From the Savage Messiah: Ken Russell forum:
http://iainfisher.com/dis/index.php?PHPSESSID=979d2df76235b2a92b25ac57232c0ba1&topic=11456.0
"I got it. It arrived today.
First things first. The rape of Christ sequence is missing. Sadly. Sad
However the picture is in rather fine quality despite the fact there's no 16:9 enhancement. But we do get the theatrical aspect ratio on this disc.
You can choose the English or Spanish language track and threre are removable spanish subtitles included. No extras. Not even a theatrical trailer."
"Ah, now I know. The spanish DVD is slightly longer than 103 minutes. And it's a PAL DVD."
At least it's fully scoped. No clear yet how complete the print is yet. However, the BBFC lists the abomination that is the 1988 video release (US edit) as 103m 40s (the later release as part of the Maverick Directors collection which is the one currently shown on UK TV has a listed runtime of 106m 41s).
So it looks like it could be the heavily cut US version.
That is truly disapointing and with that running time, It sounds like this might be the US cut theatrical version [thus not making a fanedit viable].Here's some info I posted on Dvdmaniacs regarding the various versions;
Running time in PAL for the BBFC aproved UK theatrical cut should be 106m 41s [this version was submited to the BBFC in 1997 for video release and was the longest available until the Angel Digital bootleg ,which added two scenes from the Hell On Earth doc]
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/BVF023919*Missing from the BBFC version 'Mark Kermode recovered scenes-Rape Of Christ/Sister Jeanne with bone + some others shown briefly in the doc.Also missing is footage from the torture scenes and the notorious sh*t on the altar,approx 89 secs of BBFC cuts according to Mark Kermode*
Here's some info from Wayne at iainfisher.com;
http://www.iainfisher.com/dis/index.php?topic=10538.0QUOTE;'I believe they found everything that was missing bar the tiny trims. The tiny trims made to the film were very likely binned at the time as they were so slight that reintegrating them into a version of the film at a later time would have been too messy to do and even if achieved would have looked awful. The main trims i can think of were to the leg-breaking of Grandier. This sequence was cut, then trimmed some more...trimmed some more...and some more...literally removing frames of film at one point. So, chances of ever seeing that footage materialise is very likely beyond all hope now...
The only other footage i can recall that was cut that was not mentioned in the documentary as being found in that can of footage was the defecation on the altar during the "public exorcism". There was footage cut that showed the "sh*t on the altar" as Russell termed it and i am guessing that this was not dwelled upon but rather shown for a second or two at the very most. If that was the case, then that would explain why that cut has not been spoken of as available for restoration amongst the found footage as it would no doubt have suffered a similar fate to the near-subliminal trims the Grandier leg-breaking endured. We are talking maybe one second of "sh*t on the altar" and a second or 2 of Grandier's legs being pulped (which, as i say, was demolished almost frame-by-frame)...
But, like you point out, the majority of the cut footage has been found now and is ripe for restoration. The missing few seconds will not really cause much grief amongst fans once they see a restored version materialise, but it IS sad that these tiny fragments are probably lost to time now and that, somewhat frustratingly, Russell's film will never be QUITE the full original vision!
What we have officially available on video (UK edition at least) is around 95% complete. A restoration using the found footage will ensure we get a 99.9% restored edit that will be, for most intents and purposes, the "director's cut" that Russell and all of us have been wanting to see for so long...'
The US VHS/LD release suffered from further cuts including reframing sequences to remove pubic hair [never seen this version,that must have been a quite a job, as there's lots on display ! So If anyone who's got this version can give further details]
Just to complicate matters further the version on iTunes runs just over 108 mins, has anyone compared the torture sequences ,Just in case, although It's highly unlikely as they are thought to be lost forever ! *OR is this just the US theatrical version in It's NTSC speed ?*
