Is a 'director's cut' ever a good idea?

[romerojpg]

Spartacus and Full Metal Jacket only for me. The ones that dont get all the praise and love then like his "Best" seem to all the time.

[grim_tales]

Spartacus and FMJ are highly praised

[romerojpg]

Not compared to 2001 and The Shining.

[saltysam]

The Shining is a great movie.

[bradavon]

The Shining is great. I think the LOTRs films are DCs, Jackson appears to "imply" they are on the discs. Not that he uses the DC phrase.

Universal marketed the expanded cut of The Frighteners as 'the director's cut' despite the fact that Jacksin claims several times on the disc that it's not.

Why the fuck did he let them get away with that?

[Markgway]

Why the fuck did he let them get away with that?

[Yi-Long]

I usually favour the DC over anything else, as long as it's the director's own vision and he has made that cut for the right reasons.

However, Ashes of Time REDUX springs to mind as a 'DC' that felt completely unnecessary, and more like an excuse for WKW and the studios to re-release a long lost gem that was overlooked when it came out, but now could have scored with a bigger audience by re-releasing it again now that wuxia/chinese epics seemed to gain some attention and slight popularity among the arthouse-crowd here in the west....

Now, I don't mind re-releasing old gems. Far from it. I'm actually surprised that old classics aren't screened again in theaters more often. HOWEVER, in this case WKW took it upon himself to tamper with the brilliant original, make it a bit less confusing with some edits and cuts, adding some title-screens, and worst of all screwing over the brilliant original soundtrack with a Yoyo Ma remix...

... which are all things that the movie didn't need. And yeah, I heard his excuse for doing what he did (original footage/sound in bad state), but I don't buy it.

Same goes for George Lucas btw. He had some nice Star Wars movies a long time ago. And then he goes back to them nowadays and tampers a bit with them, adding mediocre CGI and all that, which do more to take you OUT of the experience than to keep you in it.

So going back to a movie you made after it's already been out for years (and loved by many), and the first release was already YOUR vision to begin with (like Ashes of Time, like Star Wars trilogy, etc), then you should just leave it the fuck alone!

If it was cut and fucked up by the studios, sure, go ahead and go back in there and change it. If it was YOUR cut that was already released, then don't 2nd guess yourself after a bunch of years.

[Shingster]

I think Ashes of Time is a special case in that you can obviously argue it's a case of a director losing his perspective X number of years after the original, but you can just as farily point out that WKW was clearly unsure about the original cut back when it was released. The longer HK cut is one of my all time favourites, but I also think the film is strong enough that its class shines through even after all the Redux alterations (same too for Frankie's score).

[luckystars]

Ashes of Time redux is on my watch list just to compare the two. I like what WKW appears to have done, changing atheistic of the movie is a brave step. Plus I have more faith in WKW than William Friedkin


Aliens is one film that really suffers for the DC. Cameron made a good choice cutting most of the into to the film

[Yi-Long]

I think Ashes of Time is a special case in that you can obviously argue it's a case of a director losing his perspective X number of years after the original, but you can just as farily point out that WKW was clearly unsure about the original cut back when it was released. The longer HK cut is one of my all time favourites, but I also think the film is strong enough that its class shines through even after all the Redux alterations (same too for Frankie's score).

I believe the original HK-cut was rushed out to meet a deadline, and WKW immediately went to work on the longer cut...!? So he had already fixed it.

And obviously when you break a perfect diamond in multiple pieces, it will still have it's worth, but personally I'd prefer to keep the diamond intact. Especially when there was no reason to fuck it up....

[gasteropod]

Aliens is one film that really suffers for the DC. Cameron made a good choice cutting most of the into to the film

When I watched the theatrical cut the other month I was shocked at the bits that were missing (because I'd previously seen the special edition), but then when I watched the special edition recently, I felt it dragged too much. So I think I prefer the theatrical actually.

[romerojpg]

Nah ALIENS longer cut is better, apart from one scene the family finding the ship. Snip that out and it would have been perfection.

[luckystars]

Nah ALIENS longer cut is better, apart from one scene the family finding the ship. Snip that out and it would have been perfection.

That's the scene I hate!

[romerojpg]

While we know what is coming later (as we have all seen it many times) it still feels a bit wrong in the film in that moment.
I love most the other bits and bobs, they help the film and the guns especially really pump some action into the middle (even if we see very little haha).

