I don’t think so – after finally seeing the full, uncut versions of many silent films (Metropolis and The Lost World, chiefly, but some others as well), I was furious about the cuts that had been made, and much prefer the full versions, which make a heckuva lot more sense. In general, I’d mucxh rather see the full version of the film.
I think a lot of folks above feel the same way, but are interpreting “edited version” to mean “Director’s cut”. since the “Director’s cut” is usually longer, I generally prefer them myself.
I think the OP is asking if you’d prefer the edited-down versions shown in other countries or for TV to the feature release or even Director’s Cut, which is a very different question.
While I don’t think I prefer the TV-edited versions, there are a few cases where IU like it a lot, maybe as much as the release version:
Creator – the film based on Jeremy Leven’s novel that starred Peter O’Toole as a Nobel Laureate trying to clone his dead wife is one of the better overlooked science fiction films out there. No special effects, but very witty dialogue, and with cloning handled properly. The TV version actually includes an important scene missing from the released film – it’s a flashback that O’Toole’s character has of his deceased wife, including a scene at an amusement park. It showed why he was trying to recapture his life with her, and gave us a glimpse of their life together. In the released version the only sight of her we get, aside from a still photo, is a sort of “ghost of her” image at the end.
Dune – The version released to TV, even though credited to “Alan Smithee”, that pseudonym used by filmmakers when they don’t like the hack job done by the Hollywood Powers-That-Be, actually was done by someone who knew and loved the novel. It included a voiceover explanation and illustrations at the beginning to make the story more clear, and included scenes cut from the movie (including the making of “Water Of Life”)
The Thing – Although the first TV release of this movie on CBS was abysmal (they actually cut almost every shot of the titular thing, which makes the film pretty damned pointless. They also re-arranged other shots), later releases to independent stations actually included a few shots not in the release version. They also added voiceovers explaining who the characters were and what their idiosyncrasies were, something that we could have done without – the movie already did this.
Metropolis (Giorgio Moroder version) – Although he did make use of the best prints available at the time, and edited back in a LOT of material that had been cut, Moroder’s version was not the most complete that could be made at the time – he actually cut material OUT that was in his hands. I think he did this to keep the film under an hour and a half, because his cut clocked in at the same time as the then “standard” version of the film. Although at first glance some of the material he cut looks repetitious, I think it was still important to making his point. But I love his film for the look of it and for two things that a lot of critics hated – the tinting of the film and the rock score he employed. Some venues loved the restoration but hated the score so much that they turned it off and supplied live oran or orchestral accompaniment. But I liked the score.
and, just a note, I really do prefer the Director’s cut of Bladerunner without that damned voiceover.