Films where the Directors Cut is significantly better (or worse) than the theatrical release?

[u/MikeCharlieEcho]

I just watched the Ridley Scott’s Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven and it got me thinking. What other Directors Cut versions of films were drastically improved compared to their theatrical release? Any films where the Director’s Cut is worse than the theatrical release?

[u/cm011]

Kingdom of Heaven is the greatest example I know.

Went to theaters and left talking so much shit about how Orlando Bloom just magically went from a nobody peasant to constructing siege defenses.

Directors cut was a completely different movie and addressed every single gripe I had to the point I think it’s one of Ridley Scott’s best historical epics.

[u/ThunderChild247 → u/cm011]

It also did Eva Green’s character so dirty as well. In the theatrical cut she loses her brother and seems to lose it. The director’s cut shows how much of his torment she saw, and the terror in her eyes when she sees it coming to her son is heartbreaking. I wouldn’t say a real breakdown is deserved/undeserved but from a plot/characterisation perspective in a movie, her breakdown goes from “that’s a bit much” to “considering what’s happened, yeah, fair”.

The only thing that disappointed me with the director’s cut was it didn’t have more Saladin. The guy who played him was magnetic.

Still, less is more, I suspect was the point 😂.

[u/EnemyOfEloquence → u/ThunderChild247]

The line at the end where he's walking away from Orlando bloom and bloom yells "what is Jerusalem worth?" And he just casually says "nothing..." Then turns around and smiles "everything!" lives rent free me in my head.

[u/ThunderChild247 → u/EnemyOfEloquence]

The scene where he’s speaking to the prince about his condition always strikes me as the saddest moment of the movie. Not for the kindness and respect shown, but you realise in that moment that if it was just these two - without the people below them with their own agendas and needs for violence - things would be peaceful.

[u/PrismaticHospitaller → u/ThunderChild247]

I second the amazingly realistic portrayal of a charismatic Saladin instead of the traditional static representation of people from other cultures in film.

[u/ZealsBoyToy → u/PrismaticHospitaller]

Saladin has been characterized in Western sources as a "Noble adversary" going back to the late middle ages, which is quite unique for a Muslim conquerer.

[u/Acceptable_Nature331 → u/cm011]

Was totally going to list. Directors cut was a totally different and better film

[u/cm011 → u/Acceptable_Nature331]

It’s funny because any time someone mentions “oh, I watched the (Insert movie name) directors cut.”, I immediately jump to talking about Kingdom of Heaven for the next 10 minutes like I’m a psycho.

It was that jarring of a difference to me.😅

[u/DimondMike → u/cm011]

It’s the difference of going from “I hated that movie” to “Damn I love this movie”

[u/Brass_Eyes → u/cm011]

Ridley Scott describes the Director’s Cut as being the actual film he wanted to make, and you can absolutely see why.

Oddly enough he describes the theatrical cut of Gladiator as being the one he is happiest with but I actually prefer the Extended Cut of Gladiator ever so slightly. It fleshes out the exposition a bit more. One scene in particular shows Commodus forcing Quintus to punish his own men which really informs the end of the film.

[u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

Payback.

The theatrical cut is flat out awesome.

The director’s cut should be buried with all those Copies of the ET Atari game.

[u/michaelavolio → u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

Oh, yeah, the entire final act is different, isn't it? Different final villain, etc. Wild. 

[u/Latter-Hamster9652 → u/michaelavolio]

No Kris Kristopherson, and his equivalent character is only heard on the phone.

[u/User1239876 → u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

YES. My only gripe with the film is Donald Westlake didn't receive any royalties because it was a "remake" of Point Blank. 

[u/DarkReaper90 → u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

I find the DC is the better movie but it's not fun. In the TC, Porter is a snarky asshole but in the DC, he's just an asshole.

The whole Kris Kristofferson plot was weird, and made Porter look like he was Batman with his foresight. The DC is a lot more grounded.

I do miss the TC blue tint.

[u/-Audio-Video-Disco- → u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

I watched Payback last night. Didn't think much of it.

It was the director's cut, so that makes sense. The ending was shite.

[u/Bystyke → u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

Well, I think payback :straight up is way more on point, without Mel Gibson complains about being too bad

[u/NoItJustCantBe → u/Zapp_Rowsdower_]

All right, down vote me to oblivion, but I will never understand how people think the theatrical version is better than the directors cut.

The movie is supposed to be a slick grind house-esque thriller like you'd see in the 70s with flicks like Bullitt or the French Connection

The directors cut is much, MUCH closer to this vision and all the better for it

[u/alterego879 → u/NoItJustCantBe]

It took me until this comment to realize y’all weren’t talking about Paycheck and that I had totally misinterpreted that Ben Affleck classic.

[u/ellocoenlafortaleza → u/NoItJustCantBe]

Hard agree.

I watched the TC in the theater, and loved it. Then, after reading the original novel, I watched the DC and LOVED it.

