Directors cut what is

Watch it in its entirety right now! While the majority of movies were still released theatrically, a couple movies were notably re-released with changes. George Lucas turned one of his student films, THX , into a feature in That version included newly-made computer generated imagery , along with a new digital remaster of the preexisting footage.

Even though he had coveted final cut privileges, he was not fully satisfied with the released version. According to Spielberg, he wanted more time to work on it, but the studio wanted the movie released ASAP.

The film was a massive hit, giving him the opportunity to finish it to his satisfaction. Re-released in , this version of Close Encounters was mandated to include an extended ending that Spielberg was very opposed to.

This Special Edition was the only version available on home video until The Criterion Collection released both cuts on LaserDisc in The original run time was over minutes and later re-cut to be just under minutes.

It's also considered the final nail in the coffin for the celebrated New Hollywood era. James Cameron became one of the more notable film directors to add deleted scenes to his movies. The added scenes provided more character development and extended sequences that were removed by the studio. Here's a thorough breakdown of the differences between the theatrical and James Cameron's "special edition" aka Director's Cut. The film had major production problems before being released in to mixed critical response and lukewarm box office results.

This led to Warner Bros. Send us feedback. See more words from the same year. Accessed 11 Nov. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of director's cut. Early examples of films released in this manner include Michael Cimino 's Heaven's Gate , where a longer cut was recalled from theaters but subsequently shown on cable and eventually released to home video; James Cameron 's Aliens , where a video release restored 20 minutes the studio had insisted on cutting; James Cameron 's The Abyss , where Cameron voluntarily made cuts to the theatrical version for pacing but restored them for a video release; Shim Hyung-rae 's Yonggary , where Shim made cuts to the theatrical version for how close to the American Godzilla it was and added in aliens and another monster, Cyker.

That version was released stateside as Reptilian and, most famously, Ridley Scott 's Blade Runner , where an alternate workprint version was released to fan acclaim, ultimately resulting in the recut, the first film to use the term "Director's Cut" as a marketing description and the first time it was used to describe a cut that the director was not involved in preparing.

Once distributors discovered that consumers would buy alternate versions of films, it became common for films to receive multiple releases. There is no standardization for labelling, leading to so-called "director's cuts" of films despite where the director prefers the theatrically released version, or when the director had actual final cut privilege.

These were often assembled by simply restoring deleted scenes, sometimes adding as much as a half-hour to the length of the film without regard to pacing and storytelling. As a result, the "director's cut" is often considered a mixed bag, with an equal share of supporters and detractors. Roger Ebert approved of the use of the label in unsuccessful films that had been tampered with by studio executives, such as Sergio Leone 's original cut of Once Upon a Time in America , [2] and the moderately successful theatrical version of Daredevil , [citation needed].

However, Ebert considers adding such material to a successful film a waste. This generally happens when a distributor insists that a film be completed in order to meet a release date, but sometimes it is the result of removing scenes that the distributor insisted on inserting, as opposed to restoring scenes they insisted on cutting.

Another way that released director's cuts can be compromised is when directors were never allowed to even shoot their vision, and thus when the film is re-cut, they must make do with the footage that exists. His director's cut of the film includes, among other things, screen test footage of stars Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder , footage used in the first film, and entire scenes that were shot by replacement director Richard Lester which Donner dislikes but were required for story purposes.

Some directors explicitly dislike the phrase "director's cut" because it implies that they disapprove of the theatrically released cut. James Cameron and Peter Jackson are two directors who publicly reject the label, preferring "extended edition" or "special edition". While Jackson considers the theatrical releases of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies to be a final "director's cut" within the constraints of theatrical exhibition, the extended cuts were produced so that fans of the material could see nearly all of the scenes shot for the script to develop more of J.

Tolkien 's world, but which were originally cut for running time, or other reasons. New music and special effects were also added to the cuts. To gain a release in Europe, Leone trimmed it to minutes. But when it came to a US rollout, the film was cut further for sexual and graphic violence losing two infamous rape scenes , and it subsequently received lukewarm responses at previews.

As a result, The Ladd Company — who just two years earlier had mangled Blade Runner — butchered the European cut down to minutes for a wide release, rearranging the audacious non-chronological structure into a linear but more confusing narrative.

Other edits removed most of the stunning early childhood scenes, Noodles' Robert De Niro late in the day reunion with lost love Deborah Elizabeth McGovern , and the powerful finale involving a garbage truck no spoilers.

Like many of the characters, the film died a brutal death at box office. In , a version dubbed the Extended Director's Cut was restored according to Leone's design, running at a more faithful minutes some sections are still missing for rights reasons; don't worry, Martin Scorsese is on the case to reinstate the missing footage from the Cannes version and now delivers a great of the crime genre, a gangster flick as delirious opium dream.

Whole subplots are reinstated, as is nuance and motivation, as the story now ambitiously toggles between and It's a stunning cinematic achievement with a bittersweet ending.

It was the last film Leone directed. Just as well, it is a masterpiece. Duh, the Extended Director's Cut. Carve yourself out a whole afternoon and indulge. Opium optional. Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' all-time-great superhero deconstruction was always long and largely faithful to the source material squid-free ending aside. But the Director's Cut fleshes out some of the most notable moments, with more of Laurie's conversation with Dr. Manhattan on Mars and The Comedian's time in Vietnam, extra Rorschach journal entries, and, er, some additional shots in that 'Hallelujah' sex scene.

The Ultimate Cut, meanwhile, features another 30 minutes on top — with the animated 'Tales Of The Black Freighter' story chopped up and sprinkled through the Director's Cut. In Moore and Gibbons' original Watchmen story, 'Tales…' is a pirate comic book that intertwines with and mirrors the unfolding of the main narrative, and Snyder decided to produce it as its own animated counterpart when making the Watchmen movie.

At several points through the Ultimate Cut, the main film stops and a chunk of the Black Freighter story plays out at appropriate points moments. It's another way in which Snyder tried to faithfully bring the entire Watchmen story to the screen. While the Ultimate Cut has everything in it for completists' sake, Snyder's preferred version is the Director's Cut — the animated 'Tales Of The Black Freighter' was never designed to be intercut with the live-action Watchmen on screen, and it makes the whole experience