# Best/Worst director's cuts, deleted scenes, alternate endings, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858 "2006-01-13T19:21:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/61 "2006-02-12T09:53:00Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Unfortunately, he sounds ludicrous to any Kiwi, since Tem used to play an idealistic surgeon in the long running Kiwi hospital soap Shortland St, and will always be fondly remembered for the line, "You’re not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata! [nitpicking hijack] I’m sure you’re aware of this but it’s not clear from your post - Tem Morrison wasn’t famous for that line, it was Lisa Crittenden. [/nitpicking hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/62 "2006-02-12T10:26:16Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > For the _Last of the Mohicans_ DVD, Michael Mann cut several of the most memorable scenes along with some of my favorite music from any film, ever. Nothing in particular was added. Total butchery, and the theatrical cut is not available on DVD in North America. Just what I was going to mention. With on exception: during the siege at the fort Duncan (the Brit. officer) gets to command some troops in the field and does a fine job of it. It was nice to see him as more than just a whiney officer 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/63 "2006-02-12T10:59:52Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > The imdb’s alternate version section just says “alternate ending.” How was the director’s cut darker? Personally, I found the alternate ending infinitely more depressing. He goes back to just before he was born, and strangles himself with the umbilical cord ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/64 "2006-02-12T11:31:45Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > All of the View Askew movies have deleted scenes that are, almost without exception, as entertaining as the movie itself. Does that include that pathetic, forced dreck that they cut out of Mallrats? It amazes me how they can reveal more about the friction between TS and Brandi’s dad just with the characters talking about it than that worthless scene that got cut from the beginning. It seemed to drag on for hours, and the movie was so much better without it. Likewise with the Clerks outtakes. That “debate” between Dante and Jay about the equivalence between drug dealers and convenience store clerks is the most egregious example. The film is would have lost so much had it kept the characters serving as mouthpieces for Kevin Smith’s pontificating. > [@Lightnin'](#): > > I’d tend to agree with you, except for the original ending of _Clerks_. While I can see, somehow, that ending the movie with Dante being killed kinda makes sense in the context of the movie, it would’ve been an incredible downer. Count me in too. The original ending is good in an artistic sense, but the ending in the final version with Soul Asylum in the background makes it seem much more like Dante had actually grown because of what happened that day. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/65 "2006-02-12T12:01:22Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Personally, I found the alternate ending infinitely more depressing. > > He goes back to just before he was born, and strangles himself with the umbilical cord I see, that would fit in with another deleted scene, where the mother tells Evan that she’d been pregnant three times before having him, which would imply that the others had all been born with the same condition, and had gone back and done the same thing. chilling ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/66 "2006-02-12T12:06:54Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > I saw the director’s cut of The Butterfly Effect on DVD and really liked it, especially the ending. It recently aired on HBO, so I made Mr. singular watch it with me. I was shocked at the theatrical cut - was a wimpy, watered-down ending! Ruined the movie for me! Yes, thank you very much, that’s what I came in here to say. I own the Collector’s Edition DVD, and watched it alone in the director’s cut (not knowing it was, in fact, the director’s cut). Loved it – just the right kind of ending to a seriously complicated situation. Then I told my girlfriend we needed to watch it. Got to the end, and suddenly there’s this whole different ending. I was literally screaming at the screen, “that’s not how it ends!”. Girlfriend considered me a freak, having never seen the DC, and didn’t think it was all that great when I explained it to her… ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/67 "2006-02-12T13:09:05Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > That’s cos’ he is now: they went back and Tem Morrison, who being Maori is about as NZ as you can get, re-voiced his lines. > > Unfortunately, he sounds ludicrous to any Kiwi, since Tem used to play an idealistic surgeon in the long running Kiwi hospital soap Shortland St, and will always be fondly remembered for the line, "You’re not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata! > > That and his truly scary turn as the abusive husband Jake in _Once Were Warriors_ guaranteed that whenever he turned up onscreen in Star Wars here, he was greeted with hoots of “You’re not in Guatemala now!” and “Trouble with you Jedi is you’re too damn lippy!” …you gotta admit, its pretty cool to think that the bad-ass soldiers of the Star Wars universe were actually the Maori Battalion!!! (Not to mention Nathaniel Lees and Rene Naufahu defending Zion at the Matrix, and the real NZ Army running rampage over Mordor!) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/68 "2006-02-12T13:30:31Z")
> [@Fabulous Creature](#): > > Worst deleted scenes have to be practically everything they added to the extended addition of _Return of the King_. I hated the theatrical version, but I rented the extended edition in the frail hope that the pacing, story logic, et cetera might improve in the EE. > > I was wrong. And now I am left with recurring nightmares inspired by Peter Jackson’s over-literal interpretation of the Mouth of Sauron. PJ’s gonna be the first one they put against the wall when the revolution comes. :rolleyes: The ED of ROTK was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/69 "2006-02-12T13:31:58Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > I also was disappointed by the _Blade Runner_ recut. I thought the voice-over helped the story, the unicorn dream doesn’t add anything especially insightful, and the so-called “happy” ending _doesn’t_ feel tacked on (it’s perfectly foreshadowed by Rachel’s’ earlier line: “What if I want away, went North?”). Cutting the ending and simply having Rachel and Deckard get into the elevator leaves the film without an ending at all. > > The “happiness” some might object to is the idea that Rachel doesn’t have a limited four-year lifespan. I don’t understand why she _would_. The Nexus-6 replicants were designed to kick after four years because it was anticipated that they might start to form their own (possibly unpredictable) emotional responses. Rachel, by having memory implants copied from from a human presumably selected for her emotional stability (in addition to being the CEO’s niece), has no such potential problem and no need for the four-year failsafe. > > Granted, it’s _explained_ in a clumsy manner (“Oh, by the way, Tyrell said she’s okay”) but that suggests to me a flaw in the original script. Speaking of which, the director’s cut _didn’t_ address the “missing replicant” issue, where six fugitives somehow become five, one of whom is dead before the movie starts. I totally agree. I much preferred the theatrical cut of Blade Runner. I wish someone would release it on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/70 "2006-02-12T13:41:35Z")
The director’s cut of _Donnie Darko_ seemed to be a dumbed down version made for people who didn’t want to have to work out what was happening. I may however be deceived because I saw it years after I saw the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/71 "2006-02-12T17:03:39Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > The director’s cut of _Donnie Darko_ seemed to be a dumbed down version made for people who didn’t want to have to work out what was happening. I may however be deceived because I saw it years after I saw the movie. Well, it adds in several key pieces of information; I wouldn’t call it “dumbed down,” save for the couple of annoying v.o.s by Frank informing Donnie (and the audience) to “pay attention.” They added in a great scene with the father (totall sloshed), telling Donnie how he’s not crazy and everybody else is just afraid that he’s going to call them on their bullshit. I loved the parents; the father has some of the best lines in the film; “They better not fuck us on the shingle match,” nearly brings tears to my eyes. And the opening lines–“I’m voting for Dukakis,”–are classic. I sure wish Kelly had cut out Drew Barrymore’s grating, semi-literate teacher character out of the Director’s Cut entirely, though. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/72 "2006-02-12T23:28:41Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > As far as the most disappointing “Director’s cut”, I nominate **Apocalypse Now Redux**. I enjoyed the extra Kilgore scenes; as for the rest, as “Chef” said, “Never get out of the boat!” The scenes with the Playboy girls and the French plantation owners destroyed the flow of the film I had grown to love, IMHO. Man, I hated _Redux_… especially the Kilgore scenes. His character was changed from the epic “monster” that he was in the original into a laughing stock. Terrible. Clean’s funeral, and a couple of shots of the boat going up the river were the only parts I didn’t have a problem with. As for one I liked… the (in character) commentary by the surviving members of Spinal Tap is the best part of the bonus features. It’s like getting to watch the film all over again. ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/73 "2006-02-13T00:32:41Z")
I agree with everything that’s been said (numerous times in many threads) about **Star Wars** ; [Han shot first, damnit](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4970281608618831020)! I’ve seen the extended version of **Terminator 2** and I definitely prefer it over the original. Now I want to go watch it again. Personally, I like the theatrical ending for **Butterfly Effect** way more than the director’s cut. Yeah, it’s a happy Hollywood ending, but that’s just what the movie needed if you ask me. The other one is just depressing, and strangely goofy at the same time. If you watch the extra stuff on the DVD for **The Cell** , it has some cool scenes that were cut. There’s one great animation that was half-completed where it transitions from a dog, in real life, to the dream world inside the Carl’s mind. It starts with the dog’s face, then it turns sideways and starts getting closer, and then you realize that it is in fact an island that looks like half of a dog, reflected in the water. It zooms in on the scene until you can see Carl walking up to a little house. They also changed a plot point to avoid controversy that would’ve tied a few more things together. There’s a scene in the movie where Vince Vaughn’s character goes inside Carl’s mind and finds Catherine (Jennifer Lopez) in a sort of brainwashed/hypnotised state. In the theatrical version, he gets her to snap out of it by talking about her brother who was killed in a car accident or something (I don’t remember the exact details.) In the director’s commentary, they mention that in the original script, what he actually says is that she had an _abortion_. This was deemed too controversial for the movie, but I think it makes the movie more symbolic (even if it’s Hollywood pseudo-symbolism); The scene at the very end of the movie is reminiscent of Carl’s baptism, the bird that he drowned to “save” it, the fate of his murder victims, and finally it also ties in with the abortion theme. I think it was an interesting cut. Oh yeah, the new song they put in the “Special Edition” DVD for **The Lion King** sucks. (Does that count as a director’s cut?) If they were going to make an extended version, what they should have done is made a secondary audio track with Jonathan Taylor Thomas doing the voice for adult Simba. That would’ve been so cool. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/74 "2006-02-13T01:22:23Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > The director’s cut of _Donnie Darko_ seemed to be a dumbed down version made for people who didn’t want to have to work out what was happening. I may however be deceived because I saw it years after I saw the movie. What I didn’t like in that version is how they replaced The Killing Moon in the beginning to something else and put a little TKM in later instead. The Killing Moon is the perfect song to start the movie on. ---
**Author:** ![\_Ava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/43a26b/32.png) [@\_Ava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Ava)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/75 "2006-02-13T04:00:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’ve seen almost all the “director’s cuts” mentioned so far; in every case I thought the “Director’s cut” was a substantially inferior version of the movie than the theatrical release. I’ve NEVER seen a “director’s cut” that was better than the released movie. > > I didn’t even like the “Aliens” recut; much of the added footage was unnecessary setup and simply made it take too long to get to the meat of the film. Adding scenes of the colony before the Marines arrive also took away a lot of the tension and mystery of seeing it for the first time through Ripley/the marines’ eyes.It’s a useless, poorly shot scene. I agree. I think that directors cuts prove that directors often need to be reigned in. I hated the Aliens movie with extra footage for the reasons you gave. The theatrical version was just perfect. The only director’s cut I can think of that is an improvement is Almost Famous. It slows down the plot in a few spots, and the extra scenes add nothing to the story, but I wanted to spend more time with those characters. In the commentary, Cameron Crowe said that for the theatrical version, the feeling was that it took too long to get the kid on tour and so early background scenes were cut. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/76 "2006-03-13T15:50:54Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I have always had a big issue with the Directors cut of **Blade Runner**. Ridley Scott always harped about how truly awful and horrifying it was to have the disgusting, revolting, utterly meritless voice-over by the title character. The problem is that he’s wrong. I LIKED the narration. It gave the movie a retro-noir feel that really complemented the dirty, grimy atmosphere of the flick. Decker was a blank, featureless character at best. With the voice-over, you at least got to hear some of his views and get a little depth out of him. You tell 'em! I’ve always thought that, too, but am resigned to being in the minority on this point. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/77 "2006-03-13T18:31:06Z")
I have a nominee for worst which is a little more obscure than the often debated Blade Runner and Star Wars cuts. In the deleted scenes of _We Were Soldiers Once_ there is a scene of some of the lower enlisted guys at a cookout discussing the new Sergeant Major. [spoiler] They are standing around talking and someone asks if anyone knows anything about SGM Plumley (Sam Elliot). One of them goes into a story about his old platoon sergeant. You seen the flashback with a voiceover by the soldier. The platoon gets a brand new LT who demands a dress uniform inspection with all awards displayed. The platoon sergeant is a scarred WWII vet who doesn’t look impressed with the LT. The scene switches to the inspection with everyone in formation. The LT gets to the Platoon SGT and sees he is not wearing any decorations. The LT yells at him and demands he return with all his awards. The SGT returns completely naked except for two Medals of Honor around his neck. The LT crisply comes to attention and salutes the SGT then dismisses the men. The punchline: “So what does that have to do with the new Sergeant MAjor?” “SGT Wossname was scared shitless of SGM Plumley.” Film cuts to a scene that was left in. Smiling SGT: Good morning Sergeant Major! SGM: Whats so fucking good about it? Damn good reason why this scene was deleted. It just doesn’t work. Sam Elliot’s acting is enough to show what a hardass he is no need for this scene. What really took me out of the scene is the two Medals of Honor. The last double winners were from WWI and they were Marines. I could see a soldier telling a story like that but everyone around him would have called bullshit. The way it was shot it was shown as what really happened, not just a story. It certainly doesn’t work in a movie that is supposed to be a true story. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858/78 "2006-03-13T18:58:35Z")
It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it, but I remember how excited I was when I saw the Director’s Cut of _Dune_. “Now,” I thought, “I’ll see David Lynch’s true vision before it was prostituted.” Man. I hate to say it, but I thought the theatrical release was about as good as they could have edited it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-directors-cuts-deleted-scenes-alternate-endings-etc/339858.md?page=3)