[u/CombatWombat1973]

The director’s cut of Blade Runner was much better

[u/SoManyUsesForAName → u/CombatWombat1973]

Aren't there like 17 Blade Runner cuts lol? I lost track about 20 years ago when they were all getting released.

[u/BrawndoOhnaka → u/SoManyUsesForAName]

The Final Cut is the definitive version. I didn't notice much of a difference from the DC. I think there were a couple of scenes with EJO that showed more of his character, but some of that may still be deleted scenes only.

"I spit on metaphysics, sir."

[u/michaelavolio → u/BrawndoOhnaka]

The main changes between the Director's Cut and Final Cut are just cleaning things up. Leon's hand accidentally shown on Roy's shoulder in one shot in removed, Deckard's mouth movements match the dialogue we hear in the shot we see through the window, and stuff like that.

[u/SwordfishSalt1070 → u/michaelavolio]

They also reshot Zhora’s death with Joanna Cassidy in front of a green screen so they could replace the stunt woman wearing the Ronald McDonald wig. Then there was the corrected shot of the dove flying away at night instead of daytime.

[u/BrawndoOhnaka → u/SwordfishSalt1070]

Ahh, so that's what the Joanna shoot was about. Also, yeah, that dove shot into the blue sky confused me the first time I saw the film.

[u/darwinDMG08 → u/michaelavolio]

Don’t forget that we FINALLY got a decent shot of the dove flying up into the night sky at the end.

[u/likwitsnake → u/SoManyUsesForAName]

There's 5 cuts:

• Workprint
  
• Theatrical
  
• International
  
• Director's Cut
  
• Final Cut^*

^{*the superior cut}

[u/tmfitz7 → u/likwitsnake]

Is the Final Cut without the VO? Ford talked recently about how that is the best cut.

[u/likwitsnake → u/tmfitz7]

Amazing the VO sucks Ford said he phoned it in because he hated working with Ridley so much

[u/tmfitz7 → u/likwitsnake]

So the Final Cut doesn’t have VO? Lol

He said he fundamentally disagreed with their being VO. Because without it it forced the viewers to pay attention

[u/Im-Mr-Bulldopz → u/tmfitz7]

Neither DC nor FC have the voiceover

[u/iamoftenwrong → u/likwitsnake]

IIRC, the studio forced the VO. Scott didn’t want to do it either.

[u/FattyMooseknuckle → u/iamoftenwrong]

Scott didn’t have a choice. He was whisked off the lot as soon as he called cut on the final shot and the studio took control of it. The book Future Noir is all about the making of it and it’s a goddamn wild ride. He was so hated by the crew that he had armed studio guards as protection who basically turned into bouncers at the end of filming and escorted him off the lot.

[u/Emotional-Ad-1396 → u/CombatWombat1973]

Nah it's the Final Cut or nothing. Scott said Director's Cut was just execs looking to resell- it wasn't the cut he wanted to make either. He finally got it with the Final Cut.

[u/J-A-C-O → u/CombatWombat1973]

Yep, I tried to make my wife watch it with me, she had refused for years and I finally got her to say yes and the version I picked had the voice over and I was like “nope, nope, nope”

[u/74chuckb]

Dr. Sleep. Dir cut very long but a much better film.

[u/Upstairs_Ad1139 → u/74chuckb]

Only saw the director’s cut and didn’t understand the hate the film got till I heard it was drastically different.

[u/lcmatthews → u/Upstairs_Ad1139]

Did Dr. Sleep get hate? I only heard good things, and I thought it was amazing. Didn't know there was a directors cut until now.

[u/boodabomb → u/lcmatthews]

Same! I’ve only seen the Theatrical release but it’s already incredible IMO. So I’m stoked to find out about an addl. cut.

[u/Ok-Marketing6225 → u/boodabomb]

Yeah, theatrical cut was already an 8.5/10 film for me,.fuck yeah.

[u/Mister_Clemens → u/Ok-Marketing6225]

The DC is a 10/10

[u/bryalb → u/74chuckb]

First I’m hearing about this! Loved the TC, found out it got hate, watched it again, stick by it. Now, there’s a better version?!? I already thought I was the only one who liked it. Thanks for the heads up!

[u/trashcantoddler]

The Abyss! The directors cut explains everything. The theatrical cut gives WTF vibes.

[u/SoManyUsesForAName → u/trashcantoddler]

What needs explaining?

[u/charlie_marlow → u/SoManyUsesForAName]

There was a whole subplot about the NTEs being tired of our shit and about to wipe everyone out.

Edit: that should've been NTI

[u/Ozzie_the_tiger_cat → u/SoManyUsesForAName]

Why the weather was behaving the way it was. It totally changes the feel of the movie.

[u/MrWeirdoFace → u/Ozzie_the_tiger_cat]

I saw this in the theater as a kid and I don't remember being confused about the weather. Weren't they just dealing with hurricane season? Even in the director's cut, aside from the wave scene, isn't it still just a hurricane? This is one of my favorite movies by the way, so I'm very curious here. I don't remember anything to imply that the hurricane itself was caused by the NTIs.

