Without giving anything away about the film...

I was wondering which version of Hellboy I should watch first, the Original Theatrical Cut or the SE Director's Cut.

I have not read the comics and don't really know much about the film, but I own both versions on DVD and I've finally gotten around to watching it and wondered which one I should watch first.

Thanks

Well, I too never read the comics and when watching the TC, I got a bit lost on some of the (or lack thereof) character development and some minor plot points.

The additional 12 minutes or so in the DC really helped flesh out some of those missing moments. The DC made much more sense, especially for a person who hasn't read the comics.

For the life of me, I don't know why you have the TC and the DC. I gave my TC-SE to my sister for Xmas, as the TC is on the DC set on the 3rd disc in some format. I haven't yet watched the 2nd or 3rd disc of my DC set...probably should someday soon....

I enjoyed the extended cut so much more and would only recommend seeing that.

I would say go for the extended version. If a movie is bad (as Hellboy was), extra scenes usually don't make it worse. And if there's extra sex or gore, they can only make it better.

Two words...King Arthur. They took an excrutiatingly long and slow movie and made it even longer and slower.

Anyway, I would say watch just the DC for Hellboy. I didn't really feel the extra scenes added much, but it's what the director originally had in mind for the film. So yeah. Points for that.

The two cuts are honestly not all that different from one another. I felt that the extra scenes in the Director's Cut neither added nor detracted from the movie. If you're going to watch it for the first time, I suppose you might as well go for the "whole thing" and try the DC.

I like both cuts, but the director's cut is slightly better, and not so much different that you need to watch both to get the full experience.

Since you already own both, watch the theatrical cut first so at least you won't be distracted by all the "missing bits" from the DC.

Thanks for all the responses, I'll be watching the Director's Cut first.
Depending on how much I like the film, then I'll decide if I watch to watch the theatrical cut.

Well, I was watching the 3rd disc of the DC last night where the main cast does a video commentary of the TC and I could tell that there are many subtle moments left out of the film that make a lot of difference. Even though the new footage only comes to 10 minutes, it adds a lot to the film. After watching the DC, it would be extremely difficult in going back to watching the TC. (Which would be impossible for me because I gave my TC copy to my sister.)

The 2 Disc special edition is out of print at Amazon.

Does the single disc have all the same special features?

You can get it for around $8.49 at Amazon

It isn't answering your exact question, but there are two different director commentaries, one for the 2 disc and a diff one recorded for the 3 disc.

Someone on Half.com must be selling the 2 disc.

Skip the Theatrical, go straight for the Director's Cut, the extra scenes are well worth it. This is the version I'd go for if you can find it:

http://www.amazon.com/Hellboy-Directors-Cut-Ron-Perlman/dp/B0002V7ODI/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1278598809&sr=1-7 -kd5-