully hits Whit with his gym bag.
Another father-son relationship is mentioned in the script but not the movie: George is Buddy's father. That's why Buddy is so angry at the first practice: Norman has just disrespected his father in front of the whole team. The director hints at this relationship in how the scene of George and Norman's argument is framed and through Buddy's facial expressions (although I didn't notice this until I had viewed the movie many times). In the shot where Norman is on the left and George is on the right and the Huskers are in the background, Buddy is centered between the two men and amidst his teammates. The other Huskers are embarrassed and uncomfortable; some of them look down or away. But Buddy watches and listens intently and angrily; he even looks a little agitated. After George leaves, Buddy stands with his hands on his hips and glares at Norman for a couple seconds.