Amadeus’ theatrical cut finally gets the 4K restoration of Salieri’s nightmares
Amadeus, the Oscar-winning biopic about Salieri’s professional jealousy over Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s divine musical prowess, is finally getting the 4K restoration we’ve been dreaming of. Announced last week by Warner Bros., the theatrical cut of Amadeus is now available on digital in 4K and is coming to 4K UHD Blu-ray on February 25. While the news of the superior cut of Amadeus finally being made available is probably pox upon the house of Salieri, for Wolfie-heads, it’s a revelation. Here’s the trailer:
Until recently, the only version of Amadeus available was its divisive three-hour director’s cut, which has been in circulation since 2002. A regular source of cinephile complaints, the director’s cut is a step down from Amadeus’ initial incarnation due to the additional scenes, which break the film's rhythm. In 2002, director Milos Forman told the A.V. Club that it was "a mutual decision" to cut the film for its theatrical release because the studio and filmmaker didn’t “want to be pushing the audience’s patience too far." "In the ’80s, with MTV on the scene, we are having a three-hour film about classical music, with long names and wigs and costumes," he said. "Well, once we are re-releasing it on DVD, it doesn’t matter if it is two hours and 40 minutes long, or three hours long. So why don’t we do the version as it was written in the script?" Unfortunately, the extra scenes had too many notes compared to the original release. "The superbly edited original version of Amadeus used overlapping sound cues for a lively flow between scenes," wrote Tasha Robinson for The A.V. Club in 2013, "and the new version breaks up some of that flow with lengthy, talky interludes." Finally, enjoy Wolfie’s high-pitched cackle and Salieri’s professional jealousy in the correct amount of time.
Amadeus is available on digital now, but to behold the Voice of God without compression, preorder the 4K UHD Blu-ray now.