I prefer the theatrical ending of Army of Darkness.
Most movies are cut from their theatrical releases to fit into the two-hour time slot for television broadcast. Superman had extra scenes added back in to expand its run time to three hours. Just about every scene is an improvement. Most memorable is the scene in which Superman drills into Lex’s underground lair. In the theatrical version, Superman spins, acting as a drill, and disappears into the sidewalk. The next scene has him breaking down the steel door. In the expanded version, he goes through a series of rooms, one set up with machine guns, a second with blowtorches, and a third that freezes him. This makes much more sense from Lex’s pov, having a series of booby traps to kill intruders and test Superman.
In What Dreams May Come:
[spoiler]Robin Williams has just rescued his wife from hell (literally) where she otherwise would have spent eternity for having killed herself. She’s offered the chance to go back to earth to make amends and heal her soul, which she agrees to do. Williams wants to go back and be with her. This is where the two endings diverge.
Theatrical: Two young children are playing with their boats in a lake, where they bump into each other, a recreation of their meeting in their first lives as adults.
Original: Their guide tells them he anticipated this, and there is a way, but it involves some sacrifice. She will be reborn to a poor family in a south Asian country, taking the place of a girl destined to die at birth. She’ll be beautiful and loved, but will suffer from a life-long sleep disorder (her pennance for committing suicide, I assume). He’ll be reborn an American man who goes there as a relief worker, and will fall in love with her and they’ll once again be married. His love will enable her to bear the disorder from which she suffers, but she will eventually die in his arms a young woman. He’ll live to be an old man, always lonely for the one true love he lost in his youth. (“I’ll have time to read,”) he jokes. We fad in on a young Indian woman giving a difficult birth. The doctor looks worried, and the baby doesn’t appear to be breathing. Finally, the baby comes to life and begins to cry (her soul entering the baby, I assume).[/spoiler]
The original ending is much more appropriate to the journey these two have made so far in the movie; the theatrical ending makes it seem as if they’ll have it easy the second time around, which undermines the point being made. I read one comment that the filmmakers thought the original might provoke protest among one side or the other in the abortion debate, and they wanted to avoid any possible controversy, though I don’t recall which side was supposed to be offended and can’t see any connection myself.
Roland: Could you go into more detail? Put it in a spoiler box if you need to. I haven’t seen Vanilla Sky, but I’m a big fan of the original Spanish version and I’m curious to compare the ending you describe to that one. The Spanish version ends with
The official at the memory bank explaining that the vr was distorted by his guilt, which was why things went wrong so badly. He then offers the protagonist a choice between waking up to the real world, or trying again with the computer simulation, but with a warning that until he deals with his guilt and depression the results might be the same as before. He chooses to wake up to the real world, and the movie closes with a woman’s voice saying “Open your eyes” over a dark screen. We don’t see what he wakes up to.