Films with a better cut available (directors or otherwise)

[FAST6191]

Many years ago when I was first learning to edit/recode video I restored a bunch of deleted scenes from Queen of the Damned and the film made more sense than the original. Ever since I have been looking to track down better versions of films and/or making them myself.
I do however usually only see the theatrical/TV version of a release which potentially means I am missing out on things.

So having participated in similar exercises over the years at GBAtemp I thought I would kick off a film/TV show version.

Alas I have to go out right now so I can not spend the next 20 minutes writing up some ones to kick the thread off, when I get back and I find some time I will edit it.

While simple things like 5.1 audio in place of stereo, remastered and "widescreen" releases in place of full screen do count here I was aiming more for different versions/cuts/uncensored. If it is in one of the former categories but it is of note please say so however (some of the remastered hong kong films of the 70s I have seen are far better than anything from around the time).
Also if people decide to start on this path I am more than happy to serve up guides on how to do it and avisynth scripts.

Finally I have yet to make a version of Judge Dredd where he keeps his mask on the entire film but rest assured I will someday.

 

[TrolleyDave]

Army Of Darkness had 3 different cuts.

- There was the original festival cut that Sam Raimi showed which had more emphasis on fantasy and humour.
- Then there was the studio cinema version which changed the ending and removed about 15 minutes of the film.
- And finally there was the "directors cut" released in DVD which restored the endin and about 13 of the the original 15 minutes removed. It's the closest anyone will get to the festival cut without knowing someone who was a pirate at the time.

For anyone looking for it on DVD the Hong Kong region 3 version is the best. It's a proper transfer in it's original aspect ration, whereas all the R1/R2 releases have a really crappy transfer with a bootleggy looking picture that's in an incorrect AR.

I'll throw in some more info on other films later, just woke up and need a brew!

 

[Killermech]

I am legend has two endings.. The sad (

) one which was the original theatrical version and the happy one.

I think blade runner is the one with the most different versions out there though. Would take you like a week to watch them all

 

[PyroJames]

Leon/The Professional (Luc Besson, Jean Reno, Natalie Portman) also has a better director's cut which restores 23 minutes removed from the theatrical version. I first saw the theatrical version but then picked up the "International Uncut Version" and it was like watching the movie for the first time all over again. Apparently the International edition was only released in Japan during the theatrical run but then made it's way to DVD re-releases.

 

[granville]

Pretty sure Superman 2 had several cuts. But I'm not sure which is considered the best (or even which one I saw). One cut is referred to as "The Richard Donner Cut". Like I said, no idea which version I saw, but the Richard Donner cut was said to have TONS of new footage.

And there was this Disney suspense live action movie from the 1980's called Watcher in the Woods. I have a soft spot for it, but the theatrical cut has a horrendous ending. The audience hated it so much that Disney reshot the end and made it much better.

 

[laminaatplaat]

I'm not sure if this counts too....

The Phantom Edit is a fan edit of the first episode in the star wars series.

There is also a re-cut of Memento where the film was placed in chronological order, this was a hidden(?) feature on the Memento dvd.

 

[layzieyez]

Dune has a 3 Hour Cut that was originally aired on TV then buried and denied for years. It is out on DVD. I prefer it over the original and is worth at least a watch if you're a fan of the original or the books.

 

[TrolleyDave]

Pretty sure Superman 2 had several cuts. But I'm not sure which is considered the best (or even which one I saw). One cut is referred to as "The Richard Donner Cut".

I've got the Richard Donner Cut, even though it's basically strung together from rehearsal takes, finished takes and takes from the proper movie it's pretty good. You have to be prepared to see people looking different between scenes (and in some cases during

) it shows you what Donner had planned and it was damned good too. There's a bunch of stuff with Zod and his gang that was't in the theatrical cut. If you haven't seen it and you're a fan of the old Superman movies it's a must watch.

Anyway, back on topic (sorry FAST mate) :

Halloween also had two cuts. One was the theatrical cut which omitted some story but had all the violence in it and the TV version which omitted alot of the violence but introduced around 10-15 minutes more story. In all honesty I prefer the TV version, it's the only time I prefer the TV version.

The way it was recut (by Carpenter himself if I remember right) made it alot more suspenseful and added alot to the Dr. Loomis character.

 

[Szyslak]

Good idea FAST. There are a couple that stand out for me.

I think all the Lord of the Rings extended versions are better than the theatrical versions, but especially Return of the King. Gives you more of the necessary story. Now if they would just release a version without all that "Oh Sam

, Oh Frodo

" crap, it'd be 100 times better.

If you've never seen the director's cut of The Abyss, it's definitely worth a watch. I personally think it's much better that the theatric version.