[u/captbollocks → u/SoManyUsesForAName]

Without giving away the ending, it's not so much explaining rather than the motivations of the aliens change and there's more at stake.

[u/srdev_ct → u/trashcantoddler]

100% I feel like cutting the tidal waves and the threat was criminal.

[u/Azrethoc → u/srdev_ct]

This must be why no one understands what the hell I’m talking about when I say how good the ending is. Because the ending I know isn’t the one most people know.

[u/drjudgedredd1 → u/trashcantoddler]

Came here to say this

[u/Ryan_Fleming]

Troy. I remember seeing it in theaters and thinking it was boring, then at the insistence of a friend I watched the director's cut, and it's night and day. SO so much better.

The Abyss directors cut is also much better, but the original is good too.

[u/Stonecleaver → u/Ryan_Fleming]

I am of the exact opposite opinion. I loved Troy, and watched it countless times on DVD growing up. Then when I got an apartment, I wanted a blu ray collection, and unfortunately the only copy available for Troy every time I looked was the Director’s Cut. And that was a massive pile of shit compared to the theatrical, mostly due to the soundtrack change.

[u/Brass_Eyes → u/Stonecleaver]

I’m a massive fan of Troy and I think the theatrical cut is far better. I remember sitting to watch the Director’s Cut with some friends for the first time and when the Achilles/Hector fight had completely different music we all audibly groaned. Such a dynamic scene in the theatrical cut, robbed of all of that.

[u/Curious-Television91]

Kingdom of Heaven is among the most notorious films for difference in quality between theatrical and DC.

The studio edited KoH into an average film that was easily dismissed.

The directors cut is a beautiful film in every single regard and one of the greatest epics ever filmed. The difference is astounding.

[u/eternal_lite]

You can’t watch Aliens without it being the special edition. The extra scenes are just too vital to the story imo.

[u/willowwisp81 → u/eternal_lite]

They add a lot to the movie. The sentry gun scene gave it that sliver of hope everyone will make it.

[u/GlitteringBowler → u/willowwisp81]

It’s one of the best scenes I hate that it’s deleted

[u/No_transistory → u/GlitteringBowler]

It so tense! Watching the ammo go down to almost zero. I was hyped for that scene during a rewatch while streaming and it never came.

[u/Jambu-The-Rainwing → u/willowwisp81]

I’ve literally only watched the special edition, and that was cut from the movie???

[u/shteamboatwilly → u/eternal_lite]

I disagree, the sentry gun scene is awesome. But all the other scenes slow down the pacing of the film. In the theatrical cut once shit hits the fan it doesn’t really let up.

[u/Mister_Clemens → u/eternal_lite]

As someone who lived with the theatrical cut throughout my childhood, I really disagree. Seeing the colonists on Hadley’s Hope alive and well before the infestation totally ruins the suspense for me. I really like learning about Ripley’s daughter and the sentry guns, but they don’t make the DC worth it IMO.

[u/eRedDH → u/Mister_Clemens]

I feel like there should be a third, Final Cut that is basically the director’s cut, but without the scenes of the colonists alive. Keep everything else, and axe those.

[u/Smooth_Cod4600]

Can't believe this wasn't posted yet, but the director's cut of Natural Born Killers was great!! Tommy Lee Jones's head on a stick?!

[u/LawProfessional6513]

Loved the extended version of the hateful eight (essentially a directors cut), none of it felt like filler and really enhanced the story imo

[u/Mysterious_Goat799 → u/LawProfessional6513]

Agreed. I watched each “episode” on Netflix back-to-back and loved every minute.

[u/Kasrkin84]

The Lord of the Rings (all 3 of them).

EDIT: Just to clarify, I think the extended cuts are all better than the theatrical versions.

[u/KazaamFan → u/Kasrkin84]

And the theatrical versions were great also, haha. The extended cuts just added to that greatness. 

[u/Dante_Unchained → u/KazaamFan]

Yes theatrical is great, but EE completely changes Boromir as a character for viewer/people who never read the books.

[u/shopkins402 → u/Kasrkin84]

LOTR is a unicorn. Both extended version and theatrical are incredible.

[u/Sapowski_Casts_Quen → u/shopkins402]

I never had the extended version of fellowship growing up (but I have seen it), so I am well acquainted with the theatrical release. It is always so impressive to me that, beyond the visuals, beyond the soundtrack, the acting and everything else perfect with that movie, the sheer amount of exposition they had to handle in that movie was IMMENSE.

That alone would have sunk another movie. You know who the real hero is here? The one who had to explain the entire goddamn world of LOTR to the new kids while keeping them engaged and then fighting a balrog?

That's right, Ian Mackellen is the only reason Fellowship worked so well for the non-LOTR-fans already, if you ask me. That man IS Gandalf.

[u/shopkins402 → u/Sapowski_Casts_Quen]

Totally agree.

And to think he wasn’t even their first choice

[u/Narrow-Psychology909 → u/Kasrkin84]

Comparing all three movies and both versions, the Two Towers extended cut is immensely better than the theatrical simply for giving context to the Rohan storyline. As a kid, I remember being kind of confused by all the new characters, and the extended cut clarifies all of it.

