Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Cut out most of the podracing scenes, and most of the “cute” Anakin scenes. Oh, and Jar Jar Binks comedy relief.
I can’t remember any specifics, but Lord of the Rings :The Two Towers, could have stood some heavy editing. Parts of it seemed to drag on, and on, and were pretty pointless. Especially the scenes with the talking trees, and the final battle. Those needed to be edited down.
The Sound of Music. Could you cut out all the bits where people aren’t singing? (I know many people would prefer the opposite, but that’s just cruel.) Cabaret would definitely benefit from losing all the non-singing, and you could do the same with Guys and Dolls. Musicals tend to be way too long, have incredibly stupid plots, and often feature people who are far better singers than actors.
I read where a Korean theater owner DID remove the songs from The Sound of Music because the movie was too long!
In that vein, Xanadu could use that treatment as well.
The Shadow suffered from a major storytelling flaw, in which the main character’s background was told at the start of the movie, when it should have been told in flashback about three-quarters of the way through. Or maybe not at all.
The Incredible Hulk could have done with some more editing. Could have cut a good twenty minutes out of it and not miss a thing.
Pearl Harbor- the entire love story thing.
Citizen Kane- everything between the uttering of “Rosebud” and the scene where we finally see what Rosebud was. I know we’re all supposed to genuflect as we watch it, but the truth is it hasn’t aged well.
Pirates of the Caribbean - 90% of the swordfighting. You’ve seen one film swordfight, you’ve seen them all.
The Deer Hunter- the entire wedding scene
Apocalypse Now Redux- the scene where the Colonel is trying to get his surfboard back, the Playboy bunnies in the helicopter, the bedroom scene with Martin Sheen in the French colony. Turns out the original editing for Apocalypse Now wasn’t so bad after all.
If you edit Dungeons and Dragons to eliminate all references to actual game mechanics, it may have been merely an execrable movie, rather than the worst movie ever made.
plus, think about all the money they wasted on CGI effects making Claire Forlani’s eyes look HUGE and damp.
You know, like a dairy cow.
South Park BL&U - For “Kyle’s Mom remix”, Eric should’ve simply ignored Kyle’s protests and gone right into the song (sheesh, it’s not like this is a big challenge for him). Also, when Sheila appeared, she should’ve cleare her throat or grabbed his shoulder or something and ended it right there. As it is, this one dragged on just a bit too long. Also, Blame Canada should’ve been excised completely, as it was nothing but horrible joke fodder.
Titanic - Cut out Caledon Hockley, Rose Bukater, and Jack Dawson, cut out all that pointless present-day footage as well, and have whole the movie be about a tremendous cross-section of society going on a voyage and trying to survive a nightmare together. Do that and maybe it actually deserves its Oscars.
Here here! I wondered if I was the only one who had that reaction. I wish I had a rewritable DVD version of that movie just so I could edit the first ten minutes into a flashback to be placed later in the film. This would mean the movie would start with the sequence of the Shadow confronting the bad guys on the bridge, which was great and perfectly captured the “feel” of the old Shadow stories.
I would also excise some of the smarmy one-liners, like “Next time you get to be on top.” Uuuugh. Lamont Cranston might say that, but as the Shadow he would never say it.
I disagree about the Jesus scenes in Ben Hur. I love those scenes, and while I understand how they could be seen as irrelevant, I’ve always seen them as more of a “framing device” – i.e. Christ recurring at pivotal points throughout the story, affecting Ben Hur in a different way every time He appears. A very powerful story device, I think.
Although I admit the Mynah bird idea is funny. Now I’ll never be able to see it without thinking of that. Thanks a lot, Sublight! 
But just barely. Jebus Krest, what was with that movie?
And if we’re editing Eyes Wide Shut, toss out those digitally-imposed “spectators” at the orgy. I want my hedonism uncensored, dammit! 
I’d keep it, but make it a bit more ambiguous and shorter. Maybe ending it when the loose screw rolls off into the fields.
Personally, I’m looking forward to the Director’s cut. I want my extra 40 minutes!