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The Fall Guy: Extended Cut Blu-Ray Review
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Loading...Author’s Note: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray for The Fall Guy: Extended Cut for review.
Filmmaker David Leitch and his 87North production banner re-envisions the classic television series, The Fall Guy, as a modern Hollywood action blockbuster. The film hit theaters earlier in May, kicking off the summer movie season strong. However, despite garnering strong reviews, the film wasn’t a huge hit with audiences. The film now hits home video formats with two cuts of the film available. Audiences have the option of getting two versions of the movie in one set, with the original theatrical cut and a new extended cut, with 20 minutes of restored footage.
While physical media might be in its waning days, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provides a nice home media release for The Fall Guy that comes with a generous helping of extras, along with an alternate cut of the film. For this review, I’m diving into the Blu-ray release, so it’s time to take a look at the Extended Cut of The Fall Guy.
The Movie (Extended Cut)
Obviously, the main attraction of this release is getting the extended cut of the movie, which runs about 145 minutes in length compared to the 125-minute length of the theatrical cut. The theatrical cut was already a highly entertaining, action-packed film. The extended cut adds more jokes, character beats, and a bit more action. For the extended cut of the film, director David Leitch provided a much leaner, faster pacing. The benefit of the extended cut is that it takes a bit more time to develop certain characters. There’s more dialogue and additional setups for various gags that occur in the film. The extended cut also features some additional character payoffs and closure for certain subplots that don’t appear in the original film.
Fans of the theatrical cut will certainly enjoy the extended cut because it provides a more comprehensive look at the movie-focused world of the film while featuring more of its charming cast, led by Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers. While it’s understandable why many of these cuts were made to the theatrical version, it’s nice to see these moments and scenes fully restored and integrated into a single, cohesive version.
There are some pros and cons to the extended cut. One of the flaws, which it appears Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick were very cognizant of based on their audio commentary, some of the scene extensions give away a bit too much of the mystery too early in the plot. The reveals are nice, and they provide some additional depth in scenes involving such characters as Colt and Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), but they show the cards in their hands too early. The scenes are good, but they telegraph the answers of why Colt was brought to Australia at the last minute just as the plot is getting going.
The new additions play very well, providing further character development for Colt Seavers, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), Dan Tucker, Iggy Starr (Alma Milan), and also Alma Milan (Stephanie Hsu). The extra character development is nice since it expands the depth and insight into the lives of certain characters. It improves the payoffs and presence of various gags, such as why Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) owns a cockatoo, why Colt Seavers handles himself in a fight, along with that crazy unicorn. Yes, the unicorn becomes an actual character in the extended cut, and he even talks now, voiced by Leitch himself.
In the new big action sequence, Colt’s chase of the drug dealer Doone (Matuse) becomes a longer, extended sequence. The sequence is fun, but it does run a bit too long and grows increasingly goofy since Colt is still on a drug-infused trip after his drink got spiked. While it was highly entertaining to have this sequence restored in the extended cut, it’s understandable why it didn’t make it into the theatrical version to tighten up the pacing and overall momentum of the plot.
The more rewarding part is that certain plot aspects have stronger setups and payoffs. When Colt finally meets Ryder, certain characters were scene in the background at his boat, before they promptly disappear. The extended cut reveals the proper payoff for these characters, explaining why they were initially present in the first place. All things considered, the extended cut will likely be my preferred version of the movie. Despite the early tells, it feels like a far more complete and satisfying version of the movie. That said, the theatrical is still a great, highly entertaining movie and works fine for moviegoers who want a faster, tighter experience.
Blu-Ray Info: The Blu-ray/Digital Copy release for The Fall Guy: Extended Cut is a two-disc set. Disc 1 contains the theatrical cut and most of the features. Meanwhile, the second disc is dedicated to the extended cut, with the filmmaker’s audio commentary as the sole bonus feature. There’s a slipcover for the Blu-ray case. Besides two Blu-ray discs, there’s also an insert with a download code for the digital HD version of the film. Unfortunately, the digital download code only works for the theatrical cut. The extended cut will have to be purchased separately if you want a digital copy.
Video Info: The Blu-ray for the first season is presented in a 1080p HD format and a 2.39:1 Widescreen aspect ratio. Blu-ray video quality looks crisp and pristine. This is a fantastic-looking production, and it still looks exceptional in the Blu-ray format. Cinematographer Jonathan Sela’s immersive work still pops nicely in the Blu-ray version.
Audio Info: The Blu-ray set has a Dolby Atmos soundtrack for the feature. There are optional subtitles in English, French Canadian, and Latin American Spanish. The show features a cool techno music score composed by Pinar Toprak that definitely fits the mood and setting of the show very well. I enjoyed the utilization of the classic Kiss track, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” which was made the backbone of Dominic Lewis’ score for the film and an anthem of sorts for the story. The soundtrack and dialogue sound well mixed, crips, and clear for the Blu-ray version.
Special Features: There’s a generous helping of special features for the home formats of The Fall Guy. With physical media going out of style as many are switching to streaming, it’s quite rewarding to see how much material was available for the Blu-ray release, specifically the feature commentary by director David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick, which is listenable on both the theatrical and extended versions. There’s a solid amount of extras here, reminding viewers what made the disc format so exciting for movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Feature Commentary: Leitch and McCormick provide a solid commentary track, which can be toggled on for both cuts of the film. It was nice to have the commentary track present, and Leitch and McCormick provided some good insight and anecdotes on creating the film.
Gag Reel: It’s your typical gag reel feature that oftentimes appears on home video releases. It runs a little under five minutes.
Alternate Takes: Most of the deleted scenes and sequences have been restored in the extended cut. Alternate Takes provides other additional or alternative dialogue takes and lines that didn’t make it into the final cut. Some of these were amusing, but many of these look like the takes where the actors go bigger or a little crazier with their improvisation. This runs just under six minutes.
Stunts on Stunts: Breaking Down the Action: This 19-minute feature breaks down several of the stunt sequences featured in the movie, such as the Boat Chase, the Car Jump, the City Truck sequence, and more. These are divided into smaller featurettes, or they can be viewed together as one longer feature.
Making a Meta Masterpiece: This 16-minute feature shows how the production team adapted the original Fall Guy TV series into a movie.
How to Break a World Record: This six-minute featurette showcases the car roll stunt sequence in the film, which legitimately broke a Guinness World Record.
Nightclub Mayhem: This three-and-a-half-minute feature showcases the choreography and coordination of the nightclub fight sequence in the film featuring Colt Seavers, Doone, and his thugs.
The Art of Doubling: This four-minute featurette showcases stunt double Ben Jenkin, who doubles for Ryan Gosling in the film.
Making Metalstorm: Another short four-minute featurette that dives into creating The Fall Guy‘s film within a film, Metalstorm.
Falling For The Fall Guy With Bob Reese: This four-minute featurette features Parkour athlete and social influencer Bob Reese impressively recreating some of the stunt sequences from the film.
The Fall Guy is available now in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats. The theatrical and extended versions are also available for digital purchase.