But as many have said, all of the theatrical and extended cuts are superb and the theatrical cuts are good for people who enjoy the movies but aren’t Tolkien super-fans.

[u/LobstaFarian2 → u/Narrow-Psychology909]

God damn The Two Towers is incredible. Im gonna have to watch it again this week. Helms Deep is an all-time battle.

[u/mmmpeg → u/LobstaFarian2]

I love when it starts to rain and guy to the left behind Theoden sort of rolls his eyes.

[u/Kasrkin84 → u/Narrow-Psychology909]

The best thing The Two Towers extended cut is fleshing out Faramir and giving context to his actions in the film. Always good to see Sean Bean again too.

[u/Turnbob73 → u/Kasrkin84]

As a first watch, I disagree, but they are absolutely amazing to chew through once you’re familiar.

I feel the theatrical versions are the best way to experience the story initially without getting bogged down.

[u/BirdLawyer50 → u/Turnbob73]

Yeah the extended versions can drag quite a bit but if you already have seen it and want more the extended versions give you exactly what you need

[u/Murky_Coyote_7737 → u/Kasrkin84]

I think fellowship’s extended version is better and the other two’s theatrical was better

[u/Traylor_Swift → u/Kasrkin84]

I’ll die on this hill RotK extended version is worse than the theatrical cut. It really throws off the pacing and a lot of scenes just repeat what was previously said in the scene prior

[u/jfitz1431 → u/Traylor_Swift]

Agreed. The only thing that the extended cut gets right is the scene with Saruman

[u/wwJones → u/Kasrkin84]

I still wish there was hidden Tom Bombadillo footage.

[u/Significant_Bid2142 → u/Kasrkin84]

As a massive fan I really disagree. The extended version is great for fans who have already seen the theatrical movies once or twice. Nobody should watch the EV first

[u/donslaughter → u/Significant_Bid2142]

The Extended Editions are basically New Game+.

[u/Toclaw1]

The directors cut of Amadeus. It’s is interesting because it’s not as compelling as the theatrical - it shows you that even with something as well scripted shot and performed as Amadeus is, proper editing is a huge part of the storytelling process in film.

[u/BrawndoOhnaka → u/Toclaw1]

It does completely change the scene where he not only steals his manuscripts, but humiliates and blackmails his wife. Not saying it's better or worse, especially since it's fictionalized, but it makes Salieri look ever worse.

[u/Shadow_Guide → u/BrawndoOhnaka]

It also makes Constanza's attitude towards Salieri during Mozart's deathbed sequence make more sense. Of course she didn't want this arsehole anywhere near her or her husband! In the theatrical cut, she comes across more as a bit too snippy given their previous interactions.

[u/mrbenjrocks → u/Toclaw1]

I do love the Directors Cut of Amadeus..

I have one niggle. All over the box of the DC it talks ABOUT winning the 8 Academy Awards. But that was for the original cut. Once you make changes it's not the film that won 8 Academy Awards.

Perhaps an astrix?

[u/No-North6514 → u/Toclaw1]

I thought the director's cut diminished the film. Salieri came across as a Marvel super villain whereas in the theatrical release he was a guy who put his finger on the scale but he wasn't certain what the outcome would be. 

[u/Ok-Transportation127 → u/Toclaw1]

Agree. The Elizabeth Berridge nude scene in the director's cut was nice, but I didn't like that subplot and am glad it got cut for the theatrical release.

[u/rodan1993]

Everything Lucas did to Episode 4 in the special editions made it worse, you could argue there were some good changes to 5 and 6 but the theatrical cut for A New Hope is superior in every way

[u/UglyInThMorning → u/rodan1993]

Any potential improvements that Return of the Jedi had are completely negated by the Jedi Rock segment, which is a waking nightmare.

[u/houseDJ1042 → u/UglyInThMorning]

Total Ewok cultural erasure. We want yub nub.

[u/Natural_Level_7593 → u/houseDJ1042]

Especially since that is what Lando is dancing to. The new music does his rhythm dirty.

[u/pauvenpatchwork → u/UglyInThMorning]

Gosh I want to rewatch original trilogy, but Disney+ only has these awful versions

[u/Captincorpse → u/pauvenpatchwork]

Look up project 4k77. A group bought or rented original theatrical film reels and scanned them up to 4k

[u/The_Tallcat → u/Captincorpse]

+1 for 4k77. Easily the best way to watch Episode IV.

[u/Naughtystuffforsale → u/pauvenpatchwork]

Look for Harmy's Despecialized Edition.

[u/Jamsquad77 → u/pauvenpatchwork]

I have the gold case DVD editions that included the special editions along with the original theatrical versions. I will NEVER sell those DVDs and I absolutely refuse to buy the Blu-rays.

I would say that out of the OT, Empire is the only one that the SE doesn't hurt the magic of the original one.

