Best Extended/Director's Cuts?

[AspectRatio1986]

I'm not sure if there was a thread on this or not, but I was just wondering whats everybody's opinions on extended and director's cuts of movies. What are the best? Which one's improve the most over the original? I've heard good things about Kingdom of Heaven, but have yet to see it. Opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Funnyman]

Some that I liked better than the Theatrical
Kingdom of Heaven
Con Air
Conan the Barbarian
Star Wars Episode One
All 3 Lord of the Rings
King Kong
Donnie Brasco

My favorite extended cut of all time is Aliens.

[MisterChristian]

the extended cut of Leon is better than the theatrical version...WAY BETTER!

[ScaryFreak1827]

Off the top of my head:

All 3 LOTR films
Legend
Alien/Aliens
Terminator 2
King Kong
Star Wars
Land of the Dead

[bubutthead]

Originally posted by ScaryFreak1827
Off the top of my head:

All 3 LOTR films
Legend
Alien/Aliens
Terminator 2
King Kong
Star Wars
Land of the Dead

backed 100%, especially Legend - wow what an improvement! but i also gotta say for LEON: International/director's version, and definately Kingdom of Heaven: director's cut, huuuuge improvement.

my favorites though would have to be:

The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
Apocalypse Now: Redux from "Complete Dossier" (yeah i know many don't like it, salright)
Ali: Director's Cut (ive never seen the original version, not sure what the differences are)
The Natural: Director's Cut (same as Ali...)

[Weapon X]

The Abyss
Aliens
Alien 3
Army of Darkness
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Brotherhood of the Wolf
The Chronicles of Riddick
Daredevil
Highlander
LoTR Trilogy
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Superman
Superman II
Terminator 2
Tombstone

[Funnyman]

DAMN. I forgot Legend.
Daredevil was a flawed movie until I saw the Directors cut. THen it was perfect.

TWO SNAPS DOWN WITH A TWIST.

[SamSanchez]

Originally posted by MisterChristian
the extended cut of Leon is better than the theatrical version...WAY BETTER!

[EvilHenchman]

Cool thread.

I agree with a lot of those mentioned already, especially The Abyss (which makes the theatrical version seem incomprehensible), Aliens, Daredevil, Superman II, T2, Leon and Apocalypse Now Redux.

I'd also have to add Forman's Amadeus, Scott's Blade Runner, Helgeland's Payback, and one of the more substantial revisions, Gilliam's Brazil.

I know it wasn't asked for, but extended/director's cuts that I could do without include Spielberg's tinkering with E.T. and Lucas' reworking of Empire.

Just outta curiosity: is the director's cut of Brasco the one that was recently put out on DVD? If so, I may have to grab it; I just thought it was another wasteful repackaging deal...

[JCPhoenix]

My favorite extended/director's cuts would be...
Brazil
Untitled (Almost Famous Director's Cut)
Kingdom of Heaven
Leon

[outsyder]

JFK

[sarah1980]

Superman
Gladiator
E.T.
The Abyss
T2
Alien
Aliens
King Kong (2005)
Tombstone
Highlander


as for Daredevil the theaterical cut was way way better

[bubutthead]

yeah i forgot about Gilliam's Brazil, so good.

Im very curious to see Ridley Scott's upcoming Blade Runner: Final Cut.....and im actually also curious about the upcoming Petersen's Troy Director's cut

[JCPhoenix]

Originally posted by outsyder
JFK

I love the director's cut of this, it's one of my favorite films but I've never seen the original cut and I always heard the theatrical cut was better I think...just curious, what do you like more about the director's cut in this case?

[outsyder]

Originally posted by JCPhoenix
I love the director's cut of this, it's one of my favorite films but I've never seen the original cut and I always heard the theatrical cut was better I think...just curious, what do you like more about the director's cut in this case?


I saw the original on tv a while ago and from what I could figure out, most of the 17 minutes of additional footage was in regard to Oswald's past. I just felt it added more to the backstory and helped round out that aspect of the assassination.

[bourahioro]

Sin City
Hellboy
VanHelsing

[AspectRatio1986]

Thanks for all the input guys...I appreciate it.

[JCPhoenix]

Originally posted by outsyder
I saw the original on tv a while ago and from what I could figure out, most of the 17 minutes of additional footage was in regard to Oswald's past. I just felt it added more to the backstory and helped round out that aspect of the assassination.

Aah, thanks. I've always been curious to know what was different in the two cuts considering the version I own only includes the director's. In any case though, JFK is definitely one of my favorite films.

[Derek237]

I liked the extended versions of the alien films...mostly because I love the series so much and it's always interesting to see alternate versions with additional footage of movies you love. The only Extended version I preferred was Aliens, of course, and honestly, I feel the theatrical cut is almost obsolete. Why would anyone want the theatrical, anyway? Alien and Alien added the extra scenes for novelty purposes and Alien 3 was just the "assembly cut" and not really anything definitive. Aliens: Special Editon, IS however DEFINITIVE and the intended version. But anway, I also like the fact that we're able to play either version of the movies, so you don't have to end up buying two DVDs.

