PatD

Options, options, options. Home video in the digital age, should be about options. And often times there are. But, there are titles and more specifically, versions of titles that have not been released. I'm talking about theatrical cuts of films that have not released on Blu. Theatrical cuts, oftentimes, are the superior versions, and yet we are handed the inferior, tinkered-after-the-fact versions for HD viewing.

When they released Dark City Director's Cut, they included the Theatrical Cut. Why can't other studios follow suit?
Here are a small list of theatrical cuts I want to see on Blu ray.

Amadeus
This is the version that won the Oscar, not the clunky 2002 edition. However, the DC does have bewbs, so it's not all bad. Even the DVD of the original cut is a FLIPPER!
Could it happen? Anniversary Edition. And Warner Bros. loves putting out Anniversary Box sets!

JFK
The mentioning of Tommy Lee Jones' character by the protagonists before TLJ's character has *actually* been introduced in the Director's Cut, is just sloppy editing. The only way to see the Theatrical Cut is on the old FS two-tape VHS or on iTunes.
Could it happen? Again, Warner Bros. loves to double dip, so it's not impossible.

Almost Famous
This is mainly for completist reasons. The special 2001 "Bootleg" 2-disc DVD included both cuts. What is the frickin' excuse for Blu ray for not having both versions? Not enough room on the disc?
Could it happen? Not likely. It's just not that big a title to re-issue it on Blu ray.

Zodiac
Again this is for completist reasons.
Could it happen? Again, not likely for the reasons mentioned for "Almost Famous".

Star Wars; The Empire Strikes Back; and Return of the Jedi
We all know the reasons. We all know the controversies.
Could it happen? My guess would be that the House of Mouse would release the original versions when George Lucas shuffles off his mortal coil. Even posthumous formal wishes can be circumvented with the best of lawyers. And I'm certain that there are original versions on film *somewhere* and haven't all been scourged from the Earth. If they can find The Passion of Joan of Arc...

What are theatrical cuts need some BD love?

LosingMyMind

SAW III and IV. IV in particular. The shots of Hoffman unstrapping himself work better for the ending imo

MrStayPuft

Dumb and Dumber

Extra scenes make the film drag on and are not funny

miller_time22

The Warriors-still hanging on to my original DVD just in case.

Alan Smithee

The theatrical cut of JFK was on laserdisc, letterboxed.

Although the first "Saw" on Blu-Ray is labeled as rated R, it's actually the unrated cut, though I've heard there's few differences between the two (the Blu-Ray is the only way I've seen it, since I got duped by the mislabeling. Bet if I pretended to be a concerned parent and complained about it, the cover would at least get changed )

In general, I prefer to have the theatrical version of any movie, even if the alternate cut really is better (and that's always subjective), because the way it originally played in theaters should be how it's most remembered, for better or worse. It's always best when a Blu-Ray includes all existing versions together, which seems to be the most common way it's done thankfully. I was always annoyed after DVD had first been promoted as being able to store multiple versions of a movie on one disc, and then we got two or more different releases of the same movie.

BuckNaked2k

Dances with Wolves - Only the bloated, overly-long DC is available domestically, although the TC is available as a region-free import from the UK.

Pearl Harbor - Not "badly" needed, as the difference is only a minute or two extra battle footage....but for the completest.

Oliver Clothesoff

Yeah... would love this (also have my DVD).

Josh Z

Although Warner Bros. loves to double dip, they hate to remaster. Most of their Anniversary Editions are just repackagings of old discs in new box sets or Digibooks.

Neeb

Superman 1978

Nothing wrong with the Donner cut, but I want the original.

joltman

The original is in the Superman anthology set

Solid Snake

The DVD set right?

PatD

Both the DVD and Blu ray box sets, dude. It even has the option of having the original 2.0 theatrical sound.

Josh Z

Yeah, but then you're stuck owning copies of Superman III, IV, and Returns.

orangerunner

Same goes for the original Richard Lester directed cut of Superman II. The Donner cut was interesting to see but the the Lester cut feels (on a technical level) more complete and it's the version that most of us remember seeing first.

BuckNaked2k

True. Although this bad boy is Region Free.

TheBang

Actually, I'm cautiously optimistic that this will happen sooner than that. Disney obviously has their own vision for the future of Star Wars, which differs from what George wanted (see: The Clone Wars, Episodes II and III in 3D). And that Forbes article related where they made clear to George that once the deal completed, Disney would be the ones making the decisions, not George. With that in mind, I think the near future is the best chance we've had of having the OOT reissued since 1996.

Yup, I had to keep my original DVD for that.

Also, I don't know if it's badly needed, but Last of the Mohicans only has Michael Mann's twice tinkered director's cut on Blu.

Mr. Cinema

I've been hoping for Troy's theatrical cut for years. Probably won't ever get it, but thanks to Vudu, I at least have a HDX version of it, albeit with Dolby Stereo.

I also have Zodiac's and Dumb and Dumber's theatrical cuts on Vudu. At least that is a way to get HD theatrical versions not available on BD.

PatD

Bad Santa
They included the Extended and the Director's Cut. Why couldn't they go the full nines and include the theatrical cut? They were able to fit *all three* versions of Close Encounters of the Third Kind on a single BD. So length wasn't a problem.

TheBang

I'm pretty sure this is the other way around. i.e. only the theatrical is available on Blu, and the Director's Cut is not. Same thing with Black Hawk Down.

I found a few more where theatrical cuts are not available on BD:

Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Blade Trinity
Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween II
Ghost Rider
Doom
Spawn

Alan Smithee

Both cuts of Troy were available separately on HD-DVD- I have both.

I THINK the Rob Zombie Halloween movies are available in their theatrical versions on Blu-Ray in Canada, but don't quote me on that.

Spawn has been available only as an R-rated cut (it was originally PG-13) on all formats going back to laserdisc- don't know if its theatrical version was even on VHS. (An older movie that had this happen was 1988's Johnny Be Good, which I'd like to see.)

Other stuff I bought on standard DVD because that was the only way to get their theatrical versions:

Beerfest
School for Scoundrels
Superbad
Wolf Creek
Dead Silence (though I've watched both cuts, with the unrated on HD-DVD, and can't really tell the difference, silly movie anyways)

BuckNaked2k

You are right. I was remembering that massive set I used to have on DVD.

theWitcher

Not sure how badly anyone needs the theatrical version but the significantly shorter "director's cut" of Tony Scott's 'Revenge' is the only one available on blu-ray as far as I know.

Also, the 'Donnie Brasco' region A blu is the "Extended Cut."

Alan Smithee

Ditto for The Replacement Killers and The Patriot. Sony seems to like to do this, though strangely Basic Instinct 2 was the theatrical version on Blu-Ray and the unrated version only on regular DVD, with the theatrical cut separately on regular DVD only in 4x3. (And the first Basic Instinct on Blu-Ray is not the theatrical cut, though everyone seems to prefer the unrated cut of that.)

BuckNaked2k

40 Year Old Virgin - Do we really need a 2-hour comedy?

mcnabb

I gave up on hoping the Theatrical Cuts would come years out ago, but Disney buying the SW franchise has renewed my hope. I used to defend Lucas on the PT movies because I said that fans didn't have to watch them if they didn't like them, but he lost me with his stance on the OOT and his constant tinkering of the movies that never needed to be changed in the first place! It may not happen in the next year, but I could see them release them on BluRay with either a tie-in to Episode 7 in the theaters or when they release it on BluRay.

There is just too much money to be made with the OOT versions that Disney will not just let it stay in some old warehouse like Arc of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark!