moviefan2k4

Thank you; someone else around here's had enough of blood for its own sake.

My main gripe about the theatrical cut is that John suddenly knows the difference between the T-1000 and Sarah at the mill, be we're not told how. The special edition includes the visual cue for him of the cyborg's legs melted into the grate.

I heard that Cameron's working on a new transfer, to be released on Blu-Ray next year.

mostaccioli

i sold mine before i watched the new one.
if this version was released in 1979 i bet no gang fights in theaters.

dhmac

I wish they had called that version of Alien the "Alternative Cut" instead of the "Director's Cut" because Ridley Scott even said on the extras that he has always been proud of the original theatrical cut and that his re-cut version of the movie in 2003 was simply due to him looking back at the film and deciding in hindsight to make some adjustments. So I don't think he ever intended it as a replacement for the original theatrical (which is what "Director's Cut" is supposed to mean), but just as a way to give us fans another version of the film.

Ridley Scott's intro to the (so called) "Director's Cut"
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-EY_Sz1PzFQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

While the (so-called) DC is not as good as the original theatrical cut, I do like it as an alternate way to see a favorite movie I've seen so many times before. It made the movie "new" to me in a way.

Dr. DVD

Having viewed all three cuts of T-2, I think the middle one (the one with Kyle Reese but the theatrical ending in tact) is the best. Seems to connect better with the first, though the theatrical is still quite good. I feel the happy ending on the third cut doesn't work at all. Not only is it incredibly cheesy, there is no way John and Sarah could end up leading the kind of lives they portray given all they had done in their past. The only good thing about it is it can nullify parts 3 and 4.

Apocalypse Now is another one that I feel only benefits from some additions. I think the French plantation scene was good, but everything else looked bloated.

Also, I like the Richard Donner cut of Superman II overall, but I HATE using the "turning the world back" device again. I realize that wasn't supposed to be used for part I originally, but I think they should have kept the end scenes from the theatrical version in tact. Just saying none of the events we just saw ever occurred more or less eliminates all of the sacrifices and development given to the movie's characters. Also, instead of going back to the diner for a bit of sweet revenge, Superman is suddenly kicking the ass of some earth person for his own amusement.

SterlingBen

I came to post this.

hanshotfirst1138

At least the original version is anamorphic. I doubt Hill has any say in it, but hopefully after the commercial disaster of Bullet to the Head, maybe he'll be looking for some cash and will put it out on Blu-Ray. Right.

I'm not a prude, I think there are artistically interesting ways to use violence. And while I initially turned my nose up at Verhoeven as the "perverted little man," as I've gotten older, I've come to see the intelligence and satire in his films, and you could certainly make a compelling case for the excesses as being part of the film's satirical worlds. But films today do have a tenancy to mistake literalism and hyper-realism for content. But I'm glad we have both versions to choose from.

Yeah, I never quite understood why he cut that stuff. Those little bits with the T-1000 malfunctioning only amount to a few seconds.

I've been hearing that for years, but Avatar seems to have quashed it. Whether you like Cameron or not, I'm sure his films look gorgeous on BR. Is there are BR version of True Lies? I think there's an anamorphic version from some European market.

It's an interesting curio, as you said, Scott himself didn't want to call it "The Director's Cut," so the name is a misnomer. The original is damn near perfect, so there really wasn't any need to change it, but the alternate cut is an interesting thing to look at.

What do you mean? With the machines gone, it would've been a technically viable ending. Clearly though, Cameron realized that it was sappy as hell and removed it accordingly, I think that it sort of undoes the whole point "No fate but what we make" and the importance of man taking his own responsibilities.

That is a pretty good thing .

I'm kind of surprised the fabled bootleg work print has never show up on any official release. Though frankly, I haven't even seen Redux yet. The movie was quite long enough as it was.

Before Donner got kicked off of the project, he and Mankiewicz tamed the Salkind's allegedly unfilmable script into a two-piece one. When they stopped production on the second film to focus on the first, they realized that the ending planned for part 2 would work better for part 1, figuring that they'd decide how to end the second film when they got there. Obviously, Donner got kicked off of the project, and that didn't happen, and they couldn't do reshoots for the Donner Cut 25 years after the fact, so good, bad, or indifferent, they worked with what they had.

Yeah, I never thought about that, although to be fair, the Lester "magic kiss' ending never made damn bit of sense either. I do like the notion that it's Superman's meddling with time and space that causes Zod to get free in the first place. Superman II is an interesting movie on its own, the story about the power struggle between Donner and the Salkinds and Spenger is fascinating in and of itself. That might make for an interesting documentary, though of course it's obviously not something that all of them would want to talk about. Neither cut entirely works, IMO. The Lester cut has some silly stuff that I just can't get around (THE GIANT S!), the Donner cut feels incomplete, which it is, and I think that even if you were to "fan edit" them together, it still wouldn't entirely work. Shame about what happened to Donner, no doubt, would've been a hell of a series of films. But it's a tribute to how the talent and passion of the creative team can trump the production dollars and the machinations of the money men trying to shape the film into commercial junk. RIP, Christopher Reeve. You're missed man.

Incidentally, I think that the old Superman Cinema website is gone, did Warner ever put out a corrected version of the four-disc Superman: The Movie, or would I still have to find and call that number and have my copy replaced with the replacement program, assuming it's still running?

