Current:Home > reviewsPredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:'A victory for us': Watch an exclusive, stirring new scene from 'Rudy' director's cut -MoneyMatrix
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:'A victory for us': Watch an exclusive, stirring new scene from 'Rudy' director's cut
Chainkeen Exchange View
Date:2025-04-09 15:48:42
Break out a few extra hankies and PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Centerget ready for some extended goosebumps: “Rudy” is rolling out new plays you haven’t seen before.
The classic 1993 underdog football movie, starring Sean Astin as real-life Notre Dame walk-on Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, notched its 30th anniversary this year. To celebrate, a director’s cut is being released Tuesday (on 4K Blu-ray and digital platforms) with 13 extra minutes of never-before-seen footage. (USA TODAY has an exclusive peek at one of the new clips.) The bonus features include five deleted scenes, plus a commentary with director David Anspaugh and writer Angelo Pizzo, who first collaborated on the iconic 1986 hoops film “Hoosiers.”
Here are the highlights from what’s been added:
Ned Beatty gets a stirring speech in 'Rudy' director's cut
One of the reasons why Rudy is determined to attend Notre Dame and play football is because of his father, Daniel Sr. (Ned Beatty). And his dad opines on why it means so much to him in a new scene set at a Christmas church dinner. Asked why Notre Dame football is such a "big deal," Beatty's character tells a story about how his father would talk about how the "greatness of America" was represented by "poor Irish and Italian and Polish boys" who played in the middle of the country and would beat "the rich boys back East." When Daniel Sr. came to America during the Great Depression, he saw that Irish Catholic immigrants “faced a lot of hate. So every victory by Notre Dame is a victory for us."
In the commentary, Anspaugh calls it "a shame" the scene didn't make the theatrical cut and Pizzo adds that "it answers on a deeper level why Rudy is so drawn to Notre Dame."
'Rudy' turns 30:The 25 best football movies of all time, definitively ranked
A young Vince Vaughn gets more screen time
Vince Vaughn had his first credited screen role in “Rudy,” playing underachieving Notre Dame tailback Jamie O’Hara. Initially a jerk who ultimately comes around (by changing a key play in a game that allows Rudy to finally get on the field), Vaughn’s character appears in two new scenes. One’s set in the gym where Rudy (who’s not yet attending Notre Dame) tries to buddy up to Jamie, who’s not having it. “We might as well be friends, we’re going to be on the same team next year,” Rudy says, with Jamie snarling, “In your dreams.” In another new scene, Jamie runs into Rudy and his sportswriter friend Mary (Greta Lind) at the local bar, and Mary knows all of Jamie’s impressive high school stats.
“I hope Vince will take the time to check this cut out. His character really fills out the story,” Anspaugh says in the commentary. Adds Pizzo: “When (Jamie) does do that one gesture at the end of the movie for Rudy, we have more of a sense of who he is and who he used to be.”
Greta Lind’s sportswriter has most of her scenes added back, too
Nearly 10 minutes of Lind's screen time has been brought back in the director's cut, making Mary a more significant figure in Rudy's life. She’s one of the first people Rudy tells when he makes the team, she convinces him to let her write a story for the school paper (which is why the crowd chants his name in the big game), and Rudy asks her to light a candle and pray for him to dress for his last game, even though she says, “I don’t believe in that stuff.”
“When we had to cut all her material, we lost the female presence in the movie,” says Pizzo, who married and had two kids with Lind following the movie's release.
‘Rudy’ deleted scenes feature an inspirational alternate ending
The most interesting of the five deleted scenes is an alternate ending: The original movie finishes with Rudy being carried off the field by his teammates and a picture of the real Ruettiger, but a sequence included on the new director's cut shows a group of kids going outside to play football.
They’re picking teams, who’s going to be Notre Dame and who’s Georgia Tech – the two squads that tussled in the movie’s climax – and one smaller boy with a gold helmet says, “I have to be Rudy because I’m going to Notre Dame." It's a bookend to the film's opening, with kid Rudy playing with his brothers, and a nod to the true-life figure's inspirational journey.
25 best basketball movies, ranked:The hoops films you need to see
veryGood! (3624)
Related
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- At least one killed and 20 wounded in a blast at convention center in India’s southern Kerala state
- Fans debate Swift's nod to speculation of her sexuality in '1989 (Taylor's Version)' letter
- 1 dead, 8 others injured in shooting at large party in Indianapolis
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- C.J. Stroud's exceptional start for Texans makes mockery of pre-NFL draft nonsense
- Winners and losers of college football's Week 9: Kansas rises up to knock down Oklahoma
- Halloween performs a neat trick, and it's not just about the treats
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- U.S. military finishes renaming bases that previously honored Confederates
Ranking
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Kentucky Derby winner Mage out of Breeders’ Cup Classic, trainer says horse has decreased appetite
- Diamondbacks square World Series vs. Rangers behind Merrill Kelly's gem
- Ketel Marte wins America free Taco Bell with first stolen base of 2023 World Series
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- Deion Sanders after his son gets painkiller injection in loss: `You go get new linemen'
- Fans debate Swift's nod to speculation of her sexuality in '1989 (Taylor's Version)' letter
- Bangladesh police detain key opposition figure, a day after clashes left one dead and scores injured
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Erdogan opts for a low-key celebration of Turkey’s 100th anniversary as a secular republic
Manhunt for Maine shooting suspect Robert Card prompts underwater searches
AP Sources: Auto workers and Stellantis reach tentative contract deal that follows model set by Ford
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Police say shooting at Chicago house party leaves 15 people injured, including 2 critically
Kazakhstan mine fire death roll rises to 42
Mission impossible? Biden says Mideast leaders must consider a two-state solution after the war ends