Any movie that has been edited so as to take out any of the character bits in favor of action - so Daredevil is a great example.
Isn’t there also the scene where Ripley talks to Hicks and reveals her first name?
I think it is actually better. Apparently PJ left in all the stupid stuff and cut out some items that furthered the plot. This increases the ratio of good-stuff/stupid-stuff.
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.
I’d forgotten about this, but you’re right. In any case, none of these scenes are critical to the plot and while they enhance the story, they also slow it down. There’s a relevant commentary track on the DVD of 1999’s The Mummy in which writer-director Stephen Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay discuss the making of the film and one of them, Sommers probably, describes how they tried to keep meticulous track of the various MacGuffin props, i.e. the special keys that opened the magic books, which character has them at any given moment, etc. but when it comes time to edit the film and have to start cutting in order to keep up the pacing, plot holes get created. Similarly, there’s one brief chatty scene between Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz that they wanted to cut, but it features the incidental appearance of a white cat. That same cat is used later to fend off the ailurophobic villain and without the earlier introduction, the cat’s sudden appearance seems arbitrary and contrived.
In a similar vein for Aliens, we need the scene where Ripley demonstrates to Apone and Hicks that she knows how to use the power-loader. If the loader just appears for the final showdown with the Queen, it’s distractingly out of nowhere.
Chekov’s gun, Chekov’s cat, Chekov’s exoskeleton forklift suit… can’t escape 'em.
If I’d had a chance to shoot pickups on Aliens, I’d rework the scene (partly paraphrased below from memory) where all of them are talking about the Xenos:
Ripley: We have to try to figure out what we’re dealing with. What’s laying these eggs?
Hudson: It’s a queen, like an ant-hive.
Vasquez: Bees live in hives, stupid.
Hudson: Whatever, she’s the mama. She’s bad-ass, I mean big! [holds finger and thumb about an inch apart]
I’d cut that way down, make it just a brief chat between Ripley and Bishop, probably worked into the scene where he is studying the facehuggers, Ripley tells him to destroy them after his work and he says that Burke specifically told him not to. The longer version with half-a-dozen characters is too clunky and expositional.
Richard Donner’s extended cut of Superman. I have both the theatrical cut and director’s cut for comparison. The extended cut has extra scenes with Marlon Brando (Jor-El) and the little scene with Clark racing a train and being noticed by a young Lois Lane and her parents (Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill).
Donner’s cut of Superman II. It eliminated the scene with the bomb in the Eiffel tower in favor of Lois testing her theory of Superman really being Clark Kent. Later in Niagara Falls, instead of Lois finding out Superman was Clark by accident, she tricked him into revealing himself. And more importantly, all the footage of Jor-El and Clark in the Fortress of Solitude was restored and had a bigger emotional impact than the scenes with Susannah York (Lara).
Already brought up Superman II in post 10
Yes, but so briefly that I missed it. 
i make an assumption that the ‘Directors Cut’ is the film they generally wanted to have @ final edit- then the ‘release’ is modified from that based on ratings (to get a pg) or some other influence.
There have been many “cut scenes” as extras that are obviously good cuts.
Extended versions I assume are similr to directors cuts - just more of it - perhaps this time the edits were strictly to get it under a running time etc.
Better/worse? really hard to say.
I can’t agree with** Two Towers** on that one. I can’t recall much if anything of value added. I’m kinda iffy on Return of the King, too. Fellowship, I’ll agree.
I just watched** The Warriors** for the first time, and only realized afterwards that it was a directors cut. I’d be interested to know what scenes were added, because even the extended version was under 100 minutes, and each scene felt fairly necessary to the plot.
I always forget which version of Bladerunner is which. The one with narration is director’s cut, right? I think I’ve only ever seen it without the narration.
In Aliens, I think the brief scene of Ripley before the hearing and the sentry guns add to the film but the bit with Newt and the ride to the derelict ship feels very draggy to me and they were right to cut it. I’m sure the whole bit is just a couple minutes but when I watch it it feels like an extra ten minutes. I can appreciate it for the “lore” but I don’t think it fits well into the flow of the film.
The pre-hearing scene however is very brief and the sentry guns are more gun-porn in an action movie so they both work better in my opinion.
You’re reversed. The original release had the narration, the First Director’s cut removed it, and added the “unicorn scene” (the one meant to clarify that Deckard is a replicant).
Interesting note about the Director’s Cut: In the soundtrack CD, there is a song, One More Kiss, Dear, included. It didn’t fit with the style of music in the CD, and I wondered where it was used in the film. You can hear it in the background, outside of Taffy’s, I think, after Deckard retires Zora. It was always buried under the narration. Quite a surprise for me to have it pop up suddenly like that.
The US release of Once Upon a Time in America is an abortion. The laserdisc version is one of my favorite movies. I hope the full 269 minute version will be released someday.
Then there’s the “Renegade Cut” of Highlander II, which almost rescues a watchable movie from the studio-defined mess.
Okay then, thanks. The first Director’s cut is the version I’ve seen, because I can’t recall narration, but very much remember the unicorn. Thanks.
Not that its necessarily a cinematic masterpiece, but The Blues Brothers is one of my all-time favorite movies.
The extended cut has a few extra scenes that don’t really move the plot, but are fun to watch, and some extended musical numbers. I enjoyed my first viewing of this version as a sort of novelty, but what I didn’t expect is that now whenever I re-watch the movie, I actually prefer the long version. I mean, we get to see the gas station blow up! What could be better?
Fun fact! That part IS a part of the extended cut. The original theatrical release goes pretty much as you describe.
“What’s laying these eggs?”
“It must be something we haven’t seen yet.”
Boom. Done.
Huh. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I actually ever saw Aliens in theater.
For the most part, the only changes were some of the transitions between scenes. The DC did a much better job at fully realizing the comic book idea and used that more consistently throughout the movie. I think it helps set the tone properly, given the absurdness of the gangs. It gives the viewer a reminder that what is shown is bit divorced from reality.
There are some of those scenes that shouldn’t have been restored. John Landis gives a great interview on the anniversary DVD about the scene where Elwood parks the Bluesmobile near a power transformer, thus “charging” it and supposedly enabling it to do all the incredible things it does later in the movie. Landis’ point: if you want something amazing to happen in your movie, just show it and don’t make a fuss about it. “You don’t need to explain the giant bug and how it got there — just show the giant bug!” That’s great storytelling advice.
It was Two Towers that gained the most, though. It went from good to the best in the series.
You’d be surprised how much better the second Hobbit movie is in the extended version. It feels like a more well-paced edit.
The director’s cut is actually 11 minutes longer, as well. It has quite a few new scenes, all that fit well and expand the plot in good ways. It’s more than just the opening, though that attracts a lot of attention since it should have never been there.