Mike86

I actually think most of the stuff added to Terminator 2 make the film a bit better. Particularly as mentioned the scene with the T-1000 malfunctioning making more sense and the scene with Reese. I like the theatrical cut too but normally if I watch it I go with the extended cut.

Dr. DVD

I also think the theatrical cut of Gladiator is better than the extended version. All the extended version does is put all of the deleted scenes back in place. The only one I felt added something was where Maximus glimpses the Christians being thrown to the lions. While it didn't add to his story arc, I liked that they actually acknowledged that aspect of history.

Matthew Chmiel

You do realize Sex Drive's unrated edit is a parody of unrated cuts, right? The director and writer even state that specifically in the introduction, yet people still don't get it.

Most extended cuts, specifically in the DVD and Blu-ray era, are inferior to the original edit. Example: Any Apatow-related film. It's funny that Knocked Up was listed in the OP as I feel it's the least tarnished of all of the extended Apatow cuts as it's only one additional scene added into the mix.

I think a better and tougher question would be which extended cut actually makes a movie better?

Pizza

Last of the Mohicans.

dugan

I'd always taken it as another "Something's wrong she's never this nice" moment.

My Other Self

I see two people have said Amadeus, but I strongly disagree. The DC is worth it for Elizabeth Berridge's bare boobs alone.

hasslein

islandclaws

Dawn Of The Dead (1978)

Way too long, and the music cues are off from the theatrical version. This matters if you're the kind of person who has watched the TC (which, really, is Romero's DC) about a hundred times. The shorter cut is total perfection. Likewise, the Argento cut is terrible. Music playing over every single scene is majorly distracting.

Terminal

The 40 Year Old Virgni
Alexander - An awful movie made worse
Apocalypse Now

jfoobar

It is hard for me to be objective about this one since I had seen the original version so many times (it is, in fact, my single favorite film) before I saw the DC. So the DC additions really stand out in my mind and I am able to consider them separate from the overall narrative too easily.

Overall, I was thrilled to "get more" of a film I love so dearly so, for me, the DC release was a positive thing.

As for Berridge's boobs, well, I will never turn down a chance to see an attractive woman's boobs, but she really wasn't all that. That one scene, however, was probably the added scene that changed the tone of the film the most.

Mattflix

Robocop - Like I mentioned in the other thread, violence is a tool that can be used to tell a better story. Well the theatrical cut did that just fine, and Murphy's execution is already terribly brutal. Now there are a few shots that linger, his arm falling off, the fake looking hand stump. That overhead shot is interesting because it's a really good dummy of Peter Weller that looks like the real thing. Also the ED-209 malfunction has an unnecesary shot of it shooting more chunks out of that suit. It was already pretty brutal, no need to beat a dead horse.


The Abyss - Honestly most of the director's cut material adds to the movie. It's just the new ending



Alien - The Dallas egg scene is interesting as a curiosity but in the end it doesn't work. Ridley Scott was right to cut it for pacing. Also I like the original cut where he's just gone and we image what the alien does to him. And the scene doesn't work when compared to the overall franchise which established a different biology.

Gladiator and Amadeus - Pacing Issues

dugan

Here's a question for people show saw both cuts of Alien. Is Prometheus a prequel to the extended cut or the theatrical cut?

Mattflix

Either really. Prometheus only shows

Falc04

The "Special Longer Version". Basically 12 more minutes of exterior ship shots and the crew's facial expressions. Adds absolutely nothing to the story, and makes a dull and boring portion of the film, even longer.

hanshotfirst1138

Romero thinks so too, that's why he considers the theatrical version his cut.

I've always wondered if the loss of the arm was supposed to have some sort of symbolic value or something that went over my head. Verhoeven mention the overhead shot as being a "Mary holding the beaten Christ after the passion" kind of thing, and apparently the shot in the head has the blood splatter in a "crown of thorns" kind of way. I've never though about it that way, but hey, he's the director, not me.

My Other Self

I only saw the theatrical cut once back in the 90s when I rented the VHS from Blockbuster, so I couldn't even tell you what was added in the DC other than the topless scene with Stanzi. That's also the only scene I can think of that would've given the DC its R rating.

EddieMoney

Yeah, I dunno. She's really not much to look at. I love big, juicy sweater puppets as much as the next guy, but...I dunno, she kinda looks like a dude.

jfoobar

Here is an entire list of the changes, including some screen caps:

http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=2234

The changes mostly just make Salieri look even more sinister than he did in the theatrical cut and flesh out a little more Mozart's financial problems. It is the prior that causes a little bit of a tonal shift in the film and one that I could see some people having a problem with. In the theatrical cut, Salieri is obviously not seen in a positive light but is someone that the audience ends up likely feeling a little sympathy for. It is much tougher to feel any sympathy at all for the DC Salieri and he comes across as more of a pure antagonist.

As for the attractiveness of Berridge, she was a cute woman with very average/normal-looking breasts. The wig she wore in the scene in question was especially unflattering for her face, which didn't help that scene. If she had worn the same wig she had on in her first meeting with Salieri, the scene might have been a little more...titillating.

klemsaba

Aliens. I don't like the extra footage of Newt's family heading out and finding the Alien ship. It kills the suspense of waiting to find out exactly what happened to the colonists and the revelation that Burke sent them out in the first place. The other extra footage doesn't bother me.