Customer Reviews

Salt (Deluxe Unrated Edition)

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(87)
3 star:		(47)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(50)

 

 

There are 3 versions of Salt available for viewing, the Theatrical, Extended, and Director's Cuts. They run 1:39:56, 1:40:58, and 1:43:59 respectively (credit to Interzone_Records for the correction). Here are the major differences as compared to the base Theatrical Cut, e.g. Theatrical vs. Extended, and Extended vs. Director's Cut. Note, SPOILERS follow below, so read at your own risk. There are a few major, significant differences between the versions.

The Director's Cut makes the most sense plot-wise, and includes some better character development, in my opinion.

THEATRICAL vs. DIRECTOR's CUT

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1) Evelyn Salt's opening interrogation scene in North Korea is longer and more brutal. The soldiers force a tube down her throat and subject her to more intense questioning, followed by several kicks to the abdomen.

2) Extended scene of Orlov training little kids who will be future sleeper agents. As the kids finish a race through the woods, Orlov asks which kid was first, and which was last, whipping the last kid with a riding crop.

3) Abduction of Michael (Salt's husband) by Orlov's thugs is shown.

4) Additional scene where Michael tells Salt about a new species of spider that he has discovered.

5) Childhood scene between Salt and Schnaider at Orlov's training camp.

6) Salt's husband is NOT shot in the Director's Cut; rather, he is slowly drowned and Salt is forced to watch. Michael's death is much more harrowing in the Director's Cut.

7) Salt kills Orlov with a broken bottle, and the stabbing is shown in more detail, rather than off-screen.

8) Salt's rampage through Orlov's freighter HQ is more graphic.

9) Gunfights depict more bullet holes and blood, but nothing overly gory.

10) Winter kills the president in the Director's Cut, whereas in the Theatrical cut, Winter only knocks him unconscious. I always thought the Theatrical cut never made much sense, because the President would easily be able to identify Winter as the traitor.

11) At the end of the movie, there is a voiceover that subtly suggests that the vice president is actually one of Orlov's sleeper agents, setting the stage up for a sequel. This voiceover is not present in the Extended Cut.

EXTENDED CUT vs. DIRECTOR's CUT

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1) The changes listed above in the Director's Cut are also done in the Extended Cut, with the exception of the differences below.

2) The President is only knocked unconscious in the Theatrical Cut (and killed in the Director's Cut). In the Extended Cut, Winter attempts to make his way towards the unconscious President, who is being wheeled away on a stretcher, in order to kill him.

3) The biggest difference in the Extended Cut is that Salt doesn't kill Orlov until the end of the movie. So the entire sequence in the Theatrical and Director's Cuts where Salt annihilates Orlov's thugs on the barge is missing.

At the end of the Extended Cut, she is being interrogated by Peabody, where she fakes suicide and is taken to a hospital. She subsequently escapes from the hospital, finds Orlov (back in Russia somewhere), and kills him.

This is a really well done action flick worth viewing. Here's what's good with it:

1. It's full of non-stop action that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The stunts and fight scenes are really exciting.

2. The story has twisty turns and it keeps you thinking. There's no boredom here, and I felt the plot was close enough to being plausible to keep you interested. Even if the exact program of placing trained children into America isn't complete realism, we all know that there are spies living as Americans in this country. Just watch the news. It's a current and relevant theme.

3. The acting is excellent, and the characters, especially Angelina Jolie, show depth. You can't help caring about what happens to Salt.

While I agree with another reviewer who said that Salt's husband isn't shown a lot, I felt he was shown enough to reveal that Salt really loved him. That was what the audience needed to know in order to understand her motives, and to care about whether he lived or died.

I'd definitely recommend seeing this movie, and it's one I'd own as well.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Phillip Noyce's "Salt" is my type of summer movie. First and foremost "Salt" is an action film and it succeeds with flying colors in that regard. But what I really admired about this picture is that it took place in reality. The action was grounded in physics and therefore made it messy, mean and hard hitting. Then we have bon-a-fied movie superstar Angelina Jolie in her best action performance. Where "Salt" also succeeds stupendously is with Evelyn Salt's characterization, which is complex, dualistic, fascinating and ultimately enigmatic. Jolie thrives in this role which plays to literally every one of her strengths as an actress. You root for her and sympathize with her even though it's never clear what side Evelyn truly falls into. It's in this intense dynamic between plot, character and action that leaves "Salt" head and shoulders over films like "Eclipse", "Clash of the Titans", "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and yes, even "Inception". But also on a side note it's just plain refreshing to see a film that has Russians trying to take down America, crisp and clean action cinematography and a true movie star like Jolie leading things along. This is classic summer filmmaking at it's finest.

