Of course, how can you take B-actors over Patrick Stewart and Sting???
And the mini-series was so chock-full of CG, it hurt my eyes. Sorry, but I'm a traditionalist and I'd rather have classic special effects, miniatures, rotoscoping, animated light, matte paintings, etc. than CG. I can't stand that stuff, even in modern anime.
So in the "alternate" ending - is it different from the rain ending?
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Not really... it's an extended cut made for TV, not really an 'alternative' version. A lot of narratives were inserted, often without any live action footage to go with them so you have a camera moving thru or zooming in/out of illustrations. A lot of times, lines are repeated again for emphasis... this Alan Smithee cut is definitely a poor rendition of the original theatrical cut.
The movie's production value didn't really stand up to the test of time as far as some of the compositing FX and how some of the costumes were slapped together, but luckily the acting did for the most part.