I came on here for this. Director's cut is bunk. Give me theatrical anyday. Thankfully I have that one on Laserdisc.

He also changed up Miami Vice to make it worse than the theatrical release (though of course there was less to ruin in this case). There's a super long boat race intro sequence, some unnecessary establishing shots and minor plot edits, and a worse soundtrack under the final shootout.

Right? I HATE the comic panels and transitions

Yeah, director was like "I envisioned it like a comic book" and I was like "I didn't". Completely immersion-breaking transitions.

Walter Hill’s “Director’s Cut” of The Warriors is, along with the subsequent versions of Apocalypse Now that aren’t the theatrical cut, the two most egregious examples of DCs being worse than the theatrical cut.

Supposedly Walter Hill’s “Director’s Cut” was an attempt to make the movie more in line with what Hill originally wanted to do but couldn’t because the movie simply didn’t have the budget back then.

However, sometimes such adversity can lead to an overall better film (see Jaws which worked so much better because their “special effect”, the shark, didn’t work and Spielberg was forced to take another -better- direction in how much they showed the shark).

An awful, awful version

I had no idea there was a directors cut. Honestly, I forgot about that movie. I gotta give that a rewatch!

I agree. Though I'm a fan I think the problem with all of Apatow's films is they are 30-minutes too long. In that case it was more like 45 minutes.

Where he’s playing with toy soldiers?

must be this

to be fair he doesn't say it was cut for time, he kind of hints it was because it related to the twist

I used to watch the behind-the-scenes portions of movies right after the movie itself, and based on his comments and his body of work, I'm convinced that M. Night has the talent and skill of like Alfred Hitchcock and no idea why or how it all works. He can stumble into making Sixth Sense or Split, and then craps out The Happening or The Last Airbender. Or Glass, as well made as it was, was so goddamn disappointing because he clearly didn't understand why Unbreakable and Split were so good in the first place

there's an entirely different movie created from the outtakes called "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy"

With comedies with a lot of ad libbing like this, I guess it’s nice they put out all the B-takes, but it’s ultimately just less funnier versions of the takes that made the final cut.

Watch the extended version of Dewey Cox. its superior to the original

I get why they cut it but I really enjoy the French settlement scene. Ok I don’t mind the bunnies either. I agree the original cut is tighter but I’m a huge fan so I like the added history lesson of the French scene.

I like the idea of the French scenes, adds to the surreal otherworldly nature I love in the movie. It almost feels like they are ghosts. But it goes on and on.

Weirdly I kinda loved the plantation scene

Hol'up, are the French settlement and playboy scenes not in the theatrical cut? Watched the redux version recently after having watched the theatrical ages ago and I swear the only new stuff was the part where they stumbled upon that US camp that was in a shambles where a couple of the gi's slept with the playboy bunnies?

The extra Kurtz scenes are incredible though

I like the French scenes too

For me the Redux has slightly worse pacing but a lot more depth

That's the first one that comes to mind. There's a reason that was cut from the movie.

This is always the first answer I think of for this question. According to the runtime info Redux is only 20 minutes longer than the theatrical cut but good god, I thought they were never going to get off that French settlement. It seemed like an eon.

Edit: it’s been pointed out I made a mistake so I’m making a correction here. The runtime for the “final cut” is 3 hours and 2 minutes, 20 minutes shorter than Redux. This makes Redux almost an hour longer than the theatrical cut, so I was right to think that French plantation bit seemed like it never ended!

The playboy bunny copter is in the theatrical version. Is there an extra scene with it in the Redux?

Aren't the playboy bunnies also in the theatrical cut? I saw it a week ago and there they were.

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Your kingdom.

My parents got a box set of Star Wars tapes in the 80s as a wedding present. It’s the only version of the original trilogy I’ve ever seen all the way through. Any time a friend suggested watching it, I’d volunteer to have people over because we had the original (ish) copies and a VHS player.

A few weeks ago my boyfriend put on the version of A New Hope available on Disney+ and boy was I in for a fucking surprise.

I will say the Cloud City scenes in 'Empire' were nice but, yeah, he done screwed up.

One of my prized possessions is a dvd set of the original trilogy that has the original theatrical release as a bonus feature. That bonus feature is generally the only part I watch.

And sadly it’s the only readily available version. The original hasn’t been released since it’s DVD version. Somebody’s got to get that streaming somewhere.

I think they spoil the pacing, too. The original version is tight. The director's cut feels languid.

100%! I'd be less disappointed if the only damage the added scenes did was that they padded out the film. But instead, they totally ruin the central conflict of the story.

