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I still think this is one of their best films (and one of my faves) but I still don't know why they felt the need to make the small edits for their "ironic" Director's Cut.

Here is what is "missing" from said Director's Cut:

1. Meurice saying "Yankee Night"--so now when he says Ladie's Night later it's not as funny...

2. Ray sticking the cigarette in the Boar's mouth

3. I'm a Believer by Neil Diamond (Replaced by the Four Tops song "Same Old Song")--Love both these songs so no great loss

4. Julian Marty telling Maurice's friend to "grow up"

5. "This is an illicit romance"

Is there a DVD somewhere out there with the original, uncut version?

I'm tempted to get an old video copy and make a DVD of it just to have the original version of Blood Simple. Or maybe I'll just get the Laserdisc which is the original version in Widescreen and then have it transfered to DVD..sounds pathetic I know...

I think I just found a DVD copy of the Original Version of Blood Simple. It's the one sold on Amazon.uk--a really bad Pan & Scan version but at least it is the original so now I'll have both to compare.

Also, on ebay I saw a Netherlands version of Blood Simple: Director's Cut features the original video artwork which I always enjoyed--so 80's.

Just found the differences posted on IMDB...duh...

IMDB:

When Blood Simple was first released, two quotes appeared over black, before the opening credits. One was from Dashiell Hammet explaining what Blood Simple meant and the second was from Alfred Hitchcock about how difficult it really would be to kill a man.

For the 1998 restoration, the Coen brothers not only remixed and re-recorded new sound effects for the stereo soundtrack, but made some minor trims to various scenes and dialog:

1.) Maurice asking a bar patron at the jukebox what night it is and realizing it's "Yankee Night", he explains he's from Detroit, thus justifying his intervention of the patron's musical selection.

2.) Ray sticking his cigarette in the stuffed warthog's nose at Marty's house, and the following lines: RAY: You gonna leave all this stuff? ABBY: It's all Marty's.

3.) After Marty suggests to the P.I. the "incinerator" as a means of destroying the evidence of his proposed murder, the P.I.'s line: "Sweet Jesus, you're disgusting!" is deleted.

4.) A couple lines from the landlady showing Abby the studio apartment (mainly assuring her Abby won't be bothered at that location) before she starts yelling at her ex-brother-in-law, are deleted.

5.) As Marty opens his safe to retrieve the bounty money (and swap the photo) his line: "This is an illicit affair" has been removed, although he can still be seen mouthing it.

6.) When the P.I. shoots Marty, a couple shots are removed of Marty and the P.I. staring at each other after the gunshot.

7.) When Ray and Abby are discussing "what happened", in her studio apartment, and Ray feels cold enough to rise from his seat, the shot of him steadying the walrus piggy-bank is removed and his dialog is heard off-screen to cover this change.

8.) When Abby goes to see Maurice about her concerns, the scene cuts as soon as she enters. In the original version, the scene continues and she is seen inside his place and he pours a drink while assuring her that Marty is not dead, even though she is very worried that he is. Some of the dialog from inside the house is placed over the shot outside Maurice's door before Abby goes in, in the 1998 version.

9.) In the original theatrical version, as well as the version shown on TV, the Four Tops song "It's the Same Old Song" is played on the jukebox and over the end credits. In the video version it is "I'm a Believer" by Neil Diamond.



Makes me really want to see the original now.

Nice couple of posts mate. I was about to recommend the older UK DVD release as a means for you laying your hands on the original cut but you have already done that.

Blood Simple is a tremendous movie and even though I'm Coen nuts, to be honest, I couldn't really tell what the differences between the two cuts was so it's nice to read the list you have posted.

Thanks!

Just found out some info that the Blood Simple Director's Cut DVD released by Cine Korea may indeed be the original theatrical version with "no cuts" and in Letterbox with 5.1 surround.

The runtime on the Korean version is 97 minutes while the runtime on the US DVD release is 96 minutes--I know they cut 50 seconds (give or take) worth of footage out of the original so this may be a possibility...

Does anybody have this to confirm? If not I may need to obtain this myself...

Just got the Korean version and... it's the Director's Cut (which I already own) but in Audio 5.1 (which is out of print for some reason) so this is going on eBay & at a bargain compared to the crazy prices others are charging for this DVD. AVAILABLE HERE: BLOOD SIMPLE Director's Cut DVD

But I did snag the UK Pan & Scan version (thanks for the heads up Paul) and there is a lot of stuff I had forgotten.

The Yankee night scene is actually kind of embarrassing--looking back--when Meurice says "Well I'm from Detroit. Heard of it? It's a BIG city waaay up north with TALL buildings..." wow some cheesy dialogue. The Coens would never let that sort of stuff slip by anymore--so it's nice to have this copy for a chuckle. Actually I prefer the original version with all the original scenes intact.. It adds info to the story and characters. When I watch the new Director's Cut, scenes feel like their missing to me...

The quality of this Original DVD is actually half-decent so I'm a happy camper.