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Movies => Good Movies => Topic started by: Jim H on September 23, 2011, 06:05:38 PM



Title: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Jim H on September 23, 2011, 06:05:38 PM
Ever watch an extended or altered version of a movie and thought the version you originally saw was better?  What can you name?

I'll start off with the obvious trilogy..

Star Wars - Most of the changes narratively damage the film.  Not always in a big way, but the handful of generally good changes (cleaned matte lines, a pretty good expanded view of Cloud City, etc) are marred by bad changes (the Han/Greedo thing, CGI that already looks dated, a Jabba the Hut scene that is unneeded and out of place, censored violence, etc). 

THX1138 - I hear the updates to this one aren't terrible, but also don't help the film

Lethal Weapon Director's Cut - most of the additions aren't bad on their own, but the scene where Gibson kills a sniper is redundant after the sequence with the Christmas Trees and other sequences don't add much, they just slow the film down.

Last of the Mohicans (Day-Lewis version) special edition - changes aren't huge, but most of the changes seem to lessen the film rather than improve it. 

Godfather Complete Epic - I haven't seen this one, but chronologically editing together the first two films just doesn't seem like a good idea.  The prequel elements were clearly there to parallel events in the second film as they happened.

Robocop - this one I'm mixed on.  The extra violence makes it more cartoony, which sort of fits, but I think it also takes away some of the drama in the more grounded parts of the movie.  Not worse or better, more like it is just different.

Any others?


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: JaseSF on September 23, 2011, 06:51:27 PM
I know most don't care for The Warriors Special Edition...


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Flick James on September 23, 2011, 07:28:28 PM
The Lord of the Rings: I'm a fan of them, although they are not without their faults. The extended versions that were released on DVD are a mixed bag in my opinion. Some of the extended scenes are obviously intended for fans of the books and that were (perhaps wisely) kept out of the theatrical releases because they were long enough as it was. Some of the scenese were left out because they just weren't very good or just flat out stupid.

Blade Runner: Some people didn't like the Director's Cut. I went and saw it when it was released in theatres in the early 90's and thought it was great. Apparently Ridley Scott's original version was meant to have no narration in it at all, but he was pressured to because without it the studio felt it was too hard to follow. So he added the narration from Harrison Ford to appease. I've heard some say they prefer it with the narration because the film noir-esque feel of it works, but I preferred it without. Also, the director's cut had an ambiguous ending where we don't know the outcome. The studio pressure Scott to add an upbeat "happy ending" to the theatrical release, and I have to say when I saw the director's cut I was genuinely upset with the ending of the theatrical version. With the intended ambiguous ending my mind was doing cartwheels coming out of the theatre trying to picture what was coming next and it worked brilliantly.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Chainsawmidget on September 24, 2011, 01:12:14 AM
I know most don't care for The Warriors Special Edition...
I liked it.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: claws on September 24, 2011, 01:35:36 AM
I actually prefer the U.S. edited Theatrical versions of Dario Argento's Inferno and Deep Red over the original (extended) cuts. The 'longer' versions include mostly dialogue or extended scenes that aren't that important and only unnecessarily hurt the pacing.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: dean on September 24, 2011, 05:24:22 AM

I can really only think of Star Wars off the top of my head.  Extended cuts like Lord of the Rings and Avatar etc seem to be more for the fans who want more anyway, so in my mind they don't count, since you'd forgive the bad, longer pacing when you get more of what you want...

The Warriors directors cut was fine, but I found the comic book parts unnecessary and somewhat conflicted with the late 70s style of the film, but I actually prefer it beyond that.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Jack on September 24, 2011, 06:51:56 AM
Star Trek The Motion Picture - seems like they changed it to appease people who didn't care much for it in the first place.  Personally I really liked the original version.  It had a very surreal feel to it, and the changes diminished that somewhat.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: major jay on September 24, 2011, 08:19:51 AM
THE EXCORCIST
There is a powerful scene near the end with the priests, but the rest doesn't fit in very well (kind of cheesy).
One that I do like is Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD.  


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: RD on September 30, 2011, 11:02:03 PM


Robocop - this one I'm mixed on.  The extra violence makes it more cartoony, which sort of fits, but I think it also takes away some of the drama in the more grounded parts of the movie.  Not worse or better, more like it is just different.

I grew up watching an R version of this movie taped off Showtime in the late 80s. When I finally watched the Unrated version some of it came to me as a shock, but I didn't feel it really hindered the film. Especially after watching several other verhoeven films, it seemed par for the course. I'd still buy that for a dollar.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: akiratubo on September 30, 2011, 11:18:44 PM
Waterword.  Holy cow, is the theatrical version better.  All of the "restored" scenes were cut for good reason.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Fausto on October 01, 2011, 08:14:57 AM
I may get some flack for this, but...Legend. The original version was longer and had a completely different score, an orchestral one. However, in my opinion, at least, the new scenes dont really add much, and the score, while nice, isnt as unique or memorable as the tangerine dream one.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: akiratubo on October 02, 2011, 01:01:31 AM
I may get some flack for this, but...Legend. The original version was longer and had a completely different score, an orchestral one. However, in my opinion, at least, the new scenes dont really add much, and the score, while nice, isnt as unique or memorable as the tangerine dream one.

