Anybody Getting Tired of Extended Cuts? (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Skeen]

They went back and put out a widescreen "40 Year Old Virgin" a couple months afterwards. It's extremely hard to find in stores though, I had to order it online.

"Live Free Or Die Hard" has BOTH cuts on the widescreen disc, as it should. It was a mistake to insist this be rated PG-13, but that's what they did so I'm glad I get to see how that turned out while also getting to see how it might have been without that setback. I heard the Blu-Ray disc doesn't have the unrated cut because the quality of the source material wasn't good enough for it.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Director's Cut/Extended Cut, blah, blah, blah.

Purely marketing bulls**t.

Blues Brothers was ruined (Thank goodness they reconsidered and included the original in the re-issue). So were Stripes, That Thing You Do and Dune. Amadeus just got more boring. As overwhelming as the mini-series recut is, I'm just about ready to go back to the original theatrical cut of Das Boot. I'm torn over whether I would want a new cut of Blazing Saddles with the television trims put into the feature.

There are rare instances where I think artistic integrity was maintained and story flow improved. I prefer the following special edition cuts:
The Abyss
Aliens
Brazil (although I wish "My God - it works!" had stayed)
The Wicker Man (original British Lion cut)

I'm amazed that there is extended cut of Enemy Of The State while the BD release used the theatrical cut and kept all the supplements of the extended SD.

My most ironic purchase? I suckered myself into the 5-disc Blade Runner as most of the differences in Ridley's final cut (barring the narrative, unicorn, and Tyrell's death) are pretty subtle. (I'm going to get blasted for this, I'm sure). I bought the SD briefcase, and later picked up the cheap 5-disc BD package after acquiring a suitable player. And I'm not even a fanboy. I considered the briefcase a collectible.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Just wanted to add my two cents on a couple extended/director's cut titles that have been mentioned since my way overlong post ("poster's cut", anyone?).

Wasn't the original DVD of Dune non-anamorphic? Here was a chance for Universal to redo the original DVD, and give a bonus to some fans that had been very vocal about getting this extended TV version on DVD. I had heard at one point that Universal was talking with Lynch about him going back and making a true director-approved extended version, but for whatever reason, that didn't happen. I liked that I got to see the longer version. It's another one of those movies where I'm not completely in love with either cut. The theatrical is technically superior, and of course, if I could only have one version it would be that one. But some of the scenes in the extended version (if properly completed) would have been great to see in the film. I didn't read the book until way after I saw the movie, so when I say that the film felt like it was supposed to be an epic and fell short, it's not because of a bias from being a fan of the book. It's because it seems that the first two-thirds of the movie are about one thing, and then in the course of five minutes of screen time, they're like, "OK, now fast forward two years to the final battles." Had Lynch been able to craft a longer, more complete version with the best bits of footage in the extended version, there might finally be a version of the film that felt complete, that I could recommend without any kind of "but...." (If the "extended" version had been released as a solo DVD, and not on the same disc with the theatrical version, I probably wouldn't have bought it.)

I like the way this discussion is going and how we all seem to more or less be on the same page:
- extended cuts for the sake of extended cuts to sell more DVDs are obnoxious
- filmmakers holding back stuff on purpose to get a lower rating and being OK with the compromise because their true version will be on the unrated DVD, thus giving us a compromised theatrical experience, is not a practice we'd like to see encouraged
- extended versions or director's cuts done for films that for whatever reason couldn't be completed the way the filmmakers wanted (way too long for a general audience, fights between the studio and the director, having an alternate take on the film or wanting to expand the world of the characters within it) are pretty cool things to have, so long as the original versions remain in existence and easily accessible.

I like when studios do what New Line did for LOTR and said upfront, we're gonna put out a theatrical version in the spring/summer, and the extended version in the fall/winter, so it's coming if you want it. I like how the T2 Ultimate Edition gives you both versions. (I don't like that the "extreme" edition only has the longer version, and is the most commonly found version in stores.) Or how both Donnie Darkos can be gotten for cheap and both give you good value as far as bonus content.

Seamless branching was supposed to allow us to have these things, but it seems that whenever commerce comes up in a battle against what's the best solution for the consumer and filmmaker, commerce wins. It's not a surprise, of course, but it's unfortunate that we were sold on a technology that was going to give us this best of both worlds situation, and while the technology is there, few studios actually bother to use it. If anything, it's not that they forget to use it, it's that they intentionally don't so they can make extra money. It's not a surprise at all. Just annoying that they were all like, "Upgrade to DVD! We can give you multiple versions of the same movie on the same disc so you can have it all in one place" and then were like "...well, maybe not so much."

