# Film whose edited versions you actually preferred **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842 "2019-05-12T02:27:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/41 "2019-05-14T16:51:14Z")
I prefer the “melon farmer” TV version of **Repo Man** to the original. The insane choices for the overdubbing add an extra layer of absurdity to an already whacked-out movie. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/42 "2019-05-14T17:49:13Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I agree about what constitutes an “official release.” Anything other than that is a re-edit.\* > > Can you explain what you mean by: _“all video releases are color graded”_? AFAIK, \*all \* film and video released for public consumption–whether in a theater, an airplane, or at home–is color graded. Are you referring to something which is only done to home video releases? I guess I don’t understand. > > ETA: also, can you explain what you mean by “resolution edited”? Maybe you mean converted? Or do you mean that entertainment converted to a different resolution is re-edited??? > > _I guess you could call that an “edited version” as the OP does but it’s not a super-good term because_ all \*versions of a film are edited. Re-edited works better, I think. > > Maybe “cut-down”? I agree that that “re-edited” is a better term, though it doesn’t always have to be “cut-down” as international and director’s cut versions are often longer, though some scenes may be have removed or rearranged. As for color grading, yes all video releases are color graded for home release because of the much smaller color space of even the latest UHD displays. I can’t find it right now, but there was an excellent article that talks about how the color grader must make changes to the theatrical master for the limitations of consumer displays. Add in the fact that most people don’t watch their displays in a properly darkened room and the color space is further reduced (in a sense edited). IMO, the greatest fraud pulled on the public is advertising UHD displays as 4K. True 4K is 4096 x 2160, while UHD is 3840 x 2160. I used the term “resolution edited” to fit the theme of this thread, but mean reduced resolution/converted. And in the case of UHD, the image is cropped either on the sides or top/bottom. At least 1080p displays matched the resolution of 1080p cameras. Ironically, in the days of film, particularly in Cinerama theaters (which didn’t mask the sides off the screen with curtains, if you saw a first run screening, you were seeing the movie as “unedited” as possible. Full color, full screen. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/43 "2019-05-14T18:05:18Z")
I’ve lamented and gotten no sympathy on a video forum that we’ll likely never have a true theatrical (“unedited”), video release for the home because the studios would never allow that. While there may be some very well connected individuals who have the connections to receive the multi-terabyte theatrical masters and IMAX (starting at $2mil) or THX certified “home” theaters to view them in, they’re far fewer than those in the film days when theatrical prints were legally or illegally obtained and kept. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/44 "2019-05-14T18:13:39Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > As I understand it, **The Professional** was the edited, sanitized version of **Leon: The Professional** , and it’s a damned good thing they changed it for American audiences. I would not have been cheering for Jean Reno’s character if, as in the French release, they had been physically intimate. I only half-remembered that from a different long-ago thread, but now that you say this, yeah, I’ll take the edited American version over a creepier French original release any day. Natalie Portman was (or at least appeared to be) prepubescent in that movie. > [@lingyi](#): > > As for color grading, yes all video releases are color graded for home release because of the much smaller color space of even the latest UHD displays. I can’t find it right now, but there was an excellent article that talks about how the color grader must make changes to the theatrical master for the limitations of consumer displays. > > Add in the fact that most people don’t watch their displays in a properly darkened room and the color space is further reduced (in a sense edited). Can we send you back in time around 6 months so you can explain this to the people who make Game of Thrones? Their color grading in episode 3 this season was so poor that the majority of home viewers couldn’t see what the hell was going on because it was so dark, which was particularly unfortunate because it was the biggest, most epic battle they every put on screen. