The Wolverine Previs Reel from Halon Entertainment on Vimeo.
In the video above, you'll find previs work for various scenes from
James Mangold's 2013 film
The Wolverine. Each of them have differences, from slight to significant. I'm only going to focus on the scenes that are worthy of attention, to which there are two: the
WWII Japanese prisoner-of-war camp scene and the
Wolverine versus a bear scene. .
In the film, we get a
World War II flashback to
August 9th, 1945. We see Logan (Hugh Jackman) is being held in solitary confinement at a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp located on the outskirts of
Nagaski. From his cell, Logan can see a B-29 Superfortress headed to the city to deliver an atomic bomb. A young Yashida (Ken Yamamura), who is a Japanese soldier guarding the camp at this time, also realizes destruction is on the horizon and as a noble gesture he goes and frees as many prisoners as he can so that they can have a fighting chance. But, this scene could've been much different. Skip to the
1:25 mark. You'll see that it isn't Yashida that frees the prisoners, it's Logan. After they're freed, Logan ushers the prisoners towards the gate of the prison. The Japanese soldiers open fire on the prisoners
instead of letting them go on their merry way. That's a pretty significant change. I assume this was done so that they wouldn't offend Japan or bring up old, bitter memories of Word War II.
Okay, let's get to the bear. As some of you know,
The Wolverine is loosely-based on
Frank Miller and
Chris Claremont's "Japanese Saga." That mini-series opens with Wolverine living off on his own in the woods and being attacked by a crazed-bear for no particular reason. Logan is able to kill it and then realizes that the bear had been shot with an arrow laced with a poison. It's the cause of the bear's mindless rage. So, Logan tracks down the hunter who shot the bear and delivers some justice.
In the film, Logan never fights the bear. He comes across the bear, which is on death's doorstep. It has been hit with six arrows, and yes, these arrows were laced with poison. But still, Logan doesn't fight the bear, he just puts it out of its misery. Now skip to the
2:10 mark in the video and you will see
Wolverine fighting the bear! It is an epic claw-on-claw battle. That's basically it, but it is a pretty significant change from the theatrical version.
Why was it changed? Maybe it was cut because of budgetary concerns, as it would've cost quite a bit to make the bear not look goofy fighting Logan. Or, maybe they didn't want to offend PETA. Though, I suspect the true reason for the change had more to do with
Blake Snyder's bestselling book,
Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. Many of you right now are scratching your heads at that references, while others of you are giving a knowing groan. The book details useful techniques for telling the
hero's journey. If you want the audience to connect with your hero, Blake suggested the hero do something - like saving a cat - to show that the hero is sympathetic and has a moral side. It's actually a very effective technique if done correctly, but many screenwriters overuse it and execute it poorly, which lessens its impact. And yes, Logan doesn't save the bear, but he does end the animal's suffering by showing compassion. I would have rather have seen Logan give that Winnie-the-Pooh a taste of Adamantium. Snikt!
THE WOLVERINE - Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he will face a host of unexpected and deadly opponents in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality.
The film was directed by James Mangold, from a script written by Christopher McQuarrie. The Wolverine starred Hugh Jackman, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Will Yun Lee.