 

[SD_Brian]

This one hasn't been mentioned yet but it's another case where the "Special Edition"--You know, the one where they digitally replaced all the guns with walkie-talkies and re-inserted some deleted scenes that added nothing--absolutely ruined the movie. Plus, they took the iconic image of the bicycle in the moon and put it over the Universal Logo, apparently assuming that everyone in the audience had already seen the movie. Fortunately I was able to get the original 1982 release when it first came out on DVD but that is now out of print and the bastardized 2002 version is the only one out there. I'm surprised Universal let 2007 go by without doing a 25th anniversary re-release.

I could also go into the Star Wars special editions but I think enough internet bandwidth has already been dedicated to that particular discussion.

And, at the risk of encouraging Anchor Bay to do yet another release of an Evil Dead movie, the Director's Cut of "Army of Darkness" is significantly better than the theatrical version and, if they were one day able to clean it up so that it doesn't look like a bootleg, I would gladly rebuy it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

re: Donnie Darko

Seriously? That sucks. I remember when the original DVD came out that at first it was only going to have the newer version, and that you could only get the original by buying a lavish, expensive collector's edition set, and then Spielberg found out about that and demanded that the original version be included in the regular edition too. It seems unfortunate that something he apparently felt so strongly about back then has been forgotten or ignored since then. I've never seen the new version of E.T., and frankly, never want to.

Then again, didn't I just criticize someone for not wanting to see the DC of Donnie Darko for the same reason? Goes to show you what I know!

 

[SD_Brian]

Consider yourself lucky .

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I didn't say it was an accident that I missed it I saw the trailer and I was like, E.T. is supposed to be a rubbery puppet, not a gelatinous CGI blob!

 

[Ray_R]

Here're the Extended/Director's/Alternate Cuts I prefer. I'll keep this as a list. Going alphabetically, of course.

The Abyss
ALIENS
ALIEN³
Army of Darkness
Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des Loups)
Cop Land
Dances with Wolves (I'm gonna import the Korean release of the Theatrical for completists sake.)
The Frighteners
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
HellBoy
Highlander
Infernal Affairs
The Last of the Mohicans (I'm also going to purchase the Theatrical from DVDFromKorea.com Basically have a 2-disc thing with both cuts.)
LEGEND
Léon: The Professional (I already own three different releases of this. I'm looking for even more. Sans the US release version. Literally one of my all-time favourite films.)
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 3
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Punisher
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
RoboCop
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
STARGATE
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
TOMBSTONE

There're alot of other Extended/Director's/Alternate cuts of films in my collection of which I haven't gotten around to watching yet. With alot of what I own, I've seen the film in cinemas yet haven't watched the copy I bought. Anyone else have this issue? Regarding all of the Asian films I own/in my wishlist, I highly prefer the Uncut, Undubbed and Unrescored editions compared to alot of the crappy releases in Region 1 US. With a few minor exceptions for Dragon Dynasty, of which I'd own more for their extras compared to other factors. Same thing can be said for HKL, their extras are top-notch most of the time and the transfers leave alot to be desired.

 

[PaulDA]

Yes. There are probably 15 or so such discs on my shelf. Largely a time (or lack thereof) issue though. Oh well, some day...

 

[SD_Brian]

WRT: The Last of the Mohicans - The Director's Cut

While I do like this version better than the original, I sincerely hope Fox will one day release the theatrical cut on DVD. I miss that funky Clannad song which played over the search montage and all the hokey action-hero one liners ("Just dropped in to see how you boys was doin'!") that were excised from the DC.

I also wish George Lucas would see fit to release the original version of THX-1138 but I'm sure it "doesn't exist anymore" and is now an "Unmovie," to use some Orwellian newspeak.

 

[WillG]

The Extreme edition does contain the theatrical version. The option to view it is hidden as an easter egg (forgot exactly how to access it, but it shouldn't be hard to find out)

 

[SD_Brian]

Seems like a strange thing to make an Easter Egg... I can understand hiding a third version of the movie as an easter egg on the Ultimate Edition but to hide the theatrical cut? The mind boggles.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Yeah, wow... I had no idea. That's bloody ridiculous!

 

[Yee-Ming]

(spoilerized for those who haven't watched IA at all)

 

[Ray_R]

Dammit! I meant Infernal Affairs III! Not I! Just rechecked my DVD's and DVDCompare.net That's me for still being tired and not rethinking about that. I'd really like to get my hands on the complete 5 hour chronological cut 2-Disc of the Infernal Affairs trilogy. For some reason when I ordered through DDDHouse I only received IA I & II single disc but i got IA III 2-Disc. Guess I'll just buy the Limited Edition Trilogy set. Glad the Mega Star has full-bitrate DTS-ES 6.1 discrete though. Too bad the extras aren't subtitled.