Superior Extended Editions (And Inferior Ones)

Oh my God, it finally happened. Fox released an "unrated" cut that isn't like Live Free or Die Hard.

Jackman did say that they were thinking of shooting The Wolverine as both PG-13 and R, and they must have done this, as the R-rated extended cut adds more violence & gore, and some extra f-bombs. When Wolverine slices people with his claws, we get to see splashes of blood. It's far more satisfying than the sanitised theatrical version.

There's also an extended ninja fight which is frankly awesome, involving an explosion and many ninjas being turned into red goo.

It's still not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction, and I don't want to ever go back to the theatrical version.

Sublime. This is the version that should have entered theatres. Certain sections were tightened up (most notably the shots of the shoddy CGI fire) and the characters have been fleshed out more. The team have a better dynamic, with Hale Caesar, Toll Toad and Yin Yang getting more lines and thus more dimension. There are more one-liners. There are more f-bombs. It's an all-round sublime effort, though a couple changes don't entirely gel.

Here's the new (much improved) opening credits:


And here's the terrific preview for the extended cut:

The theatrical cut of Superman II does not hold up, as it's loaded with high camp, turning the story into a parody rather than a sincere superhero adventure. This Richard Donner cut is how the film should've always looked. We get less camp, a lot of never before seen footage, restored footage of Marlon Brando, and further insights into the Superman mythology, making it a perfect companion piece to its predecessor. We also get a truly epic battle over Metropolis. It's still not perfect, as a few scenes and moments should've been cut, and the obvious use of screen test footage is a bit distracting, but I loved this version.

It's hard to go back to the theatrical version after you watch the extended cut of Leon. It just give the story and the characters more breathing room.

It's impossible for me to go back to watching the theatrical versions of any of the Lord of the Rings movies. Whenever I'm in the mood for a marathon, I set aside an entire day and break out the extended editions on Blu-ray, ready to have my mind explode. The theatrical cuts, looking back, are simply cinema edits designed to maximise potential screenings per day. They do their job and are still fine movies, but it feels like you're missing out while watching them, because you know how much extra material there is. In the case of The Fellowship of the Ring, we get a lot more of everything: character development, drama, story, etc. It's a marvellous experience.

Everything I said about Fellowship flies in this case, as well. For The Two Towers, the added material in the extended edition is spectacular, extending some action beats and giving story and character much more attention. A flashback scene featuring Boromir is a real highlight, and it helps to set things up for The Return of the King. I miss the extended stuff whenever I watch the theatrical.

If you watch the theatrical cut of The Return of the King, you don't find out Saruman's fate and you don't find out why Gandalf's staff suddenly disappears. These are two plot holes in the theatrical version that are beautifully fixed in the extended edition. Now, yes, the extended edition is VERY long, the longest in the trilogy, but I wouldn't want to part with anything here. It makes it feel like a true cinematic experience.

Gilliam's director's cut is easily the best version of this classic, as it's the most fleshed-out and complete version. But the theatrical cut is pretty good as well. I'm mainly including this because any of the above is better than the godawful "Love Conquers All" version, cut to be a mainstream movie. Thank God Terry Gilliam won the battle with the studio.

Others are welcome to disagree with me, but I much prefer the Director's Cut of the movie. It's grittier, darker, more badass, and the climax/ending is sublime. Much better than the cheery, Hollywood-ised theatrical cut.

The director's cut of Aliens is only marginally longer, but it's the better film. We get a better grasp of everything, the story and characters are more fleshed out, and it feels like an overall more complete movie.

Okay, so nothing much was added except for extra gore, but I'm completely fine with that. This is an exploitative '80s action movie, so the extra content just makes it more satisfying. Sure it doesn't add anything substantial to the plot, but it's more fun.

For the record, on top of the theatrical cut there's both a longer extended version and a shorter director's cut. I'm including this for the extended version, which is longer, raunchier, funnier and more enjoyable. But the director's cut, on the other hand, is not very good at all. You'd be best off sticking to either the theatrical cut or the extended version.

Yeah, there's only like a minute of added footage during the sex scene which does nothing for the plot and offers nothing substantial to the movie...

...But it's funny as hell, adding an extra 3 or 4 belly-laughs to an already hilarious movie. Who can complain about that?

The R-rated extended cut is the superior version by far. Some action beats are extended to a satisfying degree, and there's some extra stuff to allow the film to make more sense.

I cannot watch the theatrical cut anymore. I just cannot. The director's cut expands the story and gives it a lot more breathing room, adding more character moments and helping give various subplots proper traction. I love the director's cut, it is a masterpiece.

The extended cut only extends a movie that's too long as it is. Apatow is too undisciplined as a filmmaker, and the extra stuff here adds nothing but superfluous length.

As much as I like King Kong, the extended cut is inferior by far. The theatrical version was already arguably too long, and the longer cut only restores a few completely unnecessary scenes, giving more credence to the complaint that the film is much too long. I usually like added content, but not here. Theatrical cut for life.

Death Proof was the weak link of the Grindhouse double-feature; it was too talky and it didn't deliver the exploitative elements that the whole experience was actually about. Yet the extended edition adds about half an hour of footage, for fuck's sake. Why couldn't they have taken out half an hour of footage? The extended cut is agonising.

I don't think I'll get any arguments here. Spielberg added a handful of completely egregious digital effects shots with ET, and replaced guns with walkie talkies in the worst display of modern political correctness gone haywire. Even Spielberg himself knows he did wrong, burying the revised version and only releasing the original theatrical cut on Blu-ray. Wise.

HAN. SHOT. FIRST.

Got it?

Jason Wingreen is the voice of Boba Fett. That's a fact. The revised version with fucking Temuera Morrison is insulting and gay. I will never invest in the bastardised version because of this. But there are other problems, including egregious new CGI and dialogue changes. It's stupid as fuck.

The new pop song in Jabba's palace is bullshit. The appearance of Hayden Christensen is insulting. The appearance of Naboo from Episode 1 is stupid. The list goes on and on. I like the real, original version of this movie, not the bastardisation.

The extended/unrated cuts adds a whopping 49 seconds of footage. Nuff said.

Good lord, the extended/unrated cut is absolute bollocks. Visibly dubbed f-words, poorly rendered CGI blood splatter, the film's good one-liners were replaced with unfunny lines, etc etc. It's a travesty. It looks like a dodgy TV edit.

I love this movie. But the extended/unrated cut is a joke. There's, what, two or three changes? An extra minute of footage? For crying out loud...

The theatrical cut was a chore to get through as it is, but the extended cut is even more meandering. This movie needed 30 minutes taken out of it... It didn't need more footage.

My God, this movie is dreadful. The fact that it's a PG-13 slasher is its biggest sin. A bloodier version could have made a difference... But the violence is still visibly toned-down in the "unrated" edition. It's terrible no matter which cut you watch, but at least the theatrical cut is marginally shorter.

Fucking hell, barely anything was added for the unrated cut -- just a few egregious CGI blood splatters. What a waste.

The theatrical cut bored me to tears. I lost the will to live during the DC.