Ok, this is not a product review. I merely want to help you decide which version to buy.

For the first time ever, I personally prefer a theatrical edition over an unrated director's cut, and I'll tell you why. The version shown in theaters was more fun, and made a lot more sense. Unlike typical director's cuts, this one doesn't just add cut footage and tweek some of the editing, it actually uses alternate takes, with alternate events and outcomes, that fundamentally change the story. Simply put, without giving spoilers, the director's cut is far more bleak, and makes the idea of a sequel fairly pointless (or at least insurmountable). In fact, the alternate takes, if one looks back on them, invalidate the entire reason for the story in the first place, making it all a redundant waste of time. Again, trying to avoid spoilers here, so let me just make up a silly analogy that will convey the idea. Imagine a convoluted story about trying to, say, poison a city's water supply, and in the director's cut version you discover afterwards that the bad guys just happened to have someone planted who, by happenstance, already works at the water plant and could have poisoned the water at any time over a lunch break. Seriously, it's that sort of stupid.

I absolutely loved Salt when I saw it. It's a fantastic, exuberant movie that could easily be the start of a really enjoyable franchise. The director's cut, however, I did not enjoy. It did not add anything of substance beyond a few fairly insignificant scenes that were extended by a minute or two, and the alternate takes were far less satisfying than the originals, and only made the movie depressing and, honestly, rather stupid (and I'm far more partial to clever, intelligent stories that make sense). I truly believe that if you decide to go for the director's cut you'll be robbing yourself of seeing the vastly more logical and exciting story that was presented in the theatrical version.

My recommendation: Go for the original, and avoid the director's cut. The latter is not an expanded product, it's an alternate story, and a bad one at that.

Update: I've now had the chance to see the third version of this film (yes, a third unique version!), which I was unaware of when I wrote the above commentary. It's the "extended" version, and appears to only be available on the Blu-Ray disc. First off, unlike the Director's Cut, the Extended edition is actually a very good story. Some sequences are moved around or changed a bit, but this time it works, and the stupid elements have been removed (only one thing I disliked was retained, but at least in this version it had meaning). It also has a completely different final chapter, and I mean that in a big way, as in the story literally goes in a totally different direction, with new dialogue and scenes in other locations, etc.

My original recommendation still holds, but I'd like to sum-up the three versions in this way:

Theatrical: Overall best of the lot. Riveting story, exciting plot, lots of surprises and twists, and left wide-open for a sequel. (Also note that the sequel, which is already planned, will resume this version's storyline.)

Director's Cut: Unsatisfying. The alternate material is more morose, and undermines the inherent logic of the plot. Ruins any real chance of sequel making any sense by turning it from Die Hard into David and Goliath (and David's got a broken arm and is near-sighted --and Goliath has a Death Star). Worth watching eventually for novelty's sake, but in my opinion not for entertainment value. Prime candidate for Rifftrax.

Extended Edition: Very enjoyable. Combines most of the best elements of the Theatrical and Director's Cut, then slaps on a completely different ending. The style and sentiment seemed to be trying to emulate the neatly packaged, tidy spy stories of the '60s and '70s. This version ties the story up in a nice, neat bow of the instantly recognizable "divine justice" tradition (and you won't care, because it's just darned cool). This version is standalone and finite, with no hint at a sequel (and a sequel to this version would somewhat go against Salt's apparent wishes, but that's really all I can say without spoiling it for you). Definitely watch this version if you can get ahold of the Blu-Ray.

Ok, that's enough outta me on this subject. I promise, I won't edit this again. :)

This was a great movie! Almost non-stop action--car chases, run from the CIA, lots of shooting and fighting, and a few twists and turns.

Evelyn Salt is a CIA intelligence officer. She is married to a German National who has easy access to move freely, in and out of Korea. She is about to go home to celebrate her wedding anniversary when a Russian defector shows up at the office, telling a story. He says he is dying of cancer and has nothing to lose. He explains that many years ago, the Russians developed a plot to ruin America, the "KA" program ("kill America", I guess). They trained many, many children and then substituted them into American life as "sleepers", to participate in a well-orchestrated plot at a much later time. When the time is right, these children would be activated. The one assigned to kill the Russian president was Evelyn Salt!

As Evelyn is interrogating the defector, the other agents are running a body scan on him which indicates he is telling the truth. Uh oh. They begin to look at Evelyn a little differently. Meanwhile, she is concerned about her husband's safety and takes off to find him. This begins Evelyn's chase and a ton of action.

