Death Becomes Her Question

Doubtful. But that would've made a great sequel. "Death Becomes Him, Too: Revenge of The Hand".

No. They had to drink it to get eternal life. The drop in their vein was just a sales tactic.

Fuck my life.

As a kid, I was mesmerized by Lisle von Rhoman and her guards. I loved re-enacting her parts in the movie. I, too wondered if his hand stayed permanently young or would it go back to looking old because he hadn’t taken the potion completely.

I don't know. In the original ending that was cut, Ernest's hand remains young and vital when he is wizened and decrepit.

What happened to all Mad and Hel's broken body parts?

If they grind them up, will they be living dust?

R6 The secret group that manages those who take the potion learned about what happened and retrieved their body parts. The various parts were put on display as a warning to others to not make the same mistakes. And there they remain to this day. Arguing and bitching for eternity. (Fade out.)

The End (Roll credits)

Happy now R6?

Man, I love that movie!

In the original cut Ernest needs to store Madeline in the freezer. Will they continue to decompose if not frozen?

How did they get Meryl's tits to look so saggy before the perked up? CGI?

R10 that's why he preserved them and replaced their blood with formaldehyde. They were rotting 😬

What was the original ending that got cut? Any way to watch it?

“ Throughout the Original Cut, Ernest was meant to visit a bar and the bartender Toni was an understanding woman who heard his problems about Madeline. After Ernest was to escape in the original cut he still had the potion on him, Lisle warns Madeline and Helen that if they want to stay in the group they need to find him. Ernest goes to the bar and explains to Toni what happened as he fears his life is at stake. At that moment the bum on the stool dies of an Heart Attack, knowing that this man has nobody Ernest and Toni have a plan, she calls the police and tells them that the man is Ernest, as he has no visual ID the police need a next of kin and at that moment Madeline and Helen appear and they have to identify the corpse. However before they see the face Toni gives them the potion which they take as prove, they leave and clearly will have him buried soon as. Toni goes to her car and Ernest is there and they declare their love. Years past, in an Swiss resort Madeline and Helen look fine (either Lisle gave them a second potion or contacts to keep the work up) but they are bored 'stiff', as a old couple walk passed the 2 immortals insult the couple only to not mean it. The couple was Ernest and Toni still in love and enjoying life.

While some of the cast liked this ending, the test screening audience did not so Zemeckis added the ending that was darker. Cutting this scene also meant removing Toni's scenes played by Tracy Ullman. The Ending and some the cut scenes ended up in the trailer which had the music from Tales from the Crypt in tribute of it's original concept.“

It wasn't just the ending that was cut. There was a whole subplot about a bartender Ernest befriends and falls for played by Tracey Ullman. All her scenes were cut from the film, but it originally had her picking him up from Lisel's party and they escape together. I want to say he fakes his death somehow. After the "I'll paint your ass and you paint mine" bit, it flashes forward several years and Mad and Hell are in Switzerland still looking gorgeous after all these years and they see Ernest and the Ullman character. They've both aged like normal people, but they actually seem happy. This makes Mad and Hell wonder if that alternative is better.

I don't think many people have seen this ending, because I heard it might be lost forever, but it exists in script form. Sounds like a much deeper and more cerebral ending, but I suppose it was reshot, because it didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the film. Having to reshoot the ending made all the Ullman material seem useless since it wouldn't have build to much, so it was taken out.

Since I haven't seen the original ending, I can't comment, but I love the bizarre theatrical ending we got. It still makes me laugh.

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R14, whoops. You got there before I did.

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I've read the script pages and the whole thing with Ullman's character doesn't make sense. So, she's only in one scene towards the beginning of the film and then returns for the big finale and we're supposed to believe she'd help Ernest fake his own death and run away with him? Did she not have a few extra scenes?

Well, IIRC, the movie does show that the remainder of Ernest’s life was good and happy. So they did get that point across.

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

I remember when I saw this the first time in the theater. Everyone gasped when they shattered at the end. Was shocking at the time :)

When Lisle was trying to get Ernest to drink the potion, she seemed to indicate that she wanted him to become one of her minions so he could "repair" damaged people that had died or had other body problems. It wouldn't be surprising if she had another plastic surgeon (or mortician) lined up to handle this, but his work was exemplary plus he knew their secret so she wanted to bring him into the fold.

Barring that, she wanted him dead.

I've seen some of the stills with Tracey Ullman in them and I assumed that she had cut and pasted herself in them as a joke or something. She looks out of place. I wish they'd do a director's cut and show the original longer version!

I still wonder about the sorceress Lisle too. What's her story? Is she actually a witch, or did she just discover the fountain of youth and bottle and sell it? She spoke in metaphors and double speak, but it hinted at a lot. They could easily do a cool series on this now, with a new cast of characters, more information on the potion's origins and limitations, who Lisle is and where she came from - Lisle seems like a grifter to me, so she probably stole it from someone else originally. Just so much stuff it'd be fun to see them map out.

It's sort of like the original script for Ghostbusters that was huge and had a LOT more information on the spirit world and the background with Zuul etc., that they only hinted at in the movie. (I think I read somewhere the script would have taken forever to shoot and covered multiple dimensions/time jumps etc.)

That original ending actually would have worked, I think, after reading the scripts (that someone helpfully linked above). Although I expect the test audience wanted to see Helen and Madeline get what was coming to them, which is why they went for the shocking ending. Of course neither ending really made much sense.

In watching the early trailer again, it really DOES still look like Tracey Ullman was cut and pasted into those scenes.

I really like R24's idea. Would make a neat limited-run series.

Meryl was robbed of an Oscar nomination

No joke, I really do think this is Meryl's best performance. She seems to be having such a blast in every frame.

The original ending would have been more thoughtful, less campy, and less misogynistic. As it is, every female in the movie is a screaming harpy or a literal witch. Instead of being a satire of Hollywood vanity, it becomes a satire of female vanity. Even for 1992, it wasn't exactly enlightened.

Is there something wrong with satirizing female vanity? I didn't know that was inherently misogynistic. Surely, the actresses taking part would have balked at the film if they found it offensive.

R29 I resent that!

Keep your ass handy.

I see what you did there, G/r11!

There's nothing wrong with satirizing female vanity if you have a decent female character or two to balance it out, as the original script did. I also don't have a problem with ALL the characters, male and females, being vain nutjobs. But the final cut of Death Becomes Her has 3 extremely vain, negative female characters and 1 sadsack but ultimately heroic and unselfish male character. It seems unbalanced.

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

Yes, obviously. He became Thing and finally settled down with a nice family.

Hah r36. That'd be a fun tie-in. (And might make some sense)

What happens if they cremate Hel and Mad?

Was the "Sweet Bird of Youth" musical number a metaphor for Madeline's "Sour Vulture of Crow"?

I liked I See Me until the ending

The ending of I See Me was sublime.