Isn't that exactly how the TV cut came about? Didn't the network want a longer cut to fit in more commercials so some first assistant editor cut in a bunch of random footage without any thought as to where it would actually go? We need a Peter Jackson-type Dune movie now that the technology has caught up.

Sort of. At the time, Universal Studios was owned by MCA. When Dune bombed in theaters, the studio dumped the movie on the MCA-TV division hoping to sell it into quick syndication turnaround to recover some of their lost money. The TV department decided that the best way to sell it would be as a 2-part extended miniseries that would fill in all the parts from the book that audiences had complained were missing from the movie.

The problem is that David Lynch never actually filmed most of those parts. When he went over budget and over schedule, the producers forced him to stop shooting several important storylines. Other backstory detail from the book was never written in the script or intended to be in the movie.

To fill in the gaps, the TV people drew a really bad cartoon prologue sequence to explain the history of the Dune universe. They also hired a guy to read a voiceover narration over that and most of the movie. The guy had obviously not actually seen the movie when he recorded it, and mispronounces half the character names and terminology. They also had him re-record and replace all of Virginia Madsen's voiceover, so now we have one person reading two separate narrations.

As I mentioned, the new editors were totally incompetent at their jobs. Whenever they felt they needed to insert a new special effects shot that was never filmed, they either repeated an old shot from earlier in the movie (some are repeated dozens of times and don't make any sense at all) or inserted cartoon storyboard drawings. At other times, they tried to create brand new scenes by mixing-and-matching footage from other previous scenes.

The whole thing is an embarrassment, and an insult to the hard work of everyone who struggled to make the movie in the first place.

Wow, thanks for your insight. That does seem ludicrously bad and incompetant. The guy who narrates it didn't even see the movie? How could that have even been possible? I guess my assumption that TV had some modicrum of standards even back in the '80s is proven false in this instance.

The Sand Pebbles (1966) Starring Steve McQueen. The 2 disc DVD has both theatrical and roadshow versions on separate discs. The Blu-ray has the theatrical only, but does include roadshow scenes as an extra. I'm not sure, but I don't think all the extra scenes from the roadshow version are on the Blu-ray. Most likely the only way you will be able to see the roadshow version again would be on the DVD. I don't see another Blu-ray coming. The DVD roadshow version is a bit faded and dirty but very watchable.

Most European DVD releases of Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) contained more steamy sex footage



This version was never released in the U.S.
The Blu-ray released worldwide was struck from the U.S. master, omitting all extra footage.

The Possessed (2012)

U.S. DVD & Blu-ray - Theatrical Version, censored for PG-13
German & UK Blu-ray contains unrated (R-Rated) version.

You guys are mentioning the omission of the 2002 version of E.T. like its a loss of some kind. It's not and it should never be seen again. Spielberg regrets ever changing the original as he should.

Don't know if it was mentioned..

Kate & Leopold DVD has both theatrical & Director's cut. BR only has Director's cut.

Wes Craven's werewolf flick Cursed had a gorier Unrated Version DVD. As far as I can tell, the Blu-ray and VOD releases have all been the PG-13 Theatrical Cut.

http://www.amazon.com/Cursed-Unrated...dp/B0009ETDAK/
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=2253