Director's cut of Piranha 2: The Spawning?

[Jim H]

Seeing the trailer for the 3D remake of Piranha on Avatar reminded me of Cameron's sort-of directorial debut, Piranha 2: The Spawning.  Stories vary as to how major his involvement on the film was, but one thing made me curious.

According to the IMDB: "The original, 1988 laserdisc featured James Cameron's much better "director's cut", missing nearly 20 minutes of footage, and having many scene re-edited and reordered."

Is there any truth to this?  Looking at LaserDisc Database, I don't see a release of this length (it'd be around the 65 minute mark, I think, as the theatrical release is 85ish minutes).  There doesn't actually appear to even BE a 1988 LD release, the earliest is 1984, next is 1994.  The 1984 release is 86 minutes, the 1994 release is 91 minutes.  Sounds like just minor differences, a few scenes.

So, is there truly a director's cut that is a lot shorter, or is this just one of the many cases of incorrect information on the IMDB?

[SPazzo]

I haven't seen Piranha 2 so I'm not too sure.  But I DID see an interview with James Cameron and he was asked about what happened with Piranha 2.  I don't remember exactly what he said, but I think it would have answered your question.  Here's the interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQpDD6w6KOs

Sorry I couldn't have just posted the answer; no speakers.

[Torgo]

I've read in the past that he got fired after only 8 days of principle photography.  I've never heard an actual percentage about how much of the footage in the film is actually his.

[Frogger]

I've read in the past that he got fired after only 8 days of principle photography.  I've never heard an actual percentage about how much of the footage in the film is actually his.

As I have subjected myself to this crap, I would hazard the guess that its the main plot scenes of the story so about 10-40% of the film. So much padding.... There is one scene of 3 naked women on a boat while one of them reads a poem for over a minute... Why??? I don't know, they have 2 other scenes I can remember, the first was tricking a mentally handicapped man into getting them food and then the 3rd scene being eaten by killer fish.

Awful film. I would says its far worse than Troll 2 but I enjoyed troll 2. 

[lester1/2jr]

 I could have sworn there was a scene with a womans pubes in view.  it was on regular tv I was pretty shocked but maybe I imagined it

[Frogger]

I could have sworn there was a scene with a womans pubes in view.  it was on regular tv I was pretty shocked but maybe I imagined it

Think thats the random poem scene.

[Joe]

its been a long time since ive seen this. is there a particular scene where a couple of kids are looking around a lab or a port of some sort and there is a little red creature running around? idk if its a piranha 2 but i know its in the beginning of whatever movie. if its not i'm going to post this in what was that film.