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/45 "2019-05-14T18:42:28Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I only half-remembered that from a different long-ago thread, but now that you say this, yeah, I’ll take the edited American version over a creepier French original release any day. Natalie Portman was (or at least appeared to be) prepubescent in that movie. > > Can we send you back in time around 6 months so you can explain this to the people who make Game of Thrones? > > Their color grading in episode 3 this season was so poor that the majority of home viewers couldn’t see what the hell was going on because it was so dark, which was particularly unfortunate because it was the biggest, most epic battle they every put on screen. I don’t watch Game of Thrones, but I wonder how much of the bad reviews were because of improperly set displays or improperly lit (i.e. overly bright) rooms. Years ago, I was watching a Korean horror movie set primarily in a dark morgue. There’s a scene where the heroine is hiding in a corner and she’s barely visible. I was thinking about how difficult it must have been to setup and light that scene, when it dawned on me that if I wasn’t watching this on my beloved plasma and a nearly pitch black room, I wouldn’t have been able to see that she was in that corner. When Halloween and Alien were originally shown on TV, they had to brighten some scenes, particularly when The Shape steps out of the shadows and the alien uncurls in the shuttlecraft, because their appearance (on normal TVs) would have been delayed or lost to most viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/46 "2019-05-14T19:04:25Z")
I saw Battle for the Planet of the Apes when I was a kid. The only two scenes I remembered were one where a human tells a character how the word, “No” is verboten to Apes because they heard it so much when they were slaves and a scene at the end that reveals how the group of mutants in Beneath the Planet of the Apes started worshiping a bomb. It turns out both those scenes were only added to the TV version and weren’t in the original theatrical release. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/47 "2019-05-14T21:48:12Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > I watch a lot of foreign movies, specifically east Asian. Many, MANY times there is a domestic version and an international version. They both are shown in theaters, so which is the “edited” version? > > For Korean films, when the DVD is released, often you will get both versions. The “international” version is usually labeled as such, and the Korean domestic version is labeled the “director’s cut.” To confuse matters more, sometimes the director indulges himself with an “expanded” version which adds scenes specific to the DVD. So, that’s a re-edited version, whereas the original two I described are both “theatrical” versions–just depends on which theater you were at. I’ve seen movies where I preferred the Korean domestic version, but in other cases, the international version is better ( **My Sassy Girl** , and **A Moment to Remember** , for instance). > > It’s worse for Hong Kong movies. Some of those have 3, 4, 5 versions released at once due to local mores. So folks in Singapore get a certain version, and then there is a Taiwanese version and a mainland China version. In addition to the HK version. There’s an old joke in HK that you can go to 5 different theaters in the city and see 5 different versions of the film. Which of these is the “edited” version? In many cases, the differences are minor, but in some cases the entire ending is completely changed ( **Infernal Affairs** , for instance). I don’t know if it’s still true today, but in the 80’s and 90’s, Hong Kong movies were usually released in Taiwan first and often these releases contained extended or different scenes from what was later released in Hong Kong. The most well known (for Asian cinema enthusiasts) is the “extended” version of John Woo’s _The Killer_ which was first shown in Taiwanese theaters, then redited for Hong Kong release. As I stated above, IMO, the “official release/edit” of a movie is the one released in theaters of the country of origin. As for Singapore and Mainland China versions of movies, this is usually less a matter of directorial editing by choice, but (I hate to use the word) censorship due to local standards. Then there’s movies like _The Great Wall_ and other Chinese/Hollywood co-productions where scenes and storylines are altered for Western and Eastern audiences. Which version is the “real” version? BTW, I completely agree with you about _My Sassy Girl_. The “edited” international version fills out the storyline so much better. And while I have the theatrical version of _A Moment to Remember_, I’ll probably never watch it because the international version of the movie is perfect as is it. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/48 "2019-05-16T23:15:02Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > And of course there is always the debate about which versions of The Original Star Wars Trilogy is better----the original theatrical versions or the Special Edition versions. Diehard Star Wars fans always say the original cuts were better but I actually prefer the Special Editions myself. Even then, the various home releases over the years had minor changes here and there, well before the Special Editions were released (to theaters! They also have changes in the subsequent DVD and BluRay releases). ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/49 "2019-05-16T23:29:44Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Even then, the various home releases over the years had minor changes here and there, well before the Special Editions were released (to theaters! They also have changes in the subsequent DVD and BluRay releases). Disney should release an edited and improved version of The Star Wars Holiday Special. It originally aired at 98 minutes. If they cut all the bad parts they could go straight from the opening credits to the end credits. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/50 "2019-05-16T23:41:47Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Disney should release an edited and improved version of The Star Wars Holiday Special. It originally aired at 98 minutes. If they cut all the bad parts they could go straight from the opening credits to the end credits. Even that is too much. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/51 "2019-05-17T03:57:31Z")
