Nighthawks (1981)

[PipperPiper]

Nighthawks the Stallone action thriller from 1981 with Billy Dee Williams and Rutger Hauer has always been a film of interest for me. Not only due to what the movie was released as, but also with what ended up on the cutting room floor. Once again we will be taking this info with a grain of salt (or a whole fucking shaker, if necessary) considering where the info is coming from.

Anyhow, supposedly there are quite a few different cuts available world wide on VHS. Anyone have access to any of these alt VHS versions that just might hold deleted scenes? There supposedly is also a Japanese LaserDisc that may or may not hold a much different cut than what was available in the US. Anyone happen to have it or actually know if it is indeed different? I just would like to put to rest the rumors that have been making their rounds concerning this film. On the other hand if there is validity to this it would be very nice to be able to save these deleted scenes.

[PipperPiper]

Back of the Japanese LD release lists the running time as 99 min, which is the same as all other releases. It is possible that for some odd reason the running time came out to be the same, even with an alt cut, but who knows for sure. Have a feeling that this is another case of somebody running their mouth off just because they can and there is no real differences between any of the releases.

[tim_p]

Probably best to take it with a mine of salt.

When Shout released the blu ray there was a fair amount of talk on blu-ray.com about deleted scenes and precisely zero comments were forthcoming about alternate versions. Which of course is not to say no such thing exists but usually something solid crops up as someone knows something.

On a slight tangent, the Shout guy was vague when questioned about deleted scenes, stating they can only use what’s available or allowed, and didn’t elaborate. Lindsay Wagner’s media people promoted that she’d filmed a new interview but that her deleted scenes couldn’t be found, which suggests more an issue of availability as opposed to permission. One theory is that what Universal may or may not have had in the way of an uncut version or deleted scenes trims was lost in the fire.

[PipperPiper]

Probably best to take it with a mine of salt.

When Shout released the blu ray there was a fair amount of talk on blu-ray.com about deleted scenes and precisely zero comments were forthcoming about alternate versions. Which of course is not to say no such thing exists but usually something solid crops up as someone knows something.

On a slight tangent, the Shout guy was vague when questioned about deleted scenes, stating they can only use what’s available or allowed, and didn’t elaborate. Lindsay Wagner’s media people promoted that she’d filmed a new interview but that her deleted scenes couldn’t be found, which suggests more an issue of availability as opposed to permission. One theory is that what Universal may or may not have had in the way of an uncut version or deleted scenes trims was lost in the fire.

I am fully aware concerning the last home video release from Shout. While it would be nice to see the unrated version or even the original cut with more Rutgar Hauer scenes as well as some of the other extended footage, it most likely has been lost a long time ago. Just seeing if anything is indeed out there as far as any alt cuts released elsewhere on LD or VHS. Kinda getting sick of people running their mouths off stating "facts" that cannot be backed up with actual evidence. I personally think that the only alt versions that actually exist anymore have audio changes only. Which comes down to the removal of the Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar" and Keith Emerson's "I'm a Man" due to licensing issues at the time.