Coppola is a mixed bag for me. I'm of the opinion that Apocalypse Now - Redux never should have happened, but the director's cut of The Outsiders was much more true to the book. I'd watch that again soon if I could get over Ralph Macchio's hack job. He's just always ruined that for me as a top-tier movie.

I'll have to think about a few more of my favorites. Great topic.

 

[granville]

Pretty sure Superman 2 had several cuts. But I'm not sure which is considered the best (or even which one I saw). One cut is referred to as "The Richard Donner Cut".

I've got the Richard Donner Cut, even though it's basically strung together from rehearsal takes, finished takes and takes from the proper movie it's pretty good. You have to be prepared to see people looking different between scenes (and in some cases during

) it shows you what Donner had planned and it was damned good too. There's a bunch of stuff with Zod and his gang that was't in the theatrical cut. If you haven't seen it and you're a fan of the old Superman movies it's a must watch.

Anyway, back on topic (sorry FAST mate) :

Halloween also had two cuts. One was the theatrical cut which omitted some story but had all the violence in it and the TV version which omitted alot of the violence but introduced around 10-15 minutes more story. In all honesty I prefer the TV version, it's the only time I prefer the TV version.

The way it was recut (by Carpenter himself if I remember right) made it alot more suspenseful and added alot to the Dr. Loomis character.

And speaking of Halloween, there was another last scene in Halloween 2 where Laurie is in the ambulance and her "boyfriend" (forgot his name) suddenly resurfaces on the stretcher next to her. I think it was a TV special and they wanted it to have a happily ever after ending or something.

 

[jaxxster]

apocolaypse now re-dux.

 

[FAST6191]

Nice replies thus far people.

@TrolleyDave your Army of Darkness comment the other day is what kicked this off in my head. "Horror" films are good for that as changing a couple of scenes can easily change the film, this being said the European releases of such films are usually what I would consider the "best" so I perhaps do not get to experience it is much as I might.

@Killermech it took me about a week to watch Blade Runner, ultimately I dislike it but I can see how people do like it.

@PyroJames I read the book originally and the themes were much darker, I will have to chase down that version though as I mainly see the TV version.

@laminaatplaat I saw a few of those when I was searching for stuff one day but I never saw them yet. Reading the NFO though was enlightening and I really should have grabbed it.

@layzieyez I really like Dune but I hear there are many versions. One day I do hope the 6 hour version turns out to be real and not legend as it would make a nice miniseries. Also I highly recommend the Children of Dune TV miniseries, sure leto II and Ghanima are teenagers but I really liked it.

@Szyslak I will have to check out the Lord of the Rings cuts you mention, I really like fantasy films but I could not get along with those. Then again I could not get along with the books (I know it was the first but every that follows builds upon it).

@"apocolaypse now" I have yet to see any version of it but it looks like I will grab a few.


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Also I highly suggest listening/reading the directors commentary a few times if you plan on recutting a film yourself, assuming you do not get the "we had so much fun making this" line too often some valuable insights can be had.

 

[TrolleyDave]

@TrolleyDave your Army of Darkness comment the other day is what kicked this off in my head. "Horror" films are good for that as changing a couple of scenes can easily change the film, this being said the European releases of such films are usually what I would consider the "best" so I perhaps do not get to experience it is much as I might.

Gotta agree with you about Euro releases usually being the best for horror. The BBFC ain't been as bad for being scissor happy since Ferman left but they're still pretty bad. I tend to try to import stuff from Holland when I can (horror-wise anyway), simply cos they're the most lax with the bannings and censorship. I know alot of people import from the US but the problem is the studios tend to change scenes around because the US viewers might not "get" it. I'll list some of the films after.

The Army Of Darkness R3 is a bit of a weird one though. It's an offical MGM release but you can blatantly tell it's been telecined from the old fesival print and there's a few seconds missing here and there (from print damage probably). The R1/R2 release are blatantly from old bootleg videos though. They're not the correct AR, you can literally see tracking errors and shadowing. Not really sure why they chose to do it that way. It's also pretty surprising how good the print is on the R3 AoD when you know how badly the Chinese treat old film reels!

Usually though the Dutch R2 releases are the ones you want to watch for euro-horror on DVD. It's where alot of my horror collection, specially the Argento stuff, has come from. Even some of the US Troma movies you're better off getting the Dutch release. For a couple of years they were the only ones who sold Toxic Avenger 1 fully uncut. Troma have released a fully uncut R1 now though, I guess they were losing sales to the Dutch version or something.

Sorry to babble on! I'm really heavily into this stuff. Do you read books on this stuff at all? If you're interested in the history of different horror versions there's an excellent book called The Slaughter of the Lambs that goes really into details about the BBFC bannings, the underground market it created and the different cuts of horror films from around the world. (I'm starting to feel all nostalgiac now!)