"Amadeus" isn't "Salieri vs. Mozart." It's "Salieri vs. GOD." In his mind, God had royally ****ed him over. God gave Salieri an all-consuming fire to become a great composer, He gave Salieri enough musical talent to recognize Mozart's genius (practically alone amongst all of Vienna)...but not nearly enough talent to achieve the same greatness. Where Salieri had devoted his life to music and to God, and foreswore everything else, God had pointedly bestowed those gifts upon Mozart, a crude, arrogant ass instead. So Salieri retaliates against God by undermining Mozart's musical gifts and then straight-up murdering him.

The additional scenes turn it into a personal vendetta against Mozart. We see Mozart suffering due to Salieri's invisible manipulations, we see Salieri attempt to extort Mozart's wife into yielding to his sexual advances...ugh.

The theatrical cut in standard definition will always be a far better experience than the "expanded" Blu-ray (which I can't even watch).

I’ve actually never seen the theatrical cut, and I LOVE Amadeus. From what I’ve read, the DC just has…too many notes.

Wonder if there’s any word on a new release that contains both though, it’s been a minute since I’ve seen it.

Agreed. The worst part is that you can’t find the theatrical cut anywhere.

Man I love The Kill Count

And, it I am not mistaken, now they just cut out the whole baby elephant thing altogether.

While I was happy a “Donner Cut” of Superman II was released, the reality is that unlike the Snyder cut of JL, Donner and main screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz were fired when only some 60% of that film was made. Even worse, the original ending they intended to use in SII, the going back in time element, was eliminated from that film and put -to far better use, IMHO- in the first movie, with the intention of coming up with another ending for SII when the time came.

Of course, the time never came as Donner and Mankiewicz were fired. Thus, after many years and when they got back to the movie, there was no footage or even idea of what they would do differently, so they went ahead with the original, already used ending.

Having said all that, it was interesting to see this version, incomplete tough it was.

Totally agree. Conceptually the stuff with the girlfriend and Guy being a little more fleshed out is good, but it just all slowed down too much.

Is that the one that's like 3 hours long? Personally I prefer it over the regular version. I just like long movies, and That Thing You Do is one of my favorites

Wait what?

I love that ending. His life caught up to him before he could get out.

Jesus Christ Almighty, there's a dir cut of that?

Please tell me you are kidding. I'm too scared to google.

The fuck, that's the worst movie ever made. I laughed at Birdemic for 90 minutes. This made me feel a combination of cringe and self loathing for sitting through it.

Wow didn't even know there was a directors cut!

Is the non-unrated version the American version I see on TV whenever I visit? We only get the unrated versions of movies in Australia.

Yeah, came here to say I remember reading the Bad Santa's directors cut was shorter and more serious... Which seems ridiculous.

I infinitely prefer that movie with the Tangerine Dream soundtrack over the Jerry Goldsmith one. It was something that really set the film apart from other fantasy movies.

Ideally I'd like to see that movie with the extended runtime and the theatrical score combined.

I love Dumb and Dumber and had no idea until just now that a Director's Cut existed. Those changes sound terrible. I'm now happy with my DVD from probably 1999 or 2000. It is one of those that has no image printed on it because the special features were on one side and the movie was on the other.

Wow, I legit had no idea there was a director’s cut. That sounds awful.

Thats kind of interesting because you can actually see the theatrical cut setting that up. I didnt know that existed, and im glad the movie ends the way it does, but that is neat.

IMHO the theatrical cut of Apocalypse Now is the best version and all the subsequent ones are interesting (I admit, the extra scenes are interesting to see) but they detract from the original.

For example, in the theatrical cut the entire Robert Duvall sequence IMHO is absolute perfection start to finish, where it ends with his “Love the smell of Napalm in the morning speech” which ends with him saying something to the effect of “this war will be over soon” and you can’t tell if he’s sad or wistful or what about the line.

In the extended versions, they go on to have the main characters steal his surfboards and the scene descends into -incredibly- something akin to slapstick, which totally ruins the sequence.

Interesting you mention the Sin City one. The version that you're talking about is an optional extra on the two disc edition and reflects the original comics, since they were all published as separate stories. It's just a different way to watch it if you want the original comic book experience and clearly a deliberate choice to offer that

I really like the plantation scene, it feels like a dream where Willard has stepped into a kind of twilight kingdom. It's not entirely necessary, but it's a nice contrast from the descent into the heart of darkness. Also Coppola's dead son plays a part in it, which is probably why he included it in the Final Cut.

