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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE UNRATED CUT AND THE THEATRICAL CUT
The Unrated Cut runs about 7 minutes longer than the Theatrical Cut, and primarily contains additional action shots (nothing major). Director Marc Forster has said that the Theatrical Cut IS the Director's Cut, which also unfortunately means that we will not be seeing any footage from the discarded Battle of Moscow (except for a few quick scenes in the closing montage) and the Matthew Fox subplot.
The UNRATED Cut is the one to get! It contains slightly more gore (but not gratuitously so) than the Theatrical Cut, and the action scenes are more fluid and less choppy.
I've listed the primary differences between the Unrated Cut and the Theatrical Cut below. Note, SPOILERS follow below, so read at your own risk.
1) When zombies are shot/stabbed/curb stomped/etc.., they spew CG black blood. When people are bitten, there's more CG red blood.
2) During the opening scene in Philadelphia, there are more scenes of pandemonium and zombies getting shot and/or biting humans. The segment with the red T-shirted male ("Here comes the Number 12 Train...") being bitten and transformed into a zeke is longer and more violent.
3) At the NJ Mart, when Gerry is looking for albuterol for his daughter, the camera pans down to show a dead body lying in a pool of blood, suggesting that the pharmacy employee shot him.
4) The chase scene from the alleyway to the apartment is longer and more harrowing. Gerry headshots a zombie and shoots a few others, also crushing a security guard zombie with a filing cabinet. In the theatrical cut, this zombie chase scene is instead used during the Lanes' early morning escape to the apartment's rooftop.
5) The escape scene to the apartment rooftop is now longer and more violent. Gerry bayonets, shoots, or rifle butts many more zombies. In a surprising twist, Tomas saves Gerry from a zeke, rather than Gerry himself shooting the zeke in the theatrical cut. Matthew Fox's parajumper character also shoots a few more zombies and there's more zombie blood when they're shot.
6) When Dr. Fassbach trips and accidentally shoots himself in the head, the wound is more graphic. Chunks of his back skull are blown into the air and gore covers the exit ramp of the C-130. Although this description sounds graphic, the camera cuts away quickly so that only brief glimpses of gore are seen by the audience.
7) David Morse's character graphically pulls out his last remaining tooth in the Unrated Cut. This is not shown in the Theatrical Cut.
8) The Battle for Jerusalem has additional action shots. It's now a thrilling and intense sequence in the Unrated Cut! More IDF soldiers shooting zekes, more zekes biting people, grenades blowing up zekes, etc..
9) When Gerry cuts off Segen's hand in the Unrated Cut, we see the bloody stump as well as geysers of CG blood. This is definitely graphic and not for the faint of heart.
10) The zombie attack on Belarus Airways is now more intense with passengers getting bitten left and right. There is more CG blood too, but nothing too explicit since most of the shots are very quick.
11) Gerry takes down a few zekes in the WHO facility more graphically. He clotheslines one zeke with a crowbar and stomps on the face of another. More CG black blood.
Prior to watching World War Z, I had mixed feelings about the movie based on the trailers I had seen. Fast zombies? Blasphemy.
I ended up enjoying the movie, even with Damon Lindelof's rewritten third act. The ending on a quiet, but hopeful note was a better conclusion than the rumored Battle of Moscow. The idea of using a temporary, but curable disease as camouflage was a unique plot point. Can't wait for the sequel, even if it has very little to do with Max Brooks' original books.
September 2013 · Movies and TV