The Georgia Bulldogs' Nike Pro Combat Uniforms: A Dispassionate Assessment After Several Hours Have Passed

UGA Pro Combat in orange

we have motivation issues on a grand scale.

. . . they are the ones playing the game, so a little deference to their perspective might not be entirely out of line!

I agree, though, that part of our problem has been letting the kinder run the kindergarten . . . though that is part of Nike’s problem, too.

Kyle, this right here is the message of one of my favorite films of all time, Adaptation. I primarily love that movie for its deep and layered exploration of the meaning of “adaptation”, but part of that involves a blunt presentation of the lowest-common-denominator problem that Hollywood gives us. If you haven’t seen it, run, don’t walk.

But “John Doe” told his attorney that there were two more bodies yet to be found, not two bodies in the field. The two bodies “yet to be found” were Gwyneth Paltrow and John Doe himself. At the end of the story, there were seven deadly sins, and seven dead bodies. One can argue that it’s a cop-out on the part of the writers because Mills’ wife was one of the bodies, but not one of the sinners, so her death shouldn’t count. John Doe himself said that when he was found he had to accelerate his plans, however… so he might have settled for just having 7 bodies instead of strictly punishing all of the 7 sinners themselves.

I just did a quick Wikipedia search, and it turned up the following nuggets of info:

Planned scripted ending:

In an earlier draft for the film, Walker wrote a different finale for the film, in which Doe does not kill Tracy but leads the detectives on a chase. Upon approaching an abandoned warehouse where he claims two bodies are hidden, he drops through a manhole into the sewer system, and Mills gives chase. However, he is subdued by Doe and taken to an old church, but Somerset arrives to save him. When Mills tries to fight back, Doe shoots and kills him, which prompts Somerset to shoot the killer and leave him to die in the now-burning church. After Mills is given a hero’s funeral, Tracy decides to move back to Philadelphia, and Somerset promises to keep in touch with her following his retirement. It ends with him returning to the police station, making it clear that he is not finished with his job.

The studio initially wanted to go with this ending, but, according to the DVD commentary, they dropped it after Pitt and Freeman refused to promote the film unless the final ending Fincher had planned was used.

Storyboarded ending

An unfilmed but alternate ending made up of storyboards features Somerset shooting John Doe in an act of self-sacrifice to save Mills and prevent Doe from winning. The buildup to the climax is played out as it was in the final product, albeit with some minor differences. Upon learning of the death of Tracy and his unborn child, Mills tries to convince Somerset to let him kill Doe, explaining that they could claim he was trying to escape. After Somerset pleads with him to give up his gun, he asks “Who will take my place?” and then shoots Doe. When a shocked Mills yells “What are you doing?” Somerset simply says, “I’m retiring”, implying that he will take responsibility and cover up what Mills planned to do.

On the DVD commentary, Fincher states that once the desired resolution to the Doe/Mills/Somerset confrontation was settled upon, the film was then to end immediately after Mills shot Doe – the final camera shots being the scene of the crime viewed from the helicopter. Nevertheless, the additional scene was added with Mills’ being driven off to get help and Somerset indicating that he would not yet retire.

I actually kind of like the originally scripted ending, but I don’t think the “real” ending of the movie (Mills living) renders Somerset’s final line of the movie meaningless. He was a cynical, hard-hearted, crusty old man at the beginning of the movie (and had been so much of his life, we find out). During the movie, he softens up some, and the circumstances of the movie cause him to come around full-circle at the end back to his original cynicism about the basic lack of human decency and inherent “good-ness.”

My final (and biggest) question, however, is this: Who would have killed Mills? Why would Somerset have killed him, since Mills emptied his gun into John Doe? Would the snipers in the helicopters have taken him down because he shot the suspect? Or would he have turned the gun on himself after shooting John Doe? (I guess that’s the most plausible, but I don’t see the logic in it.)

another movie I like, Suicide Kings with Christopher Walken and others.
Spoiler alert:
The original end had two of the primary characters getting off as Walken had a soft spot in his heart. Test audeinces didn’t like it, thought it unrealistic, and they changed it so Walken kills them.

. . . a hot babe in a skimpy metal swimsuit would be the essence of the distinction between seeing a movie for the first time at five and seeing a movie for the first time at 14! :)