The first Austin Powers movie is not by any means new although what has recently come to light is the number of severe cuts the US version of the film has had all these years. The announcement of a blu-ray release for the current trilogy has come right after it’s been said Myers is writing the fourth movie. Questions have been asked all over the net if finally the US will get the extended version that the Europeans have taken for granted. While there has not been any confirmation one way or the other we thought it might be interesting to let you know just what you have been missing so far.

Depending on which version you have seen or if you were on an airplane when you watched it. Character names were changed, A-list cameo’s were removed and whole sections which can be considered to have some of the best non-offensive jokes were removed. The below is a small sample from the IMDB listing and below that is the link to the original. We can only hope that the US blu-ray release does have the full, uncut version of the movies as to have a comedy cut to this level is no joke.

- In the airline version the name of the Alotta Fagina character is changed to Alotta Cleavaga.
-Security guard’s family called after he is run over by steam roller
-Security guard’s friends (led by Rob Lowe) having a surprise Bachelor Party at Hooters are called after his head is eaten off by fish
-No. 2 tries to bribe Austin with a billion dollars in a Fendi briefcase
-Stewardess scenes on Austin’s plane;
-Most non-USA versions include both the “dead henchmen” scenes and two additional scenes featuring Christian Slater as a security guard who’s hypnotized by Austin Powers and ordered to go buy him some orange sherbet. He also makes one very brief apperance at the end during the collapse of Dr Evil’s hideout.

Original listing below:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118655/alternateversions

Lost
Touchstone Television/Bad Robot
Seasons 1-3 now available on DVD and Blu-Ray; Season 4 available December 9, 2008
3115 minutes

It may sound obvious. Of course any TV series is better on DVD, whether it’s a sitcom, drama, or sci-fi series. But with Lost making fans wait until February 2009 for the fifth season on ABC, and Season Four due out on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 9, 2008, dig out, rent, or buy the first three seasons and start watching. Here are six good reasons to do so: Continue Reading

Finally, with QuakeCon going, we can get some more dope on Rage, id’s flagship project for their much-touted id Tech 5 Engine, which appears to have been dubbed the Rage Engine now, albeit unofficially.i

Carmack clears the fact that even though their website claims Rage to be a “vehicle-based” game, the vehicular element is not the focus of the game, and it’s still a very first-person shooter. It won’t be a “mindless” open world game, and all its missions will be pretty story-based. Still, it’ll put quite a bit of focus on the open world aspect, seeing as that’s what id wants to prove with id Tech 5.

The engine which Rage will be showcasing is pretty much near completion, according to Carmack. It’s been in development for some three years, and id still has some polishing to do, such as working on the animation system and some tweaks to the big-time MegaTexture system. But all the biggie stuff is done and the engine is almost ready.

While Rage will showcase all the large world environments in the engine, the real meat should be “the next Doom” game, which is to you and me, Doom 4. According to Carmack, Doom 4 will have 3 times the horsepower of Rage, but will have to run at 30 FPS, which is half of that of Rage.

Doom 4 will also be significantly better on the “creative aspects” and “level design”, which isn’t surprising since Doom 3 blew everyone else out of the water for level design. As for what it will feature, Carmack merely says that we’ll have “guns, blood, demons, and gibs” which is a shocking departure from Doom’s tradition of magical pixies, fairy dust and ponies.

Still, details on Doom 4 are pretty bleak, so we’ll head back to Rage.

Rage will be delivered for the Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac. On the Xbox 360, however, id seems to be coming across some problems. The game will fit on 3 DVDs for the Xbox 360, which seems to be a limiting factor. Due to royalties, the cost of a third DVD would go into millions. This would mean that id would be forced to compromise on textures and compress them into 2 DVDs. Darn you, Microsoft!

The PS3 goes sailing smooth with the Blu-Ray discs and the game should come on both DVD and Blu-Ray formats for the PC and Mac. As for when it will arrive, ask any id fanboy and you will get the curt reply of “when it’s done.” id isn’t really sure, but denies it would take as long as 2011. I’d place my bet on early 2010 then, with Doom 4 later that year.