[AspectRatio1986]

Just thought of this one...is the Donner cut of Superman II better than the Lester version? I have yet to catch this one.

[bubutthead]

They really need to release a Needful Things: Network TV UNCUT Version. it goes from a sub-par movie to a damn good film

[Tyler_Durden_208]

Originally posted by bubutthead
They really need to release a Needful Things: Network TV UNCUT Version. it goes from a sub-par movie to a damn good film
I had a VHS of the TV version (I have no idea if it was official or not), and I have to agree. I'd like it to get a DVD release.

[EvilHenchman]

Originally posted by MovieBuff07
Just thought of this one...is the Donner cut of Superman II better than the Lester version? I have yet to catch this one.

The Donner cut of Superman II is better than the Lester version. Lester is by no means a hack, but there were / are elements in his version that - in light of the Donner restoration - are flat-out laughable.

I mean, really, what the fuck was up with that big cellophane "S" in the climax at the Fortress of Solitude?

[RandalGraves]

Kingdom of Heavan
40 Year Old Virgin
Superman II
Sin City
Terminator 2
JFK
Donnie Darko
Con Air
Gladiator
Miami Vice
Alexander (I guess it couldn't get worse than the theaterical version)

[MisterChristian]

I'm still waiting for Hard Target: The Director's Cut :)

Apparently, you can find bootlegs out there...

[JasonBourne]

Originally posted by MisterChristian
I'm still waiting for Hard Target: The Director's Cut :)

Apparently, you can find bootlegs out there...

You mean Van Damme flick by John Woo??

[MisterTwister]

Originally posted by EvilHenchman
The Donner cut of Superman II is better than the Lester version. Lester is by no means a hack, but there were / are elements in his version that - in light of the Donner restoration - are flat-out laughable.

I mean, really, what the fuck was up with that big cellophane "S" in the climax at the Fortress of Solitude?

What the fuck was up with Superman blowing up the fortress of solitude with lex luthor still inside?

Both versions have their flaws, but the Donner Cut is a fucking choppy mess. The deleted scenes are great, but I could not have fun with this cut. It's a collection of deleted scenes edited together to try to make a movie, but it fails miserbly. Some the camp in the lester cut is pretty bad, but I'll take that stuff over the bad dubbing, the shoddy screentest, the toilet flushing in the fortress, the repetive ending etc. any day of the week.

[JaxAlexandre]

Leon
LOTR
Sin City
Dawn of the Dead
Donnie Darko

[Cronos]

The Wicker Man ('73)
The Abyss
Alien
Aliens
Lord Of The Rings
The Exorcist
Brazil
Blade Runner
Brotherhood Of The Wolf
The Devil's Rejects
Dust Devil
Independence Day
Land Of The Dead
Leatherface
Manhunter
Season Of The Witch
True Romance

[Kikabi]

Kingdom of Heaven - DC completely changed my mind about the movie.
LOTR Extendeds
Black Hawk Down
Gladiator
Alien & Aliens
Con Air
Hellboy

I've only seen the extended cuts of Sin City,40 yr Virgin, and Miami Vice - haven't seen the originals for comparison. And visa versa on a lot of others fellow schomoes have listed (I didn't know there was a director's cut of Van Helsing.)

[AspectRatio1986]

Just got Kingdom of Heaven 4 Disc today from Amazon for 17.49 with free 2 day shipping. Hopefully I'll get to watch it this weekend.

[Drag00n2019]

Here's my list.
THE ABYSS
ALIEN - Extended Edition (131m version)
ALIENS
Army of Darkness
BLADE RUNNER (Haven't seen the Final Cut yet but I'm going to get a 150m version.)
Brotherhood of the Wolf (I own the Three-Disc Canadian set)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Conan the Barbarian
COP LAND
Dances with Wolves
THE FRIGHTENERS
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
HellBoy
Highlander
LEGEND
Léon: The Professional (I own three different releases of this.)
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 3
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Punisher (2004)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
RboCop
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
STARGATE
SUPERMAN: The Movie
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
TOMBSTONE

And i have many more titles which I own that I haven't gotten around to watching yet. i.e. BLADE: Trinity, DUEL, GLADIATOR, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and that "Extended Edition" of ALIEN.

[athf1980]

LOTR
Lethal Weapon 1,2,3
Die hard 4.0
Jason goes to hell
Kingdom of heaven
Alien
Aliens
Tombstone
T2
Superman
Superman 2-donners cut

[dtrain8906]

any ridley scott directors cut

[MidnightAngel]

Best director's cuts:
Blade Runner
Rob Zombie's Halloween
From Beyond
Terminator 2:Judgement Day
Robocop(The Criterion Collection)
Gladiator
Aliens
Dawn of the Dead(original version)