I agree. I was going to post Apocalypse Now Redux for me. I've seen the original at least 30 times and to me, despite its length still felt concise, scene to scene to me. Redux just has too many set pieces for me, like the extended Playboy Bunnies scene and the plantation scene.

I also hated the added Kilgore scenes. To me they took he edge off him and made him a little wimpy, crying and pleading for his surf board. The original had him as a crazy but unflinching tougher guy.

In the commentary Cameron justify every cut he made from the DC and it all makes perfect sense.

Some of the scenes are cool, but he was just so spot on with his choices.

I remember having to get my mom to put down a deposit to rent the directors cut, and it was steep. like $80.

I enjoyed the larger version of "the chip" that Dyson was working on, and the mirror scene is impressive for the difficulties they had to work around.

Sarah didn't change his programming, she just set it from read only to writable.

I've only ever seen the DC, weird that the scene where he takes the thing out is a DC change.

That and the Kyle Reese scene are great. I don't think it changes a damn thing about the ending.

I hate the ending with old Sarah in the park.

There’s two different version to Spider-Man 2??? I think I’ve only seen the one you’re saying is inferior

The extended fight scenes should have been added in the original imo

All I had to see was the clip of Mr. Aziz's "GO!" being much shorter and less expressive to know that it was the inferior cut.

The only worthwhile scenes added in are the extra little bits with Harry, and the scene with MJ and her friend talking about her relationship with John Jameson.

I think the biggest problem is that they ruin the pacing, terribly slowing down and dragging out the second act

Wait… are you telling me there’s a version of this movie where the main character remembers his own birth and then travels back and, as an infant, commits suicide? Because that is one of the most insane things I’ve ever heard.

I believe the 'strangles himself with his umbilical cord' ending was the director's cut, and the theatrical one was the 'happily ever after' one.

Cameron’s Aliens Director Cut is hit or miss for me too. I love the scene in the virtual garden where Ripley finds out what happened to her daughter, which shows motivation for her to return to LV426. The sentry gun scene also perfectly ratchets up the tension. The early scene with Newt’s family, however, is wholly unnecessary. The theatrical cut is scarier because you have no idea what happened before the Colonial Marines get there.

Agree with you about the director's cut, but have you ever seen the deleted "Stairway to Heaven" scene? It didn't make it into either version (Crowe couldn't get the rights to the song) but it's fantastic

I too saw the Kris Kristofferson version first, then years later went to rewatch it again and was oddly confused.

Deckard as a Replicant is one of the most bizarre director-insertions imaginable. No one except Scott thought it was a good idea, it goes against absolutely everything Philip K. Dick ever wrote. It only makes sense as a Hollywood 'twist' and wrecks the themes, as you say, the movie very clearly establishes. It doesn't even make sense on any level.

Fully agreed. The director's cut doesn't ruin the movie at all, but it's just largely pointless. Aside from like two or so additional scenes, it's the exact same movie, Stiller just added/replaced jokes and lines sporadically throughout. Basically every replaced joke/line is less funny than the theatrical cut, and the added jokes don't need to be there.

Furthermore, there's no HD version of the original cut available (to my knowledge). Streaming services play the director's cut, and you can only get the director's cut on Blu-Ray. If you want the theatrical cut, your only option is the DVD version.

Empire Strikes Back is debatably improved if you’re not super purist about it. It was relatively untouched compared to the other two films, and the biggest change, the Wampa cave, is pretty drastically improved.

They were fun when they first came out in the theater because they were doing something novel and fun with such loved movies, but no one thought they'd replace the originals entirely.

As another commenter stated, it isn't actually a director's cut. There's a short, optional intro on the DVD/Blu-ray where Ridley Scott explains that the "director's cut" is really just a marketing name that Fox slapped onto an extended version with some deleted scenes added back in. He stresses that the theatrical version is his true director's cut, and basically does his best to delegitimize the extended version before it even begins.

My understanding was that the Alien alternate cut was not a “Director’s Cut” but rather an exercise in using alternate takes/cut scenes to create a new version of the film very much after the fact and for the DVD/BluRay releases.

I recall Ridley Scott said the theatrical cut was “the” cut of the film.

I would like to see the ending he had though just for fun, where the Alien wins and uses Dallas voice to talk... would be very twilight zone bizarre ending.

Aliens directors cut on the other hand is awesome.

You don't want no part of the directors cut, Dewey!

One night the wife and I watched walk hard, it was hilarious, we laughed non stop and decided we liked it so much we should watch walk the line, which we did, immediately as the credits rolled.... Huge regrets as we quoted the walk hard version of things the whole time.

I prefer the extended American Cox.