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Australian 4K Blu-ray |
Comparison between the German Blu-ray from Capelight Pictures and the Australian 4K Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment
- 2 additional scenes
Indian director Tarsem Singh is known for his music videos for Jennifer Lopez, R.E.M., and later Lady Gaga, among others. Several major commercials, such as the one for Pepsi featuring Enrique Iglesias, caught the attention of Hollywood at the time, and while his modest number of feature films certainly have their weaknesses, they are still visually stunning today. In addition to The Cell (2000), there is of course The Fall from 2006, for which David Fincher and Spike Jonze supported him in the final stages. Shot in 28 countries over four years exclusively on location and without sets, and then denied a wide release for two years due to differences with Harvey Weinstein, this film is undoubtedly an interesting piece of cinema history for these reasons alone. The mystical fantasy film was released on Blu-ray in many countries in 2008/09, in Germany by Capelight. In May 2025, Umbrella Entertainment in Australia released the worldwide UHD premiere after streaming provider Mubi finally gave the film a new 4K scan in 2024.  At the end of 2024, there were already some theatrical reruns of the new restoration in the USA, and in the Blu-ray.com forum it was noted that the two scenes previously found on DVD/Blu-ray as “Deleted Scenes” were now integrated back into the film. Now that we have the version for comparison, we can confirm that only these two scenes have been added; otherwise, the film is identical. On the one hand, you now see a very beautiful, long tracking shot through the Himalayan mountains, which gives you a more detailed view of the group's disorientation when Luigi is sitting on the horse and the guide eats the map. On the other hand, you see more of the priest, who is about to use his stick to harm the little boy in the story – whereupon Alexandria says off-screen that a priest is supposed to be one of the good guys, and the scene takes a different turn. Singh commented on the scene with the priest in particular, for example in Variety, saying that he had given him an ugly haircut so that it would fit better with a subsequent cross-fade to a mountain. This is a misleading comment, because this cross-fade from a shot of the priest also appears in the theatrical version in another scene. What Singh apparently meant was that the sequence gives this character more depth, as his behavior towards the child changes only through the brief off-screen dialogue between Alexandria and Roy - highlighting how the whole story is deeply rooted in imagination. Of course, it's a matter of taste, but one can certainly say that the scenes round off the film a little. Either way, this is now the only version available on the new medium, which Singh himself prefers, as he was actively involved in the 4K restoration. Our user Shantiro has confirmed that the extended version is also available as VOD on the Mubi channel on Amazon Prime Video in Germany. However, the film is only available in the original English audio and in HD instead of 4K. But this implies that international VOD offers by Mubi most likely also feature the longer version from now on.
Running times are arranged according to the following scheme The new 4K Blu-ray has some additional logos at the start.
49 sec
Note: In the Variety interview from the intro and also in the equally detailed Vulture interview, there is also mention of a sign that says “Once Upon A Time in Los Angeles,” which Singh has apparently only just added. However, it can also be seen at 02:50 / 03:39 on the old Blu-ray and is identical in both versions.
Alternative 39:56-40:02 / 40:45-41:28 Before the box is opened, the theatrical version has a shot from above showing a horseman emerging in the background.
The 4K Blu-ray shows a long tracking shot through the desert instead. A rider says, “Where are we?” and the camera pans to the background. You can then hear the others say, “Darwin! Which way?”
Australian 4K Blu-ray 36.3 sec longer Just before the following difference, the sentence heard in the theatrical version was deleted from the soundtrack: “The bandits kidnapped the princess, leaving behind her little nephew.”
54:39 / 56:04-56:52 Behind the nephew, the priest emerges and shouts: “Darwin! Darwin!” You can also hear the instruction “Go to the bridge, come on!” The child looks frightened, while the priest looks angry and reaches for his stick. However, Alexandria remarks in surprise from off-screen: “But the priest is a good man.” Roy hesitates for a moment and then comes up with an explanation: “Well, yeah. Uh, the stick was for a snake. The priest was chaperoning the princess and her nephew on the way to her wedding. Everybody knows the priest is a good man.” The priest, who has now taken out the stick and is holding it behind the child's head, actually only goes to chase a snake on the ground. He then kindly places his hand on the child's shoulder, and finally we see a long shot. Note: At the beginning of the scene, the subtitles refer to “Tyrant! Tyrant!” However, in the Vulture interview, Singh comments that the priest is shouting “Darwin!” 48 sec
The credits are slightly different; in 4K, the font is significantly smaller and runs more slowly.
Last but not least, it should be noted that the linked interviews still mention “touching up some visual effects” and that the two deleted scenes in particular were never properly finished. However, in a direct comparison, we did not notice any other differences in detail throughout the film, as is often the case with Fincher films on new media. Even the deleted scenes only differ slightly in terms of color.
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