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Director Cuts That Ruin Otherwise Good Films

JaseMath

JaseMath

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Oct 27, 2017
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So, I watched the Donnie Darko Director's Cut for the first time and... what the fuck? Music cues are different, rightly-so deleted scenes are included, and there're numerous visual "enhancements" (like the cornea/eyeball nonsense or the Philosophy of Time Travel overlays) that convolute an already convoluted story. This is the worst version of Donnie Darko and I hate that it exists.

Are there other examples of Director Cuts ruining otherwise good films?
 
SunBroDave

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Oct 25, 2017
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Controversial take: Aliens. I think the theatrical cut is basically a perfect film. But the director's cut with all the extra scenes especially worsen everything pre-Ripley leaving on the trip.
 
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Dolomite Shadow

Dolomite Shadow

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Oct 28, 2017
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Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Adds in a scene from a completely different movie to support Ridley Scott's misunderstanding of his own film. Ironically the actual Director's cut of that movie is my fav version
 
Sibersk Esto

Sibersk Esto

Changed the hierarchy of thread titles
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Oct 25, 2017
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The Warriors Director's Cut

Begins by flat out saying "this is a homage to ancient Greek tale"

warriors-01-01.jpg


Then has a bunch of dumb comic book style transitions

warriors-09-03.jpg

warriors-13-02.jpg

warriors-01-07.jpg
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

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Oct 25, 2017
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I don't like the additions of the unrated cut of Dead Silence

The CGI tongue is goofy
 
AlphaMale

AlphaMale

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Dec 21, 2017
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I really liked the original theatrical release of "Blade Runner", complete with voice-over narration.
The director's cut ruined it with trying to imply Deckard's replicant status and removing the voice-overs.
 
Richiek

Richiek

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Nov 2, 2017
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Apocalypse Now Redux.

And controversial take: The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, especially The Two Towers and Return of the King.
 
hikarutilmitt

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Dec 16, 2017
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Butterfly Effect:
Different ending
Smallish extra scene added back in earlier to the film to tie into said different ending

Theatrical ending is him basically eliminating his relationship with Kayleigh and Tommy by making them want to live with their mother instead of their abusive father. Nobody dies, the abuse they suffered with their father isn't present so they can live normal lives, his friendship with Lenny is still fine and as-is.
Director's Cut ending is him watching a video in the asylum of his own birth, then going back and strangling himself in the womb with the umbilical cord. He is stillborn, turns out he had 2 or 3 siblings prior that presumably had the same problems and were also stillborn.
The added scene was a palm reader saying he has no life line and isn't supposed to exist.

I have a rather strong feeling about most endings like the DC ending being copout endings where the writers just kind of say "hey, this should be tragic" when there are a million ways to not have it be that way. The DC ending didn't test well with audiences, apparently.
 
cognizant

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Dec 19, 2017
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SunBroDave said:
Controversial take: Aliens. I think the theatrical cut is basically a perfect film. But the director's cut with all the extra scenes especially worsen everything pre-Ridley leaving on the trip.
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You're right, that's probably a controversial take indeed lol. The director's cut puts a crucial scene back in that gives context to the theme of motherhood the movie explores. I am of course referring to the scene where Ripley finds out her daughter died of old age. It's also peppered with small moments that either flesh out characters, raise tension, or set up later pay-offs. Here's a random article outlining some differences.

The only negative thing about it is that we don't really need to see the colony before it got destroyed, but that one scene isn't enough to tarnish the cut.

The director's cut of Alien however is unnecessary.
 
PlanetSmasher

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Oct 25, 2017
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AlphaMale said:
I really liked the original theatrical release of "Blade Runner", complete with voice-over narration.
The director's cut ruined it with trying to imply Deckard's replicant status and removing the voice-overs.
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This is a VERY rare opinion, wow. Not knocking it if the original cut is more your speed, but it's rare to see someone who liked the narration bits.
 
Randam

Randam

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Oct 27, 2017
8,235
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hikarutilmitt said:
Butterfly Effect:
Different ending
Smallish extra scene added back in earlier to the film to tie into said different ending

Theatrical ending is him basically eliminating his relationship with Kayleigh and Tommy by making them want to live with their mother instead of their abusive father. Nobody dies, the abuse they suffered with their father isn't present so they can live normal lives, his friendship with Lenny is still fine and as-is.
Director's Cut ending is him watching a video in the asylum of his own birth, then going back and strangling himself in the womb with the umbilical cord. He is stillborn, turns out he had 2 or 3 siblings prior that presumably had the same problems and were also stillborn.
The added scene was a palm reader saying he has no life line and isn't supposed to exist.

I have a rather strong feeling about most endings like the DC ending being copout endings where the writers just kind of say "hey, this should be tragic" when there are a million ways to not have it be that way. The DC ending didn't test well with audiences, apparently.
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His name is Evan Treborn. Treborn ->
3rd born. But that doesn't really make sense either. What about his siblings that came befor him?
 
