Wow. I loved the theater version of 'Payback' even giving it 5/5 stars and ranks as one of the best Mel Gibson movies ever made. 'Payback: Straight Up The Director's Cut' (P:SU:TDC) however is the biggest director's version disappointment since the 'Richard Donner's Superman II' cut. I have yet to review (and now should go back and watch the original 'Payback' in order to do so) the theater version, but I've seen it so many times to know where scenes were cut and added, tone/lighting altered and of course the deletion of Kris Kristofferson's character along with the theater's ending. If rented, one should absolutely watch the making of features on the 'P:SU:TDC' DVD to learn so much more about how this version surfaced. Such as the director Brian Helgeland being fired when conflicts with his vision and what the studio wanted us to see surfaced. Too funny: when fired, he was concerned of Donner's (who worked with him on 'Conspiracy Theory' also with Gibson) opinion, stating that Donner wouldn't have been (fired or removed.) Uh, well, he was Warner Bros. threw him out of 'Superman II' that he almost completed. Also, you'll learn that Gibson, himself, didn't like this version as much as the theater one. What 'P:SU:TDC' contains is more violence see Gibson beat up his wife and kill in cold blood and a relatively non-suspenseful cat/mouse ending. What this version took away, was almost all humor, great voice-overs, the suspenseful closing including Kristofferson's wonderful scenes and pretty much all the fun. Donner's 'Superman II' did almost the same things, even though 'II' wasn't the best one, the magic, humor, fun and action packed closing all vanished. 'P:SU:TDC' isn't even worth a viewing. Skip it only watch the theater version for great entertainment.
Review of Payback: Straight Up