I much prefer the theatrical version of Legend, as well.  The director's cut isn't better, just longer.  You are spot on about the restored scenes adding nothing and the superiority of Tangerine Dream's score.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: bob on October 02, 2011, 03:31:35 AM
The regular version of Donnie Darko made a lot more sense to me then the 10th anniversary edition did.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Raffine on October 02, 2011, 11:27:26 AM
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The 'Special Edition' released in 1980 cut out much of Dreyfus' character development and huge chunks of the scenes with his family, making his transformation into an obsessed nut confusing and uninteresting. The discovery of the ocean liner in the desert was neat, but the trip into the interior of the mother ship was, er, "ill-advised".




Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Raffine on October 02, 2011, 11:38:48 AM
Not really a 'director's cut',  but the original DRACULA (1931) was released in the 1990s with a very annoying Philip Glass score.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Neville on October 07, 2011, 03:05:13 PM
I saw the DC of "Windtalkers" a while ago. The original is bad enough, but it moves so fast it helps you ignore the clichés and the bad dialogue. The DC moves slower, allowing you to experience every single second of its badness in its full glory. It's just excruciating. And if you thought the action scenes were over the top in the theatrical cut... well, here the Japanese seems to have barricaded themselves using TNT bags rather than sandbags.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: InformationGeek on October 08, 2011, 10:23:57 PM
I hear the Director's Cut for The Chronicles of Riddick was bad because they reveal a plot point too early in the film and it ruins all the mystery.  Of course, that's what I heard.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Nathan45 on October 21, 2011, 08:07:39 AM
Army of Darkness.  The Directors cut seems more like "Hey, these are all the alternative scenes we didn't show in the movie, enjoy!"  rather then a real attempt to show the Directors true vision.  (As a example, they replace the classic line "Good...Bad....I'm the guy with the gun." with "I'm not that good..."  Even on the commentary track they seem to tip toe around that the theatrical line was better.  The final battle makes a bit more sense in the Directors cut, but the pacing is slower.  The Directors cut isnt bad, but I definitely prefer the theatrical release.

ALL the Star Wars movies (Episodes 4-6.)   The ONLY improvement Lucas made was reinserting the Biggs/Luke scene.  Every other change was jarring.



Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Neville on October 21, 2011, 08:47:07 AM
I forgot to mention "Aliens"... the scenes in the planet that show life beofre the aliens are good, but the rest of the re-added scenes are superfluous and they kill the pace. That's one major fault, because the TC of "Aliens" is one of the most entertaining films I've ever seen.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Flick James on October 21, 2011, 11:54:10 AM
I own a Special Edition of Tombstone, and I never watch the version with the deleted scenes. They are just awful. Most of them are melodramatic and silly, and most of them involve Val Kilmer chewing scenery. It was wise that they kept those scenes out of the TC. I enjoyed Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday, but he definitely chewed scenery, and the TC kept the ratio just below where it would have become annoying. IMHO, of course.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Mr. DS on October 21, 2011, 02:06:12 PM
I've kind given up on all director's cuts.  I find most deleted scenes to be deletable.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Couchtr26 on October 22, 2011, 01:07:14 AM
I don't remember that Dune (extended cut) very well.  I do remember not liking and feeling it was flawed in quite a few ways.  Sadly, I have only watched once so can't remember any pinpoints.  I seem to remember some artistic cards adding some of the back story at the beginning of the movie.   


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Neville on October 22, 2011, 04:05:26 AM
I've kind given up on all director's cuts.  I find most deleted scenes to be deletable.

I guess the real problem here is telling apart the genuine director's cuts from those films that are re-released with a few deleted scenes just to cash in. I remember DC that were great improvements over the original film, such as "Kingdom of Heaven", which was butchered for the theatrical release.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: claws on October 22, 2011, 04:35:11 AM
As mentioned in another thread: Donnie Darko.


Title: Re: "Special editions"/Director's Cuts worse than the theatrical cuts
Post by: Neville on October 22, 2011, 04:44:57 AM
I don't remember that Dune (extended cut) very well.  I do remember not liking and feeling it was flawed in quite a few ways.  Sadly, I have only watched once so can't remember any pinpoints.  I seem to remember some artistic cards adding some of the back story at the beginning of the movie.   

That one is an abomination. David Lynch's final version is the TC, and he disowned further "improvements". I tried to watch this version but couldn't, the additions destroy the pace fo the film (which was already problematic in the TC) and are completely irrelevant.