Tell Us Now: 20 Director's Cuts That Totally Leveled Up Ho-Hum Theatrical Releases

This Alan Smithee guy is gonna be huge.
Tell Us Now: 20 Director's Cuts That Totally Leveled Up Ho-Hum Theatrical Releases

In case you missed it, we recently remade the trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League, for a mere $20!

And that raises a good question: are director's cuts really worth all the hype and fuss? We asked Cracked readers on Facebook and YouTube about their favorite (and least favorite) director's cuts, and, well, they really loved Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven.

TELL US NOW. Superbad CRACKED Eric H. says they managed to include even more potent quotables: I'm just drilling holes, it's the last two weeks, f* it!
TELL US NOW. Brazil CRACKED Madeline W. says They butchered the film sO badly in the original release, Terry Gilliam took out an ad in Variety lambasting the studio for it.
TELL US NOW. Dune tte ETTETER UTARLTE TTTE L tItart CRACKED Jason L. nominates the Alan Smithee cut so-named specifically because David Lynch didn't want to be associated with it: maybe this would be an anti-director's cut.
TELL US NOW. I Am Legend CRACKED Geri says the alternate ending in the director's cut single-handedly changed the entire meaning of the movie. It went from a man who could never get over his revenge to a man who comes to terms with the circumstances he's in and does
TELL US NOW. The Butterfly Effect GRAGKED Da t fatat Jaco T. calls the theatrical version pure bullcrap compared to the pure genius directors' cut: The ending is masterful and sad beyond all sense and reason.
TELL US NOW. The Hobbit Trilogy CRACKED Not a director's cut, per se, but Valter U. wants to shout out the super human that made The Hobbit Cut, transforming 9 hours of bullsh into 2:30 hrs of a cohesive movie. Damian agrees: The Hobbit Trilogy was completely unf*d by the
TELL US NOW. Apocalypse NOw CRACKED Cairo T. tips their hat to Francis Ford Coppola's Redux: The whole location of the French plantation within the Vietnamese forests adds a strong historical element, and perpetuates the 'dream/nightmare' feeling of the movie
TELL US NOW. Bad Santa CRACKED Hear him out; Stewart M. calls Terry Zwigoff's cut surprisingly good, as it has a more consistent /grounded tone and makes BBT'S character more sympathetic. It feels like a MUCH different film.
TELL US NOW. The Abyss CRACKED Gabriel Z. says the theatrical cut just kind of... pretended the Berlin Wall never happened: They cut everything related to Cold War tensions, because the Berlin Wall came down just before the movie's release. But that was integral to the aliens' motivations.
TELL US NOW. Mystery Men ITE CRACKED Brian W. says the Long Winded Cut' finally made it all make sense: I really needed to know more of the Bowler's back story for context.
TELL US NOW. Nightbreed CRACKED Adam N. says the bigwigs ruined it: You could tell the theatrical version was gutted by the studio. The director's cut adds in a solid 20 minutes of new scenes that help pad it out and let you spend more time with the main characters.
TELL US NOW. Daredevil CRACKED Adam N. says he digs the director's cut, and it seems like even the studio agrees, since the version of the film they released on Blu-Ray was the director's cut.
TELL US NOW. The Godfather Saga The 33 PARTII Godfalher CRAGKED Alec G. likes this one for the 4D experience: The first two films are re-edited to be in chronological order, sO it starts with the De Niro scenes.
TELL US NOW. Blade Runner CRACKED Magnus B. absolutely flipped the dang script on us: Blade Runner is imo one of the few movies where the director's cut is WORSE than the original. I want the voice-over, and I do NOT want the unicorn dream sequence. And nope, Deckard is
TELL US NOW. Aliens CRAGKED Bob L. says James Cameron's cut includes some important context: Ripley is told her daughter passed away during her 57 years adrift in space. James D. says, at the end of the day, it's what the academy saw and earned Sigourney Weaver her Oscar nomination.
TELL US NOW. Troy CRACKED Wolfgang Petersen's extended, unrated cut finally slaked Steven C's bloodlust, with additional scenes of combat, and didn't skimp on the violence that had to be cut for a PG-13 audience when it ran in theaters.
TELL US NOW. The Mist CRACKED Brian S. accidentally watched Frank Darabont's cut entirely in black-and-white-- first: When we rented it, someone had stolen the regular version. I thought (the director's cut) built a strong sense of dread. When I found the theatrical release, the monsters seemed cartoonish and ridiculous.
TELL US NOW. Kingdom of Heaven CRAGKED According to Alex C, Ridley Scott's cut reveals a crucial B-story: the subplot of Sibylla's son and the final fight with Guy flesh out the story in a much-needed way. Mathew P. puts it a slightly different way: the theatrical cut turns it
TELL US NOW. Terminator 2: Judgement Day CRACKED Adam C. says James Cameron's cut elevates an already classic film. In particular, the scene of Sarah taking the chip out of Arnie's head alone is worth the viewing.
TELL US NOW. Dark City CRACKED Daniel s. says they fully missed the mark with the theatrical version: starts with a spoiler-filled voice over that ruins the mystery and intrigue saturating the film's atmosphere.
Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

VIRAL ON CRACKED

A WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF
JOKES + TRIVIA

Forgot Password?