[bradavon]

Agreed with Romero. I prefer the Aliens Extended Cut but the family scene is awful and ruins the later finding Newt scene

If it was cut and fucked up by the studios, sure, go ahead and go back in there and change it. If it was YOUR cut that was already released, then don't 2nd guess yourself after a bunch of years.

Star Wars wasn't Lucas's original vision. Obviously he should've left them alone but it's not how he originally wanted them.

I've yet to see Ashes of Time: Redux but the original isn't exactly a perfect film. It doesn't make much sense in places, not helped by the barely watchable DVDs.

[luckystars]

I was happy to see the Jabba, and the Biggs scene in Star Wars but that was it.

All the other tweaks ruined the perfect synergy of the soundtrack and editing of the original cut.

[bradavon]

I cannot stand Jabba in Star Wars: ANH. He looks so out of place and tiny compared to the Jabba in Jedi.

[luckystars]

Yes but the scene with Harrison Ford is awesome

[bradavon]

Like Aliens, the things better about the Star Wars Special Editions are overshadowed by the negatives. In other words, I preferred them before. The films were made in the late 1970s/early 1980s. No one expects perfection.

[HungFist]

The films were made in the late 1970s/early 1980s. No one expects perfection.

And how exactly is that related to perfection?

[romerojpg]

No crap CGI

[HungFist]

Well, that's what I was thinking, too. Films used to be better back when there were less methods to screw up.

[bradavon]

That's basically what I meant and yes agreed Hung.

[jimmythegent]

Are Director Cuts better?

Payback - Straight Up is a completely different vision than the mangled theatrical version and approximates what the director intended - before being fired. He did have to reconstruct it after the fact, but only using pre-existing footage. It is rougher, more violent, and it makes more sense. A perfect example of star / management tampering.

That Thing You Do - I watched the original 20 or so times before the Extended version was released. The expense of the new release was no doubt justified by the recent stardom of Charlize Theron, with many of her scenes on the cutting room floor. Nevertheless, even as the film was great before, it is now sublime in it's new incarnation. Most of the additional footage is occurs early on and is character based, but it adds so much weight to the overall affect.

Almost Famous - Another rock 'n roll epic that is much more meaningful in the full director's cut. This is what he wanted, and the tale is semi-autobiographic. It's what I want, as well.

True Romance - The DC is not a must have, but there are lots of interesting extraneous material including the nude candlelight bathtub scene, and the fact that he is praising Spider Man #1, not that war comic. The DC is highly recommended.

The Big Sleep - The pre-release version is far superior to the theatrical version, but once Bacall became a star they had to have more B&B romance. They threw out plot, characters, whatever to gain her more screen time for retake footage. The original works much better as a movie.

Army Of Darkness - Everybody knows this one: content better, audio/visual worse.

Aliens - I agree with most of the other posters. DC is better in all respects save the family exploration scene that should have been left out.

The Cage vs. The Menagerie - I think this qualifies, as some Trekkies / Trekkers prefer the two part episode release, but I don't for a second. I watched Star Trek first run (from the premier onward) and wondered at the time what became of the source of the 'old' footage in The Menagerie. The ballyhoo of the release of the Roddenberry work print in Black & White (with color Menagerie inserts) was impressive. But, the discovery of the complete original color print of The Cage [shortly thereafter] was a major event in the Trek universe, and there is no question in my mind which is superior.

The Good The Bad and the Ugly - What we have here is the original Italian release versus the US version. The biggest difference is a long Tuco segment which is not essential, but it is fascinating. I vote for the extended version.

Kill Bill - The Whole Bloody Affair - Well, it never came to be, but I was certainly looking forward to the director's cut of this one.

The Warriors - I have the original DVD [and VHS] release and have never watched the DC, so I cannot comment, except that it would be nice to have the original Coney Island prologue that was only included in the subdued TV release. They had to have something to fill the time in since they cut so much out. Apparently Walter Hill didn't consider the scene a keeper.

Chained Heat - The extended version includes much more sex, which is quite interesting if unnecessary. Then the two trims include an extraneous shock shot (needle injection) but also the precredits shooting of the rape victim in the back. We see who did it and the rapture with which she did so. Changes the whole dynamic of the movie from the viewer's perspective of that character. But not anymore.

jimmythegent

[Keung]

The Warriors DC has comic book transitions between some scenes. That's about it.