NeverWas

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I didn't care for the directors cut of Army of Darkness. It got rid of the S-Mart scene at the end, and that shit is iconic.
 

Deleted member 11637

Oct 27, 2017
18,204
SunBroDave said:
Controversial take: Aliens. I think the theatrical cut is basically a perfect film. But the director's cut with all the extra scenes especially worsen everything pre-Ridley leaving on the trip.
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Yeah, the pacing is off in the Director's Cut; I like the sequence where they set up the sentry guns, but it's superfluous.

Alien has a bizarre "Director's Cut" that's a minute shorter with alternate takes and an added scene with Dallas that has major lore implications, but the Theatrical Cut is superior.

I still believe the Workprint Cut of Alien 3 could be the best available version if they only cleaned up the audio of the added scenes and fixed some visual effects, but I'm in a lonely corner with that opinion.
 
SunBroDave

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cognizant said:
You're right, that's probably a controversial take indeed lol. The director's cut puts a crucial scene back in that gives context to the theme of motherhood the movie explores. I am of course referring to the scene where Ripley finds out her daughter died of old age. It's also peppered with small moments that either flesh out characters, raise tension, or set up later pay-offs. Here's a random article outlining some differences.

The only negative thing about it is that we don't really need to see the colony before it got destroyed, but that one scene isn't enough to tarnish the cut.

The director's cut of Alien however is unnecessary.
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See I don't really think that scene was crucial, and in fact, i think it overclutters Ripley's internal conflict. In the theatrical cut, her main struggle is that she has PTSD from her experience in Alien, and her desire to overcome that and prevent anyone else from suffering like that is what motivates her to go back in Aliens. But in the director's cut, now she also has thing secondary internal conflict with the whole lost daughter thing.
 
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geomon

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Oct 25, 2017
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1408: Director's Cut. The ending flat out ruins a really good horror movie. I was so pissed and they don't offer the theatrical cut on Blu-ray. Damn it.
 
cognizant

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SunBroDave said:
See I don't really think that scene was crucial, and in fact, i think it overclutters Ridley's internal conflict. In the theatrical cut, her main struggle is that she has PTSD from her experience in Alien, and her desire to overcome that and prevent anyone else from suffering like that is what motivates her to go back in Aliens. But in the director's cut, now she also has thing secondary internal conflict with the whole lost daughter thing.
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I think the motherhood theme is a stroke of genius for Cameron to have explored in what could have been a superficial horror sequel concerned primarily with characters trying to survive. Aliens ends up being about both Ripley and the Alien Queen fighting for their own, I think it's amazing.
 
HStallion

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Oct 25, 2017
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It doesn't ruin the film but the directors cut off Amadeus just adds in a lot of unimportant fluff that makes an already long movie even longer without actually adding anything of real importance. It just wrecks the pacing.
 
JigglesBunny

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Apocalypse Now's theatrical cut is superior to the alternate cuts by a country mile. Redux is bloated and over-indulgent and the "Final Cut" still features the agonizingly dull plantation scene. Each subsequent release of the film just completely undermines the efficiency and potency of that original theatrical release.
 
MrChom

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Oct 26, 2017
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AlphaMale said:
I really liked the original theatrical release of "Blade Runner", complete with voice-over narration.
The director's cut ruined it with trying to imply Deckard's replicant status and removing the voice-overs.
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I mean, respect for having a different opionion on this and all but honestly when I got the big box set I tried to watch the theatrical cut, and could not make it through the first half hour. The voiceover is just so intentionally awful to my mind....

I will say that while Watchmen's Directors Cut didn't ruin the film it REALLY did not need to be any longer than it already was!
 
SunBroDave

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cognizant said:
I think the motherhood theme is a stroke of genius for Cameron to have explored in what could have been a superficial horror sequel concerned primarily with characters trying to survive. Aliens ends up being about both Ripley and the Alien Queen fighting for their own, I think it's amazing.
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Imo the motherhood theme was already present in the theatrical cut of Aliens. The audience didn't need the context that Ripley had essentially just lost a child, for the motherhood theme to come through during all of the later scenes with Newt and the Alien Queen.
 
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echoshifting

echoshifting

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Oct 25, 2017
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SunBroDave said:
See I don't really think that scene was crucial, and in fact, i think it overclutters Ridley's internal conflict. In the theatrical cut, her main struggle is that she has PTSD from her experience in Alien, and her desire to overcome that and prevent anyone else from suffering like that is what motivates her to go back in Aliens. But in the director's cut, now she also has thing secondary internal conflict with the whole lost daughter thing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You have my sword. I completely agree with you. If anything, I think that scene overextends the motherhood theme beyond what the film is equipped to express.
 
Neece

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Oct 27, 2017
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Friday.

The Directors Cut is awful and ruins most of the jokes and pacing of the film. And sadly the directors cut seems to be the cut they are always selling on blu ray and shit.
 
