Tears Of The Sun (Director's Extended Cut)

Set Contains: The director's extended cut of Tears of the Sun is about 20 minutes longer than the theatrical version, adding a significant amount of new material and trimming a little. Calling the new material "never-before-seen footage" is a stretch, though, as most of it was included as deleted scenes in the original DVD. While the new DVD includes no input from director Antoine de Fuqua, in his commentary on the original DVD he did mention that he regretted having to cut some scenes due to length. The new material mostly adds to the film's political context, and introduces a couple of small but important characters earlier. The fighting scenes are the same, but there are a few more graphic moments--a charred corpse here, a feeding vulture there. By offering more footage without Bruce Willis, it becomes less Die Hard in the Jungle, and the ending is certainly more hopeful, so the new version is probably a more interesting film overall. If you already have the first DVD, though, it's a tougher sell because you've seen almost all the new footage already, and you lose Fuqua's commentary (plus the less-interesting "fact track" and brief writers' commentary). The only bonus features retained are the two featurettes and the interactive map. --David Horiuchi Product Description Loyal veteran Navy S.E.A.L. Lt. A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) is sent into the heart of war-torn Africa on a hazardous mission to rescue Dr. Lena Hendricks (Monica Bellucci), a U.S. citizen who runs a missionary. When the beautiful doctor refuses to abandon the refugees in her care, Lt. Waters finds himself having to choose between following orders and the dictates of his own conscience. Together, they begin a dangerous trek through the deadly jungle, all the while being pursued by a rebel militiagroup, with only one goal in mind: to assassinate Lt. Waters' unit and the refugees in his care.