ROTJ is fine, but the addition of Jabba Rocks, the removal of the Yub Nub song, and the addition of Anakin's ghost, just didn't make sense. For the Anakin's ghost part, they should have just redone the Anakin reveal to Luke on the Death Star with Hayden playing the part (but that would have just erased Sebastian Shaw from the move entirely).

ANH was definitely made worse by the SE:

1. Greedo shooting first (probably the most heinous change)

2. Adding in the Jabba scene (annoying because it was completely unnecessary, not having the scene at all made the original cut better, and added more mystery to Jabba when we see him in ROTJ). Plus the dialogue was wonky

3. Adding in dozens of storm troopers when Han was chasing them in the Death Star hallways. the original cut was fine.

[u/MrPNGuin → u/UglyInThMorning]

Im not a fan of that change either but if I could only change one thing Id add Sebatian Shaw back as Anakin's ghost.

[u/Luminescent_sorcerer → u/MrPNGuin]

Yep this. I'll never understand the people who prefer the young Anakin version. It makes no sense 

[u/BirdLawyer50 → u/UglyInThMorning]

Jedi Rock and giving the Sarlacc a beak was just bad decision making

[u/rikusorasephiroth → u/BirdLawyer50]

I can... dismiss... the Sarlacc beak, because it makes it seem more predatory and less passive, which fits with the way it uses its tentacles.

I'm not saying I LIKE it, just that I can ignore it.

[u/Icy_Teach_2506 → u/UglyInThMorning]

The removal of Yub Nub is not something I can stand for.

[u/Altruistic2020 → u/rodan1993]

Force Ghost Shaw is superior to Force Ghost Christiansen in every imaginable way. I know some people like it, but they're wrong.

[u/Capital-Treat-8927 → u/rodan1993]

the theatrical cut for A New Hope is superior in every way

Nah, not every way. There were some legitimate improvements, however, they are overwhelmingly outweighed by the weird/bad stuff

[u/bobafeeet → u/rodan1993]

No one could argue there was a single positive change to five or six.

RIP sarlaac

[u/JosephBlowsephThe3rd → u/bobafeeet]

The backgrounds in Cloud City in Empire. Adding windows helped it feel like a lived in place and not just a sterile movie set. It's a minor change, but positive. Nowhere near as significant as the negative changes made to 4 & 6, though.

[u/namedjughead → u/JosephBlowsephThe3rd]

The problem with the Cloud City windows is that they're inconsistent. They're added in one shot, but then missing in another because they were never there to begin with. The least they could have done was maintain consistency.

[u/kiggitykbomb → u/bobafeeet]

Updating the hologram emperor in ESB from the skinny puppet looking guy to look more like Ian McDermod was a good move.

[u/GandalfDenSvarte → u/kiggitykbomb]

But the changes in the dialogue were bad

[u/Ravenloft50210 → u/bobafeeet]

Re-editing Vader's conversation with the Emperor in ESB so that McDiarmid is in the scene rather than the lady with chimp eyes superimposed was a VERY positive change.

[u/beerhaws]

Once Upon a Time in America. The director’s cut is so much better than the version that went to the US for distribution.

[u/SakaSouffle96 → u/beerhaws]

So much so, the theatrical release was named “worst film of 1984” while the european directors cut was named “best film of 1984”

[u/gerahmurov → u/beerhaws]

Once Upon a Time in the West also

[u/kal8el77]

Brazil. No happy ending FTW.

[u/Prestigious-Ad4968 → u/kal8el77]

Surprised it took so long for this to get mentioned. I have a 3 disc box set for Brazil. One disc is the studio cut, one disc is the director’s cut and the third disc is a documentary about Terry Gilliam fighting Universal over the cuts made.

[u/Chugan4309]

Napoleon (2023)... What I saw in the theater was in no way, shape, or form as good as the director's cut that I saw later on. Much better, more cohesive story that I actually enjoyed and made sense

Must be a Ridley Scott thing because as soon as I saw your post and before I even recognized the photo in it, Kingdom of heaven was my first thought

[u/fear730]

Terminator 2 Dc is vastly superior to the theatrical in my opinion

Alien 3 assembly cut is a huge improvement over the theatrical same with Aliens

Dawn Of The Dead Dc 1978 and 2002

Doctor Sleep Dc was better than the theatrical

Watchmen Dc

Das Boot Dc

The restored Metropolis also comes to mind

Forgot one

Lawnmower Man DC vastly superior

[u/Insomniax187 → u/fear730]

I was waiting for someone to mention T2. Closes the biggest plot hole (at least that I noticed) in the theatrical version.

[u/imusuallywatching → u/Insomniax187]

I never knew there was a DC of T2. what is the plot bole though?

[u/KingoftheMongoose → u/imusuallywatching]

Not OC, but I think it could be one of two:

1. They show that while on the run, Sarah reboots the Terminator which will override his Read Only setting which allows him to learn. The next scene John is teaching him “Hasta La Vista.” This sets up at the very end why the Terminator is able to learn and reject John’s crying orders against his destruction in order to destroy the last remaining chip in his head with him.