Is "our" Evelyn Salt really Agent Chenkov? Or is someone setting her up? Watch and see. I think you will really enjoy this movie if you like action.

BTW--Yes, there is a lot of BS in the chase scenes, where Evelyn would likely have been killed in real life many times over, BUT, that's what makes a movie fun! They get up and keep on going--they are the ONE person in the whole world who could survive or could achieve something. Get real--that's what you go to see--the so-called impossible stuff! Angelina does a great job in this high-action flick!

SALT

PG-13: Action Violence, Some Language

Two years ago, Evelyn Salt was in North Korea. She was imprisoned as a spy, which she vehemently denied. Then she was released....

Jump ahead to the present (actually one year from now). Salt is leaving work for an anniversary dinner when a man shows up and tells a story. He claims that Evelyn Salt is a Russian spy, and Salt immediately goes into "I'm being set up" mode.

After a high-speed chase with Salt rolling off a bridge, leaping from one truck to another, and taking off on a motorcycle, we can only hope that more story will be told...and that this will not be the end of the action.

The story lacks character and plot development, but there is enough to keep the audience's attention. Most people will figure out the truth in a half hour.

So what saves this movie from being a total flop?

The action is excellent. Only one scene is noticeably CGI, but I did not care as much as I usually do. And the violence is reeled in from going overboard as most "live action comic books" do.

"Salt" is not based on anything that I know of. I was hoping for a novel, but I have not found one. My "comic book" comment is based on how the story is told...and this is not a bad thing (at least in this case).

And even though the story is lacking, the movie leaves you wanting a sequel--you care enough about this character that you hope part two will give her better focus.

Action Sequences: 5 Stars

Story Development: 1 Star

Acting: 3 Stars (I do not know how they pulled this off, but they did.)

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

This summer has had some outstanding summer movies, and Salt is one of them. It starts with Angelina Jolie in the title role, Evelyn Salt, a CIA spy. A Russian defector suddenly shows up at one of their front businesses. During questioning, he announces to one an all that the visiting Russian president will be assassinated - by Evelyn Salt, supposedly a deep-cover Russian spy. The fact that the 'defector' then kills two agents escaping the building never enters into some folks' wholehearted belief his story. They take her in for questioning, she busts loose (super-agent that she is), and the chase is on.

I really can't say anything else about the plot. There are so many reversals than anything would be a spoiler, and you deserve to see them for yourself. Of course, Jolie completely takes command of the role, and of pretty much everything else in sight. I'm sure it will surprise no one that the role was orginally written for a male actor ('Edwin,' not 'Evelyn') but, when it came time to cast the manliest action actor they could find, Jolie's name topped the list.

This movie stands well above its genre. There are plenty of fight scenes, some pretty amazing chases, and a satisfying ending that begs for sequels. More than just that, there's an actual plot, one that keeps you guessing almost (but not quite) to the end.

-- wiredweird

Just wanted to let fellow Amazon denizens know that the secret to the 2 extra versions of Salt on the non-Bluray version of the Deluxe Unrated Edition DVD can be found on the Main Menu by clicking the empty space to the left of "Play Movie." It takes you to the Director's Cut and the Extended Version.

I was pretty frustrated for a while there clicking all over the screen at imagionary targets.

I really enjoyed the movie in the theaters but when I read the script long before it was in theaters I thought the best part of the story was the backstory and that was almost completely gone from the movie. Thanks to a heads up by one of the reviewers here I am hoping to find those scenes in the extended version.

I really enjoyed this movie, very action packed. I felt like Angelina's acting was some of the best she has done to date. I would go see it again!

Now, I am the first to admit that I am a big Jason Bourne fan. Matt delivers every single time. But I relunctly rented Salt because I was thinking what harm could be done watching this movie on a gloomy Saturday afternoon. Well imagine my shock when I realized anyone who wasn't working with Comrade Evelyn Salt was done serious harm. The movie proved that SALT is a force to be reckoned with. I was on the edge of my chair from the moment Orlov was seated in the interrogation room until the very end of the movie. I love suspense movies; and because I have seen enough of them; many are so predictable. Well as another poster mentioned, you didn't have to know what side Salt was working for (Russia or America) to be pulled into the action and rooting for her to find her husband. It wasn't until you see her husband killed, that you realize she really loved him and her adopted country. So except for the fact that I did sense Ted Winter might be the other assassin, especially when he was riding in the elevator with the President, that was fairly obvious. Otherwise, I thought the movie was brilliantly directly. Hope to see Miss Jolie in Tomb Raider next year. This actress got skills.