Is this trend getting out of control? How many more of these do we need?
A Knights Tale
Tears of the Sun
Stripes

Just announced:
Replacement Killers
The Patriot

What's next on the horizon? Kramer vs Kramer, Tootsie, Bad Boys 1 and 2, Spider Man 1 and 2 "The extended version" This is getting ridiculous!!

I noticed that Rent and Memoirs of a Geisha are Sony's next big DVD releases, should I expect "extended" versions of those in the next year or 2.

As I wrote recently in my DVD column, "Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ... would reissue a memo about the proper flushing of company toilets if it thought it could make money on it."

An "extended" vesion of Rent wouldn't be a bad thing, considering the director filmed and then cut some of the best parts of the story. But why question him, after all, he directed Home Alone and Harry Potter!

I would expect it with any film due that they issued that had deleted scenes...

Sony has to keep releasing extended cuts so that they can keep up with Fox and Universal for the ranking of worst DVD company.

I agree, it's getting a bit crazy - especially when it's done for movies that, while they may have a small fan base, are not popular or critical hits. But I suppose it helps the egos of directors to have have a "director's cut".

I wonder - does anybody know if any directors get a contractual ok for an eventual "extended editon" DVD when they are initially hired?

You forgot: Casualties of War.

These Extended Cuts are generally not Director's cuts, but just Sony re-inserting the deleted scenes found on the previous version while omitting many of the special features from the origianl special/deluxe edition. See (or don't) Tears of the Sun.

Don't forget xXx... Although that one they did insert the nude chick scene without the pixels covering the breasts.

Didn't the one for Spider-Man 2 already come out?

I don't care what they do, no movies on their side that haven't been released yet on dvd for me. Like Paramount, hasn't released 1492, Almost An Angel, Robinson Curusoe on Mars, Mahogany, 1900, etc. Universal Lost Highway, Pure Luck, etc. So they can issue whatever they want, but, yes it is getting ridiculous.

Some Sony studio executive who signed off on getting these extended cuts made must be laughing all the way to the bank.

I think the bottom line is: If you own the movie already, don't sell out and buy these extended cuts. Any studio can hire an Avid editor to re-insert deleted scenes.

And so, they announced today the re-release of Windtalkers Extended Cut, along with Casualties of War, The Patriot and the Replacement Killers. We are now just waiting for the inevitable re-re-re-re-re-releases of Charlies Angel: Full Throttle Extended Cut.

Just wait until HD DVD and all the inevitable shifts in quality. Before it's all over with, there will be 972 releases of (your most/least favorite Sony picture here).

The Patriot Extended Cut might be worth checking out since I haven't picked it up yet.

I'm still waiting for the extended copy of Spider-Man 2 with the 8 or 12 seconds of extra footage Raimi promised us.

Extended Cuts are fine if the director's involved, but if that's the case, it would be called a Director's Cut, wouldn't it?

So if it's not the director extending the film, who is?

Don't forget Not Another Teen Movie, which allegedly was supervised by the director.

I don't think its any big deal.

If you don't want it, just don't buy it. I guess the only people who'll really be upset are the folks who have to have the latest, greatest version available.

There is an upside, though. With a new "extended release" coming, I may be able to pick up the "old crappy version" cheap. I wouldn't upgrade to an extended version without researching why it was done and what was added. I'm pretty happy with the original theatrical cuts of most movies.

I don't really care so much for "extended" versions, but rather, "non-MPAA influenced" versions. So if that's what the extension is, then I'm interested.

I'm upset because they keep passing over films that actually need a SE release (Bram Stoker's Dracula) and instead re-re-re-re-re-release Mask of Zorro and other movies that do not need any improvement.

Also The New Guy and The Animal got extended/unrated cuts as well. Did Sony really think there was a demand for those titiles?

In some cases it doesn't matter, like with Underworld, which had great A/V already. But on older releases, to have its first new transfer in several years be an extended cut is sometimes disappointing. I would think the solution would be seamless branching to allow for both cuts.

I just want an unrated cut of Desperado since director Robert Rodriguez seems to complain about the MPAA mandated cuts on the discs' commentary track.

It is really annoying that Sony is spending a lot of time and effort with this crappy extended editions that nobody asked for and then they discontinue big part of their catalog, including many foreign films. Talk about a shitty company.

Big businesses will spend money to make more money. Sony will re-release movies that will generate profit. Titles that don't sell well get discontinued. Sound business sense.

I may not like the idea, but Sony and other companies are after one thing and one thing only.

I wonder how profitable those extended editions of The New Guy and The Animal or the SE of Enough were?

Really, this is all about marketing and taking care of your catalog. If Warner Home Video can make very good money of their catalog titles, no matter how obscure the film is, why doesn't Sony do the same? Warner treat films and their audience with respect, while Sony and Universal treat their catalog titles, specially those title in black and white, as garbage. Warner makes profit of their entire catalog, while Sony and Universal has them stored in a vault.