# Director's Cuts, Long Versions - are any truly Better Movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072 "2015-08-27T15:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/61 "2015-08-28T15:11:49Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I think some (many?) Director’s Cuts are better only after you’ve seen the original version. “Aliens” is a great example. The cuts made in editing make a lot of sense. They don’t add that much to the movie (on first viewing) and greatly increase the length. However, after watching the movie, and enjoying / loving the movie getting to see some extra footage that provide some extra depth is great. Again, with “Aliens” the scene where Ripley finds out about her daughter is wonderful, but wonderful only because I’ve already seen the movie and I’m ok with spending a little bit of extra time with a movie I already know I’m going to love. If I were showing somebody “Aliens” for the first time, it would be the theatrical cut. I agree with that - it’s how I feel about the LoTR extended editions. They are wonderful if you have seen the movies already and like them - you get to spend more time in Middle-Earth, which is great. There are some movies, however, where the longer version substantially changes the tone of the movie as a whole (for good or bad). My favorite example, mentioned in the OP, is the “international version” of _Leon: The Professional_. This is a substantially different movie from the shorter theatrical release. Allegedly, American test audiences reacted badly to the tone of certain scenes - in particular, they thought they made the 12 year old girl protagonist out to be more of a sociopath, and worse, added an unwelcome amount of sexuality (she propositions an adult)- and so they were cut. However, that changed the movie considerably - most who have seen it think the longer version is better, though of course, much more disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/62 "2015-08-28T15:49:47Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > While I don’t mind cursing (note my mention of Natural Born Killers above) would Casablanca have been bettervhad Bogie told Bergman ‘Fuck that useless cocksucker you are married to and keep yo ass with me?’ I have absolutely no idea why you think this question needed to be asked or has any bearing on what I wrote. Since you quoted my post and appear to be asking me the question directly, I’m replying, but really, I have no idea why you think your question has any relevance at all. I’ll try and answer, tho: if _Casablanca_ had originaly contained lots of cursing, then yes, editing it out would make it a worse film. _Bad News Bears_ is a worse film after being edited/censored for TV. _Pulp Fiction_ is a worse film after going thru the same revisions. Harvey Keitel’s _Bad Lieutenant_ would barely even be a film if all possibly objectionable material were edited out or “cleaned up”. Do you disagree that artwork that is altered by a 3rd party after publication is a lesser piece of art than the original? ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/63 "2015-08-28T16:51:57Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > I’m not necessarily opposed to voiceovers in principle (despite the maxim Show-not-Tell), but Harrison Ford’s delivery of these lines has to be perhaps the worst voiceover acting I’ve ever heard in a motion picture. It’s execrable, and throws the tone of the film off completely. Whatever character insight is gained from the words is vastly overshadowed with the horrible way they’re conveyed. I have and watched the 5 disc anniversary limited box thing of BladeRunner and you should hear the ending voice overs they didnt go with. They were awful and the delivery was incredibad. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/64 "2015-08-28T16:55:04Z")
The ones I can think of offhand: **Copland** , with about 15-20 more minutes of slight exposition that really does help the film flow along. It’s longer but now it feels shorter than the original. Way better than the original cut, which looked rushed. **The Outsiders** , I think again, Coppola added a good 20 minutes, but deleted his father’s score. I know people who disagree with this but I actually liked the period music better than what was there before. **Alexander Revisited**. Oliver Stone mistakenly mis-cast Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie in this flick, and realistically it should have been given the “I, Claudius” treatment and spread out over a season or four. It’s the best of the versions out there, but it’s still not great. I think this version adds something like 45 minutes to it. Apparently there is a 6 hour version of the infamous Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor that I think would be worth seeing. Ditto about the 2.5 hour cut of “The Breakfast Club” that only John Hughes’ widow has probably seen at this point. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/65 "2015-08-28T20:20:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I have absolutely no idea why you think this question needed to be asked or has any bearing on what I wrote. Since you quoted my post and appear to be asking me the question directly, I’m replying, but really, I have no idea why you think your question has any relevance at all. > > I’ll try and answer, tho: if _Casablanca_ had originaly contained lots of cursing, then yes, editing it out would make it a worse film. _Bad News Bears_ is a worse film after being edited/censored for TV. _Pulp Fiction_ is a worse film after going thru the same revisions. Harvey Keitel’s _Bad Lieutenant_ would barely even be a film if all possibly objectionable material were edited out or “cleaned up”. > > Do you disagree that artwork that is altered by a 3rd party after publication is a lesser piece of art than the original? Sometimes. What is good or bad about art is the art; not the prurient nonsense they add to make it more :edgy’. And most films aren’t art. They are mass marketed and targeted to certain demographics. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/66 "2015-08-28T22:48:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The director’s cut of Almost Famous added some scenes of a younger William Miller, in which he learns that he’s actually two years younger than his classmates (his mother having faked his age so that he could advance in school). Isn’t that scene in the theatrical version? While memory can be faulty, I remember this scene – I even remember discussing it with the person I saw the movie with in the theater – and I don’t think I’ve even seen the director’s cut. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/67 "2015-08-28T23:13:48Z")
