A director’s cut is pretty much the same movie but with added footage that may or may not enhance the movie in some way that fans might really appreciate since it’s typically bound to show added scenes that explain what happens later on and therefore make the story flow a little easier. Unfortunately it’s become a trend these days, and many people appear to be calling for a director’s cut in order to improve upon movies that they expected to be great and were utter flops or simply didn’t live up to their expectations. The sad fact is that it’s not every movie that can be improved upon by showing a director’s cut, though there are some that turned out a little better since they showed a little more of the story that helped to explain what was going on or connected the dots in a way that people enjoyed. But a director’s cut isn’t a magic wand that can repair damaged expectations and hope to make the audience change their mind about a movie. If anyone is about to reference the Snyder Cut, then just know that, despite popular belief, there are plenty of people that feel it’s still garbage, just a much longer version of the same garbage.
Here are a few movies that were actually improved by a director’s cut.
5. Doctor Sleep
The book by Stephen King, which is a very direct sequel to The Shining, was actually a lot better than the movie, and even the ending was better, which is highly unusual. But the original movie ending wasn’t too horrible, even if it didn’t really allow the main protagonist, Dan Torrance, to finally exorcise the demons of his past and keep going. But the manner in which the theatrical version went about doing things was still fun and did keep mostly to the book. The director’s cut simply added to it without destroying what had already been laid down. If anything, the director’s cut made it even better with only a few minor additions.
4. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
One thing that really stands out about this is that Saruman was basically holed up in his tower and there was no mention of what happened to him since by the end of the book he’d received the comeuppance that a lot of people would have paid well to see. In Tolkien’s version, Saruman didn’t simply get isolated in his tower by the Ents and left to his own devices. He actually made his way to the Shire and was killed by Wormtongue at one point. There were other additions that didn’t take away from the overall movie but enhanced it just enough to give people an added thrill that helped to further the enjoyment.
3. I Am Legend
So much of the movie was spent making the monsters out as the problem and as the enemy that needed to be guarded against and possibly eliminated or cured. But the fact is that the ‘monsters’ saw Will Smith’s character as the monster since he not only shot them when needed, he abducted one of them and performed tests on her that were, to him, meant to offer up a cure that would be beneficial to the humans still living throughout the world. But to the creatures, who had evolved in ways that fostered a community that wasn’t perfect but was their own, he was the antagonist. By taking the final showdown and twisting it to be less final the movie took on a very different meaning.
2. The Godfather II
The additional scenes that depict Vito Corleone taking out those that harmed his family were great since they really showed his rise to power in a very brutal but necessary way. There were other scenes that made this movie stand out in a much bigger way obviously, but those scenes, in particular, were great since they made it clear that Vito was not a man to be messed with in his youth. The first movie is still going to be counted as the best among them since it started everything off, but the second movie is very close to being labeled as the best in the trilogy, especially since it’s the bridge between the first and third movies in more than one way.
1. Blade Runner
It feels as though the director’s cut and the theatrical release are a little too close to call in this instance, but that’s an argument for another day since there are plenty of differences between the two, and the director’s cut definitely made this movie feel a lot more fleshed out than it might have otherwise been. Considering how far and wide this movie has stretched over the years and how many people still argue over the finer details, it’s fair to say that a lot of folks might have watched the director’s cut without ever knowing it.
Not every movie needs a director’s cut, but some benefit from it.
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