Director's cut

Avatar reopened in theaters with some ten-odd minutes of new footage, and that got me thinking of Director Cuts. Well, it also got Empire thinking of them as well, and they beat me to the punch, so I'll just comment on their list and insights.

Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)

The plantation scene is the weak link. Does Apocalypse Now really need a moody love scene? Aurore Clément apart, the contextualising feels a bit clunky (let’s blame the French!) and the dinner party set piece, basically a potted lesson of Indochinese history, drains the pace from the film. The added Playboy Bunnies don’t add much either. And we don’t say that lightly.

I certainly agree with the plantation scene, as it does go on too long and acts as a history lesson, but maybe that history lesson is needed for newer generations who barely even know we lost Vietnam. I do disagree about the Playboy Bunny scenes. The audience gets to see the horrid rain conditions that existed during filming and it allows for a brief quiet moment for the characters. I think the bigger issue is that the last third of the film is meandering, regardless of the original cut or this Redux version, and that the film will always be 2/3's brilliant and 1/3 disappointing.

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid Special Edition (2005)

Can't give much comment on this since I have never seen it. I've never been a big Peckinpah fan outside of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Special Edition (1997)

There was no need to populate Mos Eisley with scampering critters, rearing rontos or make the wretched hive of scum and villainy look like Lakeside Thurrock with its extra buildings. There was also no need to bolster the amount of stormtroopers waiting for Han in the Death Star corridor or add moving dewbacks to the “Look, sir, Droids!” scene. And the Solo-Jabba confrontation, while again interesting to see, features a badly animated Jabba and pretty much the same exposition covered by the Greedo scene.

Agreed. Every change Lucas has made to his movies is stupid, just like Spielberg. What's annoying is that the original films will probably never be released on Blu-Ray, so generations will never see the original versions. What a joke.

Brazil, The ‘Love Conquers All’ version (1985)

It’s as far from an ‘improvement’ on the original as is conceivable: utterly incoherent, unforgivably slapdash and inherently disrespectful to a wildly imaginative film-maker operating at his peak. Well worth seeking out, if only to see just how bad a studio hack-job can be.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with Brazil, but I will say the one thing I loved in the Gilliam version is the bleak ending. The studio manipulation in this version is wrong in tone and nonsensical.

Alexander Revisited (2007)

The two-disk Alexander Revisited is the true director’s cut of the film. It even comes with a handy intermission to give you time to digest Alexander’s now more layered relationships and make yourself a cup of tea. Looking back, Stone talked freely about having short-changed the story of history’s most violent tourist. In 2007 he put it right with a cut he promised would be his Cecil B. DeMille version, saying: “I'm going to go all out, [and] put everything I like in the movie.” This means a less prudish take on Alexander’s multiple bromances, a lot more of Rosario Dawson as his wife, and plenty more of Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer as Alexander’s pushy parents.

I liked the original version of Alexander. Yes, you can tell it was cut heavily for content and length, but I think it still worked. This longer version is better, but still missing something. Empire blames it on the casting of Colin Farrell, but I think it is something else. It felt to me that Oliver Stone just wasn't into it, and his best movie in the last 15 years, W., was a labor of love.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind Special Edition (1980)

In 1998, Spielberg released The Collector's Edition, coming in at 137 minutes, that is a kind of compilation of the best bits — Now That’s What I Call Close Encounters — of the ’77 and ’80 versions (it doesn’t go inside the Mothership). All three versions are available on the current Blu-ray but this last one is the best.

As long as we don't see inside the mothership at the end, this version is fine.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Haven't seen it.

Kingdom Of Heaven Director’s Cut (2005)

The added 45 minutes in the 1995 Director’s Cut are like pieces missing from a beautiful but incomplete puzzle. The nuance of William Monahan’s tome-like screenplay is back, characters that were previously ciphers are made three-dimensional (Eva Green’s Sibylla and Edward Norton’s leprosy-ridden king especially) and there’s even a classic end-of-movie good guy/bad guy showdown to thrill fans of that kind of thing.

I still don't think this movie works, even with the much longer runtime, but it is better - it does not transform the movie into a masterpiece like its defenders proclaim.

Aliens Special Edition (1992)

The addition of the terraformers’ back story gives pathos to Newt’s parentless plight but isn’t strictly necessary. The arrival of the Colonial Marines at the terraforming station tells us everything we need to know about the perils of daytripping around strange planets.

The additions are not that great to me. I can live without this longer version.

Blade Runner 25th Anniversary Edition (2007)

The unicorn dream sequence is restored in its entirety for the 25th Anniversary Edition, with Deckard shown to be awake throughout. It’s a crucial addition and had been a major point of contention with the studio. “There was too much discussion in the room,” says Scott. “I wanted it. They didn't want it. I said, ‘Well, it's a fundamental part of the story.’ And they said, ‘Well, isn't it obvious that he's a replicant here?’ And I said, ‘No. No more obvious than he's not a replicant at the end. So, it's a matter of choice, isn't it?’” The technical polish (a frame-by-frame digital remastering) give the dystopian LA cityscape a neon sheen.

This is a night and day difference from the other versions. Yes, the director's cut was an improvement over the crappy theatrical version, but this final cut is wonderful. Absolutely perfect.

Two others briefly popped into mind that weren't covered in Empire's list. I think Almost Famous and Amadeus both have superfluous director's cuts with a couple of exceptions. In Amadeus, I think the scene where Mozart's wife goes to see Salieri and exposes herself is an important inclusion. It sets up some dialogue near the end of the film and crystalizes the vileness of Salieri. While none of the additions in Almost Famous are important or needed, I like the longer version because I simply like the characters and story.