WascallyWabbit

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Oct 25, 2017
11,417
hikarutilmitt said:
Butterfly Effect:
Different ending
Smallish extra scene added back in earlier to the film to tie into said different ending

Theatrical ending is him basically eliminating his relationship with Kayleigh and Tommy by making them want to live with their mother instead of their abusive father. Nobody dies, the abuse they suffered with their father isn't present so they can live normal lives, his friendship with Lenny is still fine and as-is.
Director's Cut ending is him watching a video in the asylum of his own birth, then going back and strangling himself in the womb with the umbilical cord. He is stillborn, turns out he had 2 or 3 siblings prior that presumably had the same problems and were also stillborn.
The added scene was a palm reader saying he has no life line and isn't supposed to exist.

I have a rather strong feeling about most endings like the DC ending being copout endings where the writers just kind of say "hey, this should be tragic" when there are a million ways to not have it be that way. The DC ending didn't test well with audiences, apparently.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
TIL I watched the directors cut
 
NekoFever

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Oct 25, 2017
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Channel 5 News said:
Alien has a bizarre "Director's Cut" that's a minute shorter with alternate takes and an added scene with Dallas that has major lore implications, but the Theatrical Cut is superior.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Ridley Scott says in his introduction to that version that it's not a director's cut, that the theatrical version is still his preferred version, and that it's only there as a curiosity for fans.
 
crimsonECHIDNA

crimsonECHIDNA

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I always think of Amadeus. Outside of that one scene with Constanze, I found a lot of what got added into the Director's Cut to make the film come off as bloated.


PlanetSmasher said:
This is a VERY rare opinion, wow. Not knocking it if the original cut is more your speed, but it's rare to see someone who liked the narration bits.
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I prefer the final cut, but I actually didn't mind the narration. lol
 
Beren

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Oct 25, 2017
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Star Wars. Lucas has always needed someone to tell him no.
 
JigglesBunny

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I know the thread called for "good movies" that were ruined by director's cuts, but even though it's a horrible movie in its theatrical form, it's important to emphasize just how wildly miserable the director's cut of Rob Zombie's Halloween is.

TW: Sexual Assault
In the theatrical cut, Michael breaks out of the sanitarium during a cell transfer. Fine, efficient, whatever.

The director's cut has a redneck orderly and his redneck cousin break into the cell of a new mentally ill patient, drag her into Michael's cell, violently rape her, force Michael to smell their fingers after they forcibly penetrate her and then Michael kills the orderlies to escape. The only fucking reason this happens is because Rob Zombie is a talentless shock jockey hack that can't write a single fucking project without loading it with sexual violence.

In addition to this change, the cut is also loaded with even more of that trademark Zombie dialogue ("[eggs] are chicken abortions." "They're not chicken abortions!" "Yeah, like you know what an abortion is."), the death scene of the already-nude Lynda is only changed to include a wider shot that shows her genitals, and there's a few timing changes and added shots of gore.

This director's cut is the only cut available for sale physically in North America and has been since release. Zombie allegedly pushed to make the theatrical cut as inaccessible as possible, preferring his director's cut instead. If you want the theatrical cut, you can buy it digitally on certain storefronts or you need to order a Blu-Ray from Canada that works in NA which is what I did to complete my Halloween collection. The same goes for the director's cut of Zombie's Halloween II, though that's it's own can of worms and is borderline a completely different, far more sinister and nihilistic film than the theatrical cut.

No matter which cut you watch, they're utterly terrible and Zombie is absolutely bereft of writing talent, but the director's cut of that 2007 film just always stands out to me for being so fucking vile for absolutely no other than reason than Zombie seems to get off on that kind of shit.
 
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SunBroDave said:
Controversial take: Aliens. I think the theatrical cut is basically a perfect film. But the director's cut with all the extra scenes especially worsen everything pre-Ridley leaving on the trip.
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Not controversial. Regular Aliens is extremely solid. I like the deleted scenes but for the most part they don't belong.

big exception being the scene where Hicks and Ripley share their first names. I cannot believe that was left out.
 
psionotic

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May 29, 2019
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There's an extended cut of Almost Famous which shows more living with a band on the road stuff, including a longer radio station interview, and a tour barbecue. But it over-extends an already long movie, nothing of consequence happens during these scenes, and it just destroys the pacing. The theatrical cut is much better.
 

Deleted member 9241

Oct 26, 2017
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JasonMCG said:
So, I watched the Donnie Darko Director's Cut for the first time and... what the fuck? Music cues are different, rightly-so deleted scenes are included, and there're numerous visual "enhancements" (like the cornea/eyeball nonsense or the Philosophy of Time Travel overlays) that convolute an already convoluted story. This is the worst version of Donnie Darko and I hate that it exists.

Are there other examples of Director Cuts ruining otherwise good films?
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I just wanted to let you know my first thought was also Donnie Darko after reading just the thread title.

I'll add Apocalypse Now Redux. It adds so much useless filler and some of the scenes just drag on and on.
 
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