The Italian coming-of-age film _Cinema Paradiso_ included, in the original cut, the protagonist tracking down and having a brief, awkward, sad affair with his former teen sweetheart. Miramax’s cut of the film for American release omitted this postscript, and was much better for it. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/52 "2019-05-17T06:37:51Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I don’t watch Game of Thrones, but I wonder how much of the bad reviews were because of improperly set displays or improperly lit (i.e. overly bright) rooms. I have heard this suggested a number of times, and I always bristle at it. My 70” 4K set is carefully calibrated, and any other source of 1080p or greater looks awesome on it. And I watched in a dark room, as usual. But that episode was still very murky. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/53 "2019-05-17T06:51:18Z")
_Apocalypse Now_. I’ve seen the theatrical version (saw it in the theatre, actually), and it blew me away. The story moved; it was gripping, it was challenging, and it engaged you for every minute. But the version with added scenes (most notably, the Playboy Bunnies’ sex scenes and the French plantation in denial) just drags. Another vote for the theatrical release of _Blade Runner_. I like ther version with narration; it explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/54 "2019-05-17T18:30:37Z")
The TV edit of _My Favorite Year_ has a few added tidbits, including the complete “Boss Hijack” sketch in the run-through early in the movie. It’s actually pretty funny, in that 50’s TV style of comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/55 "2019-05-17T18:41:16Z")
Any “adult” themed TV comedy that has curse words in it, but bleeps them out is much funnier to me than with the curse word in it. Examples include Family Guy, South Park and some of the Adult Swim shows. A bleep is funny, using the word is just vulgar. Don’t know why it’s that way to me, but 'tis. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/56 "2019-05-18T15:46:37Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Any “adult” themed TV comedy that has curse words in it, but bleeps them out is much funnier to me than with the curse word in it. Examples include Family Guy, South Park and some of the Adult Swim shows. A bleep is funny, using the word is just vulgar. > > Don’t know why it’s that way to me, but 'tis. Or the “bleeping” in Glengarry Glenross…“fouled up”…“FORGET YOU!!!” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/57 "2019-05-18T15:58:08Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > _Space Is the Place_ - One of my favourite all-time movies is ruined in the uncut French version with some doc/nurse porn that totally detracts from the flick’s awesomely insouciant dingbattery. > > Another one on my stellar shelf is _Man Bites Dog_. I’ll take the edited (US) version, thanks, which leaves out the scenes where a screaming child (at least in almost total darkness) is chased down and killed, and the rape scene that has the doc filmmaker Remy “ingeniously” (um, nah, not really) finagled into the action. > > Probably a big ask\*, but can anyone think of their own? > > \*ok - I promise never to use that annoying catchphrase ever again. Oddly enough, while I can swear like a drunken sailor when need be, I prefer to watch movies with much of the swearing edited out. Truly have no idea why I am this way, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/58 "2019-05-18T20:43:32Z")
(Second post today citing this film.) _That Thing You Do!_ has an extended version that has been on cable. Best part: more of Marguerite (Rita Wilson) and a bit with Tom Hanks getting nagged by his “special friend” played by Howie Long. Oh, and more Charlize Theron. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/59 "2019-05-19T00:29:26Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Any “adult” themed TV comedy that has curse words in it, but bleeps them out is much funnier to me than with the curse word in it. Examples include Family Guy, South Park and some of the Adult Swim shows. A bleep is funny, using the word is just vulgar. > > Don’t know why it’s that way to me, but 'tis. I feel this way about the TV version of _Fargo_. It’s kind of amusing to hear all the different “clean” f-words they used to replace all the f-bombs Steve Buscemi drops. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842/60 "2019-05-19T20:31:37Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Any “adult” themed TV comedy that has curse words in it, but bleeps them out is much funnier to me than with the curse word in it. Examples include Family Guy, South Park and some of the Adult Swim shows. A bleep is funny, using the word is just vulgar. > > Don’t know why it’s that way to me, but 'tis. Yes, Arrest Development was masterful at this. Reportedly Tony Hale didn’t like to swear, so when they bleep Buster he’s saying something else, so there’s no unedited cut to release. Goldbergs also has a lot of hilarious bleeps, usually when the mom says (presumably) fuck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-whose-edited-versions-you-actually-preferred/833842.md?page=2)