I Worship His Shadow - but which version?

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Did you know there were two versions of I Worship His Shadow?

It aired in Europe first (it had already been released on video in Germany before it aired in the U.S.).

After it aired initially, the Showtime channel requested some changes, apparently to make some things clearer. Salter Street also found some more money to spend on CGI (see Cinefantastique 29/1-2).

So, how do you know which version you're watching? Well, the original version doesn't have Kai's voiceover at the beginning (probably needed just to let you know what his name is).

The U.S. version then cuts to '2008 years later - The Cluster - Capital of the League of 20,000 Planets'.

However, the original has a caption '2000 years later' and shows the scene where Stan is on his way to the Heretic base - until it is blown up, and he is captured by Feppo. (This scene is shown again later in the series - in GigaShadow and Stan's Trial).

The original version then has a caption '8 and a half years later' - but doesn't mention the Cluster.

The U.S. version has a nice shot here of the sun rising from behind the Cluster. Also better CGI of the prisoner transport arriving.

In the original, the scene where the prisoner shouts at Stan (then gets squashed) takes place before His Divine Shadow speaks to the Divine Predecessors, not after.

In the U.S. version, there is an extra shot of the shuttle with the Divine Predecessors leaving - and they say "We are boarding the Lexx - we will all be destroyed".

Most scenes are the same, but cut into a slightly different order - for example, in the original version, the speech given to the children arriving on the Cluster is split into three sections.
I could try to list all of those differences, but I'd go crazy...

In the U.S. version, Bugbomb has a voiceover explaining what it's doing. In the original, it's silent - so it doesn't even have a name.

The U.S. version seems to have slightly more chaos when the Cluster lizards get out.

When His Divine Shadow goes down to the mortuary to wake up Kai, in the U.S. version he says "Awake, last of the Brunnen G. You will show my misguided predecessors that I make my own destiny".
(I guess this is just to remind people who Kai is - he's been off-screen for a long time - and now he's all in black).

When Stan, Zev and the rebels get into the special projects area - the U.S. version has much better CGI. When Thodin tells Stan to tell Zev what it is, in the original version they are just looking at a big Divine Order symbol. In the U.S. version there is a lovely full length shot of the Lexx.
(You can see a comparison of the special effects here in the extras on the English release of Supernova - video or Region 2 DVD).

The effects when the Lexx escapes also seem better (though I am comparing a DVD with an 11 year old video tape, so sometimes it's hard to be sure).

After the Lexx escapes, His Divine Shadow goes to lie down and get his head cut open. In the original version, the scene ends with the brain being removed. In the U.S. version, there are a couple of additional lines - when he enters, he says "Shadow, I gather you. Divine Predecessors, I have failed you - but I will not fail you again". This version also has the line "Shadow, take my body" - and shows the Shadow essence entering the skull.

In the original, the MegaShadow fires some sort of probe at the Lexx (which contains His Divine Shadow, but this is not stated). In the U.S. version (with better CGI) the MegaShadow closes in on the Lexx, engulfing it. It sticks one of its 'legs' into the Lexx - inside, we see it open to reveal His Divine Shadow.

In the U.S. version there are a couple of additional lines in the scene where Kai and His Divine Shadow jump off the bridge:
Kai: - as your Divine Predecessors will now die!
HDS: No, you will die!

There are also a couple of additional lines in the cryochamber scene, when Stan and Zev are destroying the brains:
In the U.S. version after His Divine Shadow says "Foolish woman", he also says "Heretics, I will deal with you later" and "You are finished, Kai".

In the original, the "Foolish woman" line is later, immediately before Kai kills His Divine Shadow.

The U.S. version has better CGI when His Divine Shadow's essence is swirling around Kai.

So, which is best?
The U.S. version does have better CGI - though the effects were pretty impressive in the original version.
The narration and additional lines may make some scenes clearer.

But I think the most important difference is that scene with Stan - present in the original version, but missing from the U.S. version.
In the U.S. version, you don't get to see any of Stan's past until GigaShadow or Stan's Trial - by which time people are probably used to thinking of him as a coward. Some of his back-story comes across in the dialogue, but not quite as effectively as seeing it.

The original version makes you more sympathetic towards Stan, because you know right from the beginning that he was a Heretic who was captured, tortured, despised by the whole universe, and somehow ended up working for the organisation he'd tried to destroy - a lot like Kai, in fact...

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