Director's Cuts vs. Extended Cuts vs. Theatrical Cuts

[UFAlien]

Originally Posted by John Dorian

on a different note, I had seen the movie "Dark Water" on a date. It was just a terrible movie. I did find it funny that the extended DVD was actually SHORTER than the theatrical.

It wasn't the Extended Cut, just the Unrated Cut. It was shorter in order to reinstate the director's original pacing.

And what was wrong with it? It was mismarketed as a thriller, sure, and it WASN'T one, but that doesn't change the fact it's an excellent drama/suspense story. Full of atmosphere, tension, and great acting. (Jennifer Connelly needs an award for that film)

[innocentlobster]

High School Musical 2 and Forgetting Sarah Marshall are my two favorites =)

[kefrank]

I can't believe we're on page 4 and no one has talked about the various cuts of Blade Runner (unless I missed it). I think the most recent Final Cut is the best version overall, though they all have their merits and are worth watching.

The theatrical cuts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy are brilliant and the extended editions are a step above brilliant.

The theatrical cut of Alien is superior to the re-cut from a few years ago, in my opinion.

Apocalypse Now (theatrical) edges out the Redux slightly, but the I still like the Redux a lot.

And I'm cheating a little bit here, but if Hitchcock's originally-devised ending of Suspicion had been filmed and cut into the movie instead of what we have, the movie would have been considerably darker and stronger.

[Rhylliam]

This is an issue that has been bothering me for a while, since the 'extended' trend has been going on since 2004 or so in full force. Now that Blu-ray is becoming more and more mainstream, I feel like theatrical cuts are not really given a chance to sell on Blu. To me, there is very little appeal for extended/director/uncut/recut versions, unless there's some actual history behind it (like studio interference, director showing original intention, etc). I hate having to import the cut I want, which I'm sure I will have to do in due time.

A few examples of extended only on blu:
-New Line has Dumb and Dumber
-Warner has Amadeus(which many object to), Sex and the City
-Columbia has Donnie Brasco, Ghost Rider, The Patriot, Replacement Killers, Underworld

There are those that include more than one cut too though. Fox is doing a great job with The Passion of the Christ, Donnie Darko, and X-Files 1 & 2 discs, since they include the original and re-cut versions. Columbia has both cuts of films like Pineapple Express & other comedies, however the theatrical Talladega Nights disc is only available on ebay since it was a PS3 exclusive (with crap transfer yet).

The Fact is, many people prefer the original release they loved when they saw it in theatres. Star Wars anyone? Don't count on theatrical Blu releases, the 'bonus feature' that they were on a previous DVD release were merely laserdisc non-16:9 transfers haha.

Please comment folks!

[goodluckchuck]

I dont like extended cuts, or deleted scenes or anything extra than what was made for theatres, I find it boring and just confuses me about what really the movie is. It happened to me once watching all those versions fro one movie and then I got confused if x scene was really in the movie or not, after some time.

[Bruce Morrison]

I don't necessarily object to extended cuts. In some cases they are an improvement on the original cut, and in other cases they aren't. The best way is to provide both versions with seamless branching so that the required version can be selected.

I hope Paramount and Fox/MGM will do that with 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Dances With Wolves'. On the whole I prefer the original cut of Apocalypse Now, although the French plantation sequence in the Redux version is an interesting addition. But I prefer the extended 4-hour version of Dances With Wolves.

[Sussudio]

i dont mind alternate cuts of a movie so long as the bluray also has the theatrical cut included as well (or it's released separately so buyers have the choice)...in some cases i much prefer the directors/extended/etc cut (name example blade runner), but i still think studios should always release at least one edition of a movie's theatrical version

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by Sussudio

i dont mind alternate cuts of a movie so long as the bluray also has the theatrical cut included as well (or it's released separately so buyers have the choice)...in some cases i much prefer the directors/extended/etc cut (name example blade runner), but i still think studios should always release at least one edition of a movie's theatrical version

I agree 100%. Even if a director or extended cut makes the movie better I'd like to have the option of seeing the original. For a movie like Donnie Darko it may make more sense to watch the theatrical first and then watch the director's cut to note the differences.
One extended cut I really disliked was Walk Hard. The extended cut added a significant amount of time to the movie but didn't seem to actually make the movie better and just made it drag. Apatow movies tend to go long for comedies anyways and adding time doesn't work for me.