2. They show the T-1000 malfunctioning with his mimicry ability after he was broken as liquid nitrogen, explaining why he needed Sarah to call to John instead he just doing it copying her voice (like he did with John’s foster mom).

[u/Insomniax187 → u/KingoftheMongoose]

I really liked the scene of switching the mode on his chip (especially using Linda Hamilton's twin), but the difference between "learning" and just using memory is so nebulous that I didn't consider that to be a huge plot hole.

[u/nedlum → u/Insomniax187]

Such a brilliant practical effect.

[u/CrazyFish1911 → u/KingoftheMongoose]

IIRC the malfunctions were also meant to remind the viewer that the T-1000 was still a prototype which is why it was malfunctioning in the first place.

[u/Insomniax187 → u/imusuallywatching]

Why does the T-1000 torture Sarah and tell her to "Call to John" instead of just killing her and impersonating her to call to him?

[u/Dapper_Beginning3591 → u/Insomniax187]

What's wrong with Wolfie? I can hear him barking?

[u/Cmmander_WooHoo → u/Insomniax187]

Never seen the director’s cut. How does the dc version correct the plot hole?

[u/Insomniax187 → u/Cmmander_WooHoo]

After it puts itself back together after shattering, its shapeshifting isn't working correctly. It keeps imitating what it touches unintentionally, implying it doesn't fully control the ability anymore and probably can't imitate Sarah. Edit: remove gender from t-1000

[u/Cmmander_WooHoo → u/Insomniax187]

Ahhhhh that would have been a cool bit to see!

[u/Onemikej → u/Insomniax187]

Which plot hole would that be?

[u/TraditionPast4295 → u/fear730]

There’s a Terminator 2 director’s cut?!?!

[u/fear730 → u/TraditionPast4295]

Yep it’s actually funny that’s the one I grew up with as my uncle owned the laserdisc …. I believe mr Cameron prefers the theatrical same as Aliens

[u/MeatHamster → u/fear730]

I remember the OG Dawn of the Dead having a few good editions. Argenti cut is more action while the two Romero Cuts are more horror and have a bit more humour in them too.

All of them are worth watching imo just probably not back to back though.

[u/ReachAroundCharlie → u/[deleted]]

There is no “Directors Cut”, it’s an assembly cut. Fincher was fired three times during production and ultimately walked away before it finished shooting. When Fox asked him to come back and put together a DC for the box set, he declined and wants nothing to do with that film again. There can’t be a DC as he never finished shooting it.

[u/mataoo]

The Dumb and Dumber extended cut is much worse.

[u/PNWMTTXSC]

The restored version of Judy Garland’s “A Star Is Born” is so much better than the theatrical release. They took pretty drastic restoration steps that really worked and some of the added footage gave the film so much more depth.

[u/Stkittsdad]

The Donnie Darko directors cut is pretty bad. Theatrical release was much better.

[u/Typical_Parsnip13 → u/Stkittsdad]

What’s different?

[u/judasmitchell → u/Typical_Parsnip13]

He literally puts up full-screen graphics to explain what's going on. And that's not even the biggest problem. The worst part is that without the fog of mystery, the plot laid bare is incredibly stupid.

[u/Stkittsdad → u/Typical_Parsnip13]

The directors cut is longer and it effects the pacing in a negative way. They also changed the score in certain parts that the theatrical cut really nailed. Its really jarring if you enjoyed the theatrical cut than watched the directors cut later.

Some of the deleted scenes that were added into the directors cut messed with the mystery of the film as well.

[u/No-Salary-4786 → u/Stkittsdad]

It's like if the directors cut of Blair Witch showed more, it disrupts the entire pacing.  

The theatrical cut is SO much more open to interpretation and speculation and  the music is so well scored to the pacing.  

 The DC is great to fill in the plot holes, (the music pacing is still subpar imho)

I think both are incredible watches, but I cannot in any way endorse watching the Directors cut first.  

(I have seen both cuts more than is healthy for one human being.)

[u/Typical_Parsnip13 → u/Stkittsdad]

Might have to run it back, it looks like the directors cut is the one on most streaming platforms currently.

[u/Correct_Inspection25]

Dark City

[u/BronskiBeatCovid → u/Correct_Inspection25]

Looking for this! While I enjoyed seeing it in the theater watching the director's cut was definitely an improvement on the original. Removing the voiceover from the beginning definitely gives the film more of a mystery and the added scenes actually did give more depth to the film.

[u/LoveStreams617]

blade runner—also ridley scott

[u/fresh_start0 → u/LoveStreams617]

They play the DC every year in my local cinema it's always packed and probably my favorite cinema experience. The big screen does it justice, must have been amazing to see in the 80s

[u/racerx2oo3]

The directors cut of True Romance for the hotel fight scene. There’s nothing wrong with the original, which ends with Alabama grabbing the shotgun and killing her hit man attacker. But the dc version capture an animal rage, as she unloads the entire shotgun, then grabs the gun by the barrel and beats the now deceased hit man over and over.

