You know what really bugs me?  When Hollywood sells out for the almighty dollar by hacking up films - taking someone's beautiful artwork and ripping it to shreds so it'll play in Peoria.  The 1985 movie Legend from director Ridley Scott follows on the grand Hollywood tradition of screwing up a good thing that was pioneered by Scott's own Blade Runner and would also be suffered by Terry Gilliam's Brazil - to name just two examples.   

For years, there have been three versions of this film in circulation - the "European version", which has the original Jerry Goldsmith score and is much closer to what Scott had in mind - the "American version", which has the infamous Tangerine Dream score (and an awful Jon Anderson song that both sucks and blows) and is not what Scott wanted - and the "television version", which is essentially the American version with a couple of minor differences and some extra footage. 

The movie has a fairly large cult following.  Rumors have been floating around on the Internet for years  about what the "Legend" DVD would be like, and our collective patience has been rewarded with a 2-DVD set that contains a new "never before seen" Director's Cut, the original US theatrical release, and a slew of bonus materials.

•  Director's Cut (English 5.1 DTS,  English 5.1 Dolby Digital, 114 minutes) 
•  Theatrical Cut (English 2.0 Dolby Surround, 89 minutes)
•  Both films presented in anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1
•  Director's Commentary
•  "Creating A Myth: The Making Of Legend" documentary
•  "Isolated" Tangerine Dream score track
•  3 Deleted Scenes
•  Storyboards
•  Bryan Ferry's "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" music video
•  Still Galleries
•  2 Trailers and 4 TV Spots
•  Production Notes
•  Cast and Crew Info
•  English, French and Spanish Subtitles

Of course, this was the first time I've ever seen the Director's Cut of "Legend" but it was also the first time I'd seen any of the European version as well.  Having watched the two films back to back, I can definitely say I like the Director's Cut much better.  For starters, one doesn't realize both how dated the Tangerine Dream soundtrack is and what an odd juxtaposition it is with the movie until one has heard the original score.  Even though I'm a fan of electronica in general, the more traditional score just sounds better.  For example, the scene where Mia Sara "dances with the devil" is much more sinister with an orchestra playing some crazy Edvard Grieg-inspired classical music than the reed-thin synths of the Dream. 

On top of this, the Directors Cut\European version just flows better and comes off as more "adult".  For example, there is a scene near the beginning of the movie where Jack admits to Gump that he took Lilly to see the unicorn.  In the American version, Jack freely admits this under questioning, but then he says that he did it for love and all is forgiven by Gump and the others.  In the European version, he hesitates and admits nothing at first, and we see conflict in Jack's face.  He then confesses and Gump gets angry almost to the point of violence and makes Jack solve a riddle before letting him off the hook.  It's only one example, but it speaks volumes about the differences between the two versions, however subtle at times.  The endings are quite different as well, but I won't spoil it for you by revealing it here. 

(For more of the individual differences between the European and US versions, look here.)

The DVD

The movies themselves look fantastic!  The picture quality of the DVD is excellent and the films never looked better!  There are some inconsistencies with the black levels once the action moves underground, but otherwise the film looks perfect, although it should be remembered that Scott was aiming for a muted look in the film.  None of the colors - even in the lush outdoor scenes - are very bright,  but don't worry - that's what Scott had in mind.

I'll be honest, I still don't have my speakers set up in my "new" place, so I can't comment about the sound.  I'm completely happy with how it sounded through my Wega's speakers, but that's a far cry from watching the movie in DTS with six speakers.  So you'll have to check that out for yourself.

I also have not yet completely gone through the bonus materials, but it suffices to say that there's plenty and the quality is decent enough.  The commentary pretty much follows the "Making Of" documentary for the first 20 minutes of the movie, but offers some fascinating insights into what Scott had in mind when making the movie.  One gets the feeling that he really cares about the movie, unlike many directors that seem to do DVD commentaries out of "contractual obligation" instead of love of their work.  

I must comment on the Bryan Ferry video, however.  As much as I love the guy, this video sucks.  It looks as if the entire budget for the video shoot was around $12, and most of that was spent buying beer to keep David Gilmour (who makes a small appearance during his guitar solo) happy.  And the quality of the video itself is just plain awful!  In fact, I want to say that the source video for this HAD to be PAL - so much for "Never Twice the Same Colour", huh?    

Lastly, allow me to comment on the DVD's packaging.  It's neat.  Legend Ultimate Edition comes in a cool clear plastic case.  I can't really describe it to you - you'll just have to see for yourself.  It also comes with a nice booklet that has a short note from Ridley Scott describing the pain he went through to make the movie.  Interestingly enough, there is no chapter listing in the booklet, and Bryan Ferry's name is misspelled on the cover and in the booklet (but not on the actual DVD menus).  Oh well, nobody's perfect, eh "Brian"?    

Some movies get made just because the director wants to get paid.  Others are labors of love.  Legend is definitely the latter.  It seemed to take forever for this film to show up on DVD, but once it did it was worth it.  It's nice that Universal is releasing it with a decent MSRP - this could easily have been a $32.95 DVD since it's a two-disc set, but yet it's priced the same as most new releases.  At least the wait is finally over!