[BrendonR]

Agreed - give the buyer the choice - preferably, on the same disc or a 2-disc set.

Best example I can give?

Alien 3.

the theatrical film was.... barely passable.

the assembly cut was.... brilliant.

[Blu-Benny]

i would love to see the theatrical cut of the original star wars on blu. i don't even know how many times i watched those growing up then the dvd came along.

my biggest issue w/the newer versions is the scene in jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi. the singing in the "remastered" version is terrible, that and no wub wub ewok song @ the end.

i for one would be willing to pay a couple bucks extra for certain movies that contain both the theatrical version and extented versions. example # 1: Lord of the Rings trilogy!!!!

[LORDs_angellos]

Hancock is another example of a film that only got released to Blu-ray in it's Unrated form. I prefer the unrated version, but they should've had both versions on one disc, like with King Kong.

[TheZoof]

The Final Cut of Blade Runner is the best in my opinion.

Richard Donner's Superman II is much improved over the original.


Most of the others mentioned here are also good.


I tend to enjoy the director's cut more than the original release even if at times they are a bit long.

I like the extended cuts of Lord of the Rings but honestly I find them a bit long. I might consider getting Blu-ray Lord of the Rings... hmm.

[Erik E. Erik]

I cannot watch the theatrical versions of the Lord Of The Rings anymore. And the "Aliens" Director's cut adds a "Mother-daughter" relationship that makes Newt's relationship with Ripley even more meaningful.

The recent Amadeus Director's Cut Blu-Ray is causing complaints on other forums on this website (they couldn't branch both versions??). And the Director's Cut of Dances With Wolves released a few years back is absolutely terrible. A lot of points that didn't need to be enhanced were enhanced, for an hour of extra time that didn't serve the story at all.

[Clark Kent]

I agree somewhat on Dances With Wolves. The longer version has some interesting additional stuff but does not seem paced very well. I am hoping they would release both cuts of the movie, preferably on separate discs. The theatrical version is the better movie experience in my opinion.

[PH3AR]

i always watch the Extended or Director's cut but idk why i do...even if i didnt see them in theaters

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by Offender_Mullet

Aliens is one that I dislike the most. Not sure if James Cameron had anything to do with it, but the only nice addition was the scene with the 2 sentry guns in the hallway plowing down the aliens. I thought the scenes with the colonists were way out-of-place, as it took away from the suspense/mystery about what happened to them & cheapened the beginning of the film.

I think Aliens is one of the most hit and miss Director's Cuts I've seen. I wasn't that bothered by the colonists scenes except for finding out that it was Newt's parents that visited the ship; that just seems stupidly coincidental. But I really disliked the sentry gun sequences since they were just downright boring, watching the displays count down and the guns shoot.

I did enjoy the mother-daughter sub-plot that was emphasized in the DC. Finding out about Ripley's daughter and the various scenes with Newt. And Hudson's little speech on the dropship was nice.

I never understood why they jumped to the conclusion that something was laying the eggs though. They said early on there were thousands of eggs in the alien ship and the colony only had 60-70 families. With an average 4 people to a family, that comes out to less than 300. I know something would have had to lay the eggs at some point, but they just seemed to assume it was on the planet.

[thedarkangel1975]

The only movie I can think of that is a theatrical cut that I think is better then the director's cut is Donnie Darko

[BigFoot]

The DC of Kingdom of Heaven is a huge improvement over the TC. So are all three Lord of the Rings movies, though the improvement isn't nearly as great.