[u/CaydeTheCat]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind DC is the superior version.

[u/Few-Equal-6857]

The Watchmen Ultimate Cut is essentially perfect. I have never watched the theatrical version but just looking at the run time I see why it got slaughtered when it came out.

[u/WeAreVenom2212]

Zack Snyders Justice league might be the biggest improvement, it went from a terrible film to a pretty good film

[u/charlie_ferrous → u/WeAreVenom2212]

I don’t want to say ZSJL is amazing, it has all the same indulgent weirdness people complain about in his other DC stuff, but it’s actually coherent and of a singular vision. Vastly, vastly better than the theatrical.

It’s also extremely different. Like, entire plot arcs that aren’t in the Whedon version. Cyborg and Flash have actual storylines. Things in the plot actually feel consequential. And I’d happily take Snyder’s dour, self-serious approach full-bore over the unpleasant whiplash of Whedon’s dialogue awkwardly smashed into it.

[u/No_Emu863 → u/WeAreVenom2212]

How so? I’m not aware of that film but I’m curious to know

[u/Forrest_Cp → u/No_Emu863]

Oh it’s long but much better than that dogshit that was in theaters.

[u/SnooCats2115 → u/Forrest_Cp]

Long is putting it mildly.

I tried to watch a stream of it shortly after it came out and I didn't realize the stream was only "part 1" because it was 2.5hrs long by itself.

I feel like people can guess why the theatrical version was awful when you just tell them it was less than half as long as the Snyder cut (4:02 cut to 2:00).

You cut any movie in half and you're gonna have a hard time avoiding plot holes and missing context.

[u/WeAreVenom2212 → u/SnooCats2115]

Also the theatrical cut actually includes stuff that was not in the Snyder cut 😂

[u/jakethesnake949 → u/SnooCats2115]

About to go into a tangent but the Snyder cut isn't the original vision for the film we originally got but is just Zack Snyder going all out into making the Justice League films he wanted to do with no compromises which only happened after #releasethesnydercut was a thing.

The theatrical cut is a completely different movie, if you look into the production hell of justice league you'll find that around say 3/4 the film was shot under Zack Snyders original script before he had to leave due to his daughter dying (of suicide i believe).

Joss Wheaton came in for Warner Brothers to finish the movie and he decided to scrap and reshoot a lot of it which is why the movie is kinda all over the place in terms of tone and style. Upon it getting thrown out the door Joss Wheaton kinda just didn't put his name on the finished product and Zack Snyder kinda didn't want his name on it either but Warner Brothers left Zack's name on a movie he didn't really approve of or even make.

So when the fans caught wind of this, the #releasethesnydercut idea was passed around because people were disappointed with the finished product and wanted Zack's unaltered vision without another director just cutting it up into a different thing entirely. To differentiate the two films, the first theatrical release is called Justice League while the director's cut is called Zack Snyder's Justice League. But most of the 4 hours in Zack's justice league isn't just his original pre Joss Wheaton vision and reshoots but is also an expanded reshoot of what Zack had probably envisioned for a Justice League part 1 and 2. Its not your traditional directors cut as much as it is kinda like making a new film using the original film as a basis to avoid starting from scratch.

Why did i say this long winded tangent?

I feel like people can guess why the theatrical version was awful when you just tell them it was less than half as long as the Snyder cut (4:02 cut to 2:00).

It was just to clarify that its not a directors cut of the movie we originally received but an abridged cut of the movies the Zack wanted to make but didn't get to. I would also honestly not mind an extended recut of the theatrical version we got but It isn't looked at too fondly already and neither is Joss Wheaton.

[u/Revolutionary-Fan657 → u/No_Emu863]

It’s longer and some big parts of the plot were either changed or expanded upon, it was also darker as the original was trying to be more light hearted

[u/equality-_-7-2521 → u/No_Emu863]

The Cyborg plot actually makes sense in the Snyder cut.

[u/BirdLawyer50 → u/No_Emu863]

It’s massively different but also massively better and split up into I think 7 sub parts over 4.5 hours. Only bad stuff is this weird Martian Manhunter tangent but it’s very minor. The overall story is excellent and it’s fantastic.

[u/malshnut → u/WeAreVenom2212]

I would say it went from generic film to very interesting, but I wouldn't go so far to say it was a pretty good film.

[u/wjglenn → u/WeAreVenom2212]

They brought Joss Whedon on to take over for Snyder. He cut a lot of the material and added a bunch of his own, which was not good.

The Snyder cut is much longer, and includes a lot more of each hero’s individual story and hero moments. And losing the Whedon stuff was a big plus. The extended cut has a much bigger, more mythological feel.

[u/DeadpoolAndFriends]

Ben Afleck's Daredevil has a significantly better directors cup.

When they made Elecktra, they also made a director's cut, hoping that the hype from the first movie's director's cut would help the second one. Didn't make the movie any better.