And finally, id played an extended trailer at QuakeCon, which the folks at Shackvideo caught. It’s almost the same as the one at E3, but has some extra stuff. Check it out!

Let’s face it E3 isn’t exactly what it used to be. The BB’s are no longer there
and everything is on a much smaller scale. There isn’t even any big announcements
anymore all we have are sequels to older titles and even those are ones leaked
before. So does E3 even matter anymore?

More to the point instead of reading endless news posts about possible announcements
and what “might” be announced within the next few days why not try something different
and take some time for yourself. While we might like them to be, games are not everything.

To assist in this we have compiled a few suggestions for things to watch at home, in a cinema and even play that you can do right now and just wait for the E3 results later. It’s much more fun to get the facts and not be let down by wrong “what if” posts online.

What to watch - Home

Big Stan (DVD)

The first recommendation might be a shock to some. Big Stan is the newest movie
starring/directed by Rob Schneider of Judge Dredd/Deuce Bigalow fame.
This one is yet another comedy but about a guy who ends up found guilty in a US
court for minor financial offenses. To avoid being a target in the slammer he gets
a shady lawyer to buy him 6 months to prepare and learn to fight before heading in.

In what comes down to great casting he hires The Master (David Carradine) a hobo
martial arts expert.  Plus there’s the odd one seeing the serious girl who plays
Cameron in Fox’s House (Jennifer Morrison) as the ditsy wife. It’s a laugh out loud comedy with some classic scenes. Even as a prison comedy it’s a great movie that can easily stand repeat viewings. The only problem is the rather obvious ending that anyone can see a mile away.

If in the States you can buy or rent it now, if in the UK it’s not out yet but will be
in August. A little late for E3 but still worth a look.

What to watch - Cinema

The Dark Knight

Not really a shocker I know but lets face it there is no bigger movie this year and none
with better reviews so far. Even though the full release date hasn’t come around yet
there are locations doing early screenings so why not take on Batman. Any sci-fi movie
where an Oscar is recommended by critics has to be something special.

If you want a taster before seeing it why not go and buy Batman Begins on blu-ray
where you get 5 minutes of The Dark Knight at full blu-ray quality to enjoy right at home.

What to play - Home (obviously!)

Team Fortress 2

Even though the game came out last year there have been several updates and additions to make it even more worthwhile to go back and try the game again if you have taken time off. Running around building defenses as an Engineer or emptying a clip as The Heavy in 18 seconds cannot be beaten, even by Crysis. If for some reason you have not tried TF2 or at least any other titles in Valves Orange Box just buy it over Steam and play for some great times and forget about E3.

Thought Leonidas’ reign was over? The guys from Collider report that it is not: a 300 Prequel is being planned, along with a Greek epic called “War of Gods” (not to be confused with God of War, the video game). While a war between Greek deities is fun stuff to watch already, the crew will be doing it in 300-style, which kicks double ass!

War of Gods will be directed by Tarsem Singh, who is known for his earlier The Cell and The Fall, which came out this year. Singh is a decent director for the job, but I wonder what a 300-ish movie will be without Zack Snyder (who, by the way, is helming Watchmen at the moment). It has two unnamed writers working on it and is hinted to be nothing short of a truly epic movie. We sure hope it is, when it hits theaters early next year.

Meanwhile, Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann, who were interviewed revealed that they are talking to Zack Snyder and Frank Miller himself about the 300 prequel. Frank will most probably write it up, which is pretty good too - the last thing I’d want is a 300 sequel/prequel that appears to be nothing more than a money-milking scheme with a crappy storyline. Then again, 300 wasn’t known for its storyline either. Hmm.

Lastly, 300 itself will be converted to the Blu-ray format, which means that we will see killer high-definition Spartan action! Can’t wait for it!

This is crazy news! A 300 franchise! Who would’ve thought?!