I'll try adding a few of them in the thread that I know of. The one I really wish they would release on DVD is the directors cut of The Lawnmower Man. It only ever came out on US laserdisc. I've still got my old bootleg video of it but it's 10 years old now and it'd be nice to replace it. It changes it from "meh" to "damn that was a fantastic film".

@"apocolaypse now" I have yet to see any version of it but it looks like I will grab a few.

If you haven't seen any of them watch the original first if you can. Redux changes the tone of the film completely and adds in alot of pointless unnecessary stuff. AN is one of my ex-girlfriends favourite movies, she even wrote a uni paper on it, but she abolutely refuses to watch Redux again because she says it destroys the flow and the point of the movie. Also try to check out Hearts Of Darkness if you can. It's a doco on the making of the movie and all the shit that everyone went through.

QUOTE

Also I highly suggest listening/reading the directors commentary a few times if you plan on recutting a film yourself, assuming you do not get the "we had so much fun making this" line too often some valuable insights can be had.

That's what made me fall in love with DVD. To be honest I always enjoyed the look of video. For some films the increased sharpness of DVD can spoil the look but the commentary can add so much. For a good example of how DVD can actually ruin the look of a movie watch a video of The Exorcist and then watch the DVD version. There's an air about the video version that just doesn't transfer over to DVD well.

Anyway, sorry to go on for so long!

Here's some actual on-topic stuff! lol

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Dario Argento's Phenomenon - It was released in the US/UK as the move Creepers. The Euro release, which was called Phenomenon, has an extra 20 or 25 minutes in it and the US/UK version also move some scenes around to make it "more undertandable". It doesn't actually make it more understandable, they cut out alot of the key plot elements and character development so that it has a more mainstream horror feel about it. It literally is like watching a different movie.

The Lawnmower Man Directors Cut - This is a rare beast, only available on US laserdisc. It adds another 40 minutes to the film and some of the scenes are in a different order. It adds alot more character development for Jobe, including a scene which explains why he goes so crazy. If they'd have released this version it would have been a massive success, instead of being the only movie in history where Stephen King threatened to sue if they didn't remove his credit!

Ong Bak - Get the region 3 of this if you can. It doesn't come with English sub-titles though so if you buy it you basically have to mpeg4 it and download some custom subs. The rest of them are the Luc Besson version. In the R3 there's actually a plot with some character development (not alot mind!) which Luc Besson chose to chop out in order to make it a more actiony type movie. Besson also removed the original Thai music track and replaced it with Euro-poppy style music. The Western version, while still watchable, just isn't as good of a movie.

Last House On The Left - Banned for a long time in the UK and still pretty heavily censored. It's a great revenge movie, a little cold and disturbing for some but it's the point of the movie. The UK version has removed some of the more aggressive parts of the killers treatment of the 2 girls they've kidnapped, and they've even removed some scenes that weren't violent at all. It's a bit of a weird one. It's also pretty hard to find fully uncut. Everyone back in the day went for the Euro release like usual but it's actually the Canadian video print (the DVD version is a reproduction of the US one) you want to watch if you can find it. It has 3 minutes in it that have been removed from every single other version on the planet, including the infamous"Krug Was Here" scene (if you know about the movie you'll understand what I mean!).

Hard Boiled - A really popular movie and the one that really introduced most Western viewers to Woo and the HK Bullet Ballet film genre. It's a little known fact though that there's actually 2 versions of this in existence. There's the one that most people have seen and there's the little gem most fans refer to as the Taiwan version. The Taiwan version adds several scenes that give more depth to Chow Yun Fats character, as well as restoring some violence. One of the most noticable extra bits is during the warehouse scene. Instead of CYF suddenly appearing you actually see him breaking into the warehouse. It's only about a minute or so of extra footage in that scene but it adds alot to the suspense. The Hospital scene is also in a different order, as are a few other scenes. The problem with this version though is the print. It's taken from a video relase and it shows. The subtitles are burnt in and can be hard to read during some scenes. Then there's also the 5 minutes of black screen in the middle of it. The print was taken from video like I said, but it was originally released in Taiwan on 2 tapes. One tape with the first half of the movie and the second half on another tape. Unfortunately when they were transferring it to the DVD master someone obviously forgot to pause it while they changed the tape over! For picture quality pick the Mei Am R3 release (more uncut that R1/R2) but if you want to enjoy the full version you'll need to see the Taiwanese Long Shong Int. disc.

If you don't mind me making posts about the most fully uncut versions of films I'm full of that kind of knowledge from my old tape swapping days.