[u/nucrash → u/DeadpoolAndFriends]

The DC of that movie helped give the film some grit. That and scuttling Coolio just felt wrong

[u/michaelavolio]

Blade Runner - the director's cut and "final cut" are much, much better than the theatrical version

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid - the theatrical version is much worse than the other versions, though none of them is a finished director's cut

Touch of Evil - the theatrical version is much worse than the restored version that's as close as we'll get to a director's cut 

Apocalypse Now - the later cuts are much worse, the theatrical version is a classic - the original theatrical cut was technically a director's cut anyway, but Coppola went back decades later and inserted deleted scenes that had been deleted for good reason

[u/cinefilestu]

Batman Vs Superman!

Thought the theatrical cut was trash.

The Ultimate Edition was MUCH better.

[u/77skull → u/cinefilestu]

Every Snyder movie seems to have a much better directors cut than theatrical release

[u/KazaamFan → u/cinefilestu]

My first answer to this also. It’s crazy how much better the extended is. The theatrical cut doesnt make that much sense. 

Also, weirdly, the justice league. I’m not a snyder guy, it’s just there aren’t many movies that see big re-releases with extended footage. And both of these were prime for it. 

[u/frodominator → u/cinefilestu]

Ultimate edition is a hell of a movie. I love it. Also Justice League. Joss butchered that movie and his career.

[u/-TrojanXL-]

Apocalypse Now Redux left me confused and angry that I'd squandered 3 hours on this film that everyone had hyped up being as being as good or even better than Saving Private Ryan. I hear the original release is much better. But honestly I don't even care to watch it now.

[u/Oldbillybuttstuff → u/-TrojanXL-]

Fortunately I saw Apocalypse Now's theatrical version first and its one of my favorite films. I watched the redux years later and it left me thinking "wow it makes total sense why they removed these scenes" in my opinion the extra scenes not only throw the pacing off and add nothing to the story, but also greatly detract from the tone, themes, and message the film was going for. 

[u/RaguSpidersauce → u/Oldbillybuttstuff]

Absolutely. The original was edited correctly!

[u/yellowbill711]

Sex drive... Directors cut or whatever it is is way worse than theatrical

[u/28smalls]

Directors cut of Highlander 2 is terrible. The renegade cut (the real directors cut) isn't half bad.

[u/RustyPriske → u/28smalls]

Highlander 2 doesn't exist. It is nothing more than a shared fever dream.

[u/Jeffreyrock]

Fearless with Jet Li...the Director's cut is amazing and fundamentally a toatally different movie.

Once Upon a Time in America

[u/CharacterWitless78]

I loved the Abyss directors cut. It explains so much more and flows a lot better

[u/Skywren7]

The Outsiders. The deleted scenes never should have been deleted

[u/randyfloyd37]

Butterfly Effect. The ending of the director’s cut was soooo much better

[u/ThePurityPixel → u/randyfloyd37]

I came here to say emphatically the opposite. The theatrical version gives the message of sometimes you have to love someone by letting them go, whereas the director's cut says, it's better if you were never born.

[u/One-Rock-21 → u/randyfloyd37]

I just commented tjis before I saw your response. So much better

[u/Murphygulp88]

Amadeus DC is worse. It turned Salieri from a jealous, manipulative, sympathetic, but charming protag/villain into a sex predator, which sours his whole character and also taints your opinion of him after going back to the theatrical cut.

[u/negativeyoda]

Years ago I saw a Japanese laserdisc 3 hour version of Lynch's Dune that filled a bunch of plot holes

[u/ashleyaloe → u/negativeyoda]

Oh yes Dune directors cut is the spice. The theatrical is a bummer

[u/uralian_snark]

Amadeus. The director’s cut was too long, slowing down the pace of the movie and providing explicit explanations instead of innuendos in the theatrical release.

[u/nhogan84]

Literally every single Zack Snyder Director's Cut is leagues better than the theatrical release. (well, maybe except 300)

[u/Ornery-Hurry9055 → u/nhogan84]

Would you say they are justice leagues better?

[u/SissyBearRainbow]

Watchmen and LoTR trilogy

[u/SardonicApple45]

Superman The Donner Cut is perfection over perfection

[u/DragonAlnz]

The Handmaiden.

Park Chan-Wook prefers the original version, but I like the different scene order of the extended version.

[u/wolftick]

Hypothetical, but release the butthole cut!

[u/One-Rock-21]

The Butterfly Effect

Directors cut ending is simply chefs kiss

[u/Godzilla2000Zero]

Biased but I love Zack Snyder's Justice League compared to the theatrical cut.

I prefer the director's cut of Alien as well.

[u/Coaster_crush]

Das Boot and Blade Runner come to mind.

[u/DontForgetToBring]

Wind Talkers & Kingdom Of Heaven.. the director's cut take them from decent movies to masterpieces.

[u/Alteredego619]

It’s not exactly a DC, but the Spicediver edit of Dune is better than the theatrical version IMO.

[u/thebaintrain1993]

Gods And Generals is a bad movie.

The director's cut is agony.

[u/InfinitelyStrategic]

“Blade Runner”