I watched the extended version of _Apocalypse Now_ and was bored to tears by the added crap that did nothing for the movie but drag it like an anchor. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/68 "2015-08-29T04:54:21Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Sometimes. What is good or bad about art is the art; not the prurient nonsense they add to make it more :edgy’. And most films aren’t art. They are mass marketed and targeted to certain demographics. :rolleyes: Okay, thanks for playing. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/69 "2015-08-29T17:01:32Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I watched the extended version of _Apocalypse Now_ and was bored to tears by the added crap that did nothing for the movie but drag it like an anchor. 100% agree. The original cut was far better. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/70 "2015-08-29T17:43:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > The director’s cut of **Dark City** that removes the opening narration ( scene starts with the protagonist in the tub ) vastly improves on the theatrical version with just that one minor change. Agreed 100%. I also loved that movie and think it’s only forgotten because of its proximity and similarity to the Matrix. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/71 "2015-08-29T18:24:26Z")
My taste includes both director cuts _and_ theatrical releases. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/72 "2015-08-29T18:42:43Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I watched the extended version of _Apocalypse Now_ and was bored to tears by the added crap that did nothing for the movie but drag it like an anchor. Indeed. That was the long version that really drove it home to me why stuff ends up on the cutting-room floor. I gave up on extended versions after that. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/73 "2015-08-29T20:42:33Z")
Never saw it, but I grew bored just reading about it. French plantation, something something? It sounded snoretastic. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/74 "2015-08-29T22:54:39Z")
A few people have already mentioned the extended versions of The Hobbit films positively. I’d agree with them - it turns them from fairly bloated snippets of the book to being far more focussed on being a prequel that connects to and complements the Lord Of the Rings trilogy. Things like the growing presence of evil in the land, the wizards as active maintainers of the peace and so on are much more coherently told. Also one not mentioned by others. This is Spinal Tap has an extended version, not sure if its a directors cut. Includes mainly less gaggy material. Its all perfectly cromulent though, but makes for a much more comically dark tone to the movie. Enjoyed it but not sure it served the purpose of the joke as well as the short version. Worth watching for comparison. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/75 "2015-08-30T00:00:35Z")
Apocalypse Now had the worst extended version. The movie was long enough where it was, the scenes on the cutting room floor deserved to be there: The French colonials, the Bunny sex scenes, and the surfboard chase added nothing to the movie. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/76 "2015-08-30T00:24:54Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Apocalypse Now had the worst extended version. The movie was long enough where it was, the scenes on the cutting room floor deserved to be there: The French colonials, the Bunny sex scenes, and the surfboard chase added nothing to the movie. I liked (or did not mind) the extra footage, except for the French plantation sequence. That was a 20 minute detour that, while somewhat interesting, really ground the movie to a halt. The good thing is that you can just fast forward through that whole section and nothing of the movie is lost. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/77 "2015-08-30T00:42:25Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > I liked (or did not mind) the extra footage, except for the French plantation sequence. That was a 20 minute detour that, while somewhat interesting, really ground the movie to a halt. The good thing is that you can just fast forward through that whole section and nothing of the movie is lost. The surfboard search was almost as bad as the plantation sequence. Or maybe even worse. It started tipping the movie into farcical territory. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/78 "2015-08-30T01:24:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Apocalypse Now had the worst extended version. The movie was long enough where it was, the scenes on the cutting room floor deserved to be there: The French colonials, the Bunny sex scenes, and the surfboard chase added nothing to the movie. Add me to those who agree the scene with the French colonials brought the movie to a dead stop. I didn’t mind the second scene with the Playboy Bunnies but that it was a needless diversion from the main plot involving Willard to focus on the characters of Chef and Lance. I also appreciated the fact that Coppola was trying to present the two Bunnies (Colleen Camp and I forget the name of the actress who played the freaked out one) as real human beings rather than sex automatons. Still, the whole scene belonged in another movie. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/79 "2015-08-30T01:36:09Z")
Huh. I kinda’ liked the French Plantation scene. It was a nod to the start of the whole problem and brought to the fore how moronic colonizers could be. Plus it added another surreal scene. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072/80 "2015-08-30T02:08:58Z")
I’ll vote for the LOtR movies also. The extended versions added some important scenes (for the readers of the books) which were filmed but not included in the theatrical release. For instance, the gift giving scene in The Fellowship explained the possession of a number of items, used later, which were not explained (or glossed over) in the theatrical release. Unfortunately, the one scene that I was most looking forward to was apparently never filmed; the Hobbits frolicking nude in the meadow after meeting Tom Bombadil. Bob [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-cuts-long-versions-are-any-truly-better-movies/729072.md?page=5)