Con Air has always been one of my favourite films so imagine how pleased I was when I bought the Extended Edition a few years ago.
The extended cut is apparently 379 seconds longer than the theatrical cut; a lot of it is swearing, violence and even some story development.
Movie Censorship.com put together all of the changes which I will list below:
- The redneck in the bar insults Tricia with even harder words: “When you get back, we’ll talk about letting me play night baseball with your little blond bitch-kitty here.”
- Cameron is being arrested and led away.
- There is now a prison riot in greater detail. Cameron is rescued from the flames by Baby-O.
- In the theatrical version we see Cameron disinterestedly lolling in bed, the riot is going on in the background.
- Cameron invites Baby-O to a barbecue when he gets out. We see the heavy burning that Baby-O received when rescuing Cameron from the fire. The dialogue contains alternative footage.
- Cameron and Baby-O are hugging each other longer in the theatrical version.
- Diamond Dog enters the plane heavily guarded.
- Baby-O is being body-searched.
- Cameron’s line “Sweet Bird of Freedom” is said in a relieved tone in the Extended version, in a sarcastic tone in the theatrical version. Pinball’s introduction is alternative again.
- Diamond Dog presses a handcuff in the guard’s neck gory.
- Diamond Dog in the guards’ stranglehold.
- Alternative, longer shot of the hit con slumping down with blood coming out of his mouth.
- Another cut for the R-rating: the shot of the second con who has been hit with a headshot is much longer. We see blood coming out of a big bullet hole in his head.
- In the Extended Pinball says “Suck my dick, Cyrus!” instead of “Hey!” in the theatrical version.
- The shot of Guard Bishop is shorter but there is another shot of Cyrus and then the rest of the Bishop-shot from the theatrical version.
- Cameron says his name. Pinball knows that Cameron once mopped up a notorious con called “The Giant”. Cameron tells, in an exaggeratedly cool way, how he killed him. That makes him sympathetic to the other guys and he can stay on board. Cyrus gives the order to take off his hand cuffs (in the theatrical version this is seen in another shot).
- Cyrus exits the room through the group. Johnny 23 tells Cameron that he is going to fuck the guard, anyway, then him and at last his family. Cameron says in a very cool way: “OK. For now, just fuck yourself”.
- Scene change: Larkin talks to his assistant about the upcoming weekend. She seems to be keen on him but he lives the lonely life of a bachelor and will probably watch all the “Planet of the Apes”-movies on television.
- The conversation between Pinball and the woman in the hangar is edited differently and more uncouth in the tone.
- Pinball hits on the woman longer.
- The gas station attendant who has fallen off the plane gets on his feet again.
- Police vehicles are pacing around the puzzled gas station attendant.
- Malloy dithers desperately and talks about the dead DEA-agent.
- Cameron talks to Guard Bishop. She tells him about herself. Then he walks over to Baby-O and sits down next to him.
- Garland looks at the handcuffed guard.
- Cyrus gives the order to put Bishop in the cage. Then he walks over to Garland. The guard besides him is dead now. Garland seems to have strangled him. Cyrus asks if he is feeling better now.
- The queen and Swamp Thing talk about the landing.
- Alternative shot of Poe coming along the hostages’ execution. In the Extended we see one of the hostages having a gun in his mouth.
- The queen successfully looks for something to eat.
- Alternative shot of the queen with the dress. “She” stands up and starts undressing.
- Scene change: The cons attack the bar and tear the place up.
- A con returns to the plan bringing a shopping cart filled with cigarettes and booze.
- We see another shot of the burning Cindino.
- Cyrus says to the queen “Christ, I love a tough woman!” The rest of the dialogue is alternative.
- Cameron runs over the battlefield alternatively.
- Larkin pushes a wreck away with a digger.
- A soldier shoots a con.
- Something explodes and we see the pillar of fire.
- Cameron tells the wounded Baby-O not to forget the barbecue.
- Alternative shot of the queen.
- Cameron wants to get a doctor for Baby-O, Bishop says that he will do that. Baby-O says that he will definitely come to the barbecue.
So a big thanks to Move Censorship for putting all of that information together.
Now, I went to see Con Air 5 times in the theatre, that’s right 5! So I’m pretty familiar with every scene and yet for some reason one scene that was in the cinema version STILL isn’t even in this extended edition.
When Sally Can’t Dance comes out of the plane at the end he/she said “Oh! Men in uniform!” For some reason that scene wasn’t in the VHS, DVD or Blu-ray version of the film and I never understood why.
Anyway, the fact that an extended edition exists of one of my favourite films is awesome and there’s no such thing as too much Con Air. So Extended Cut all the way!
And to finish I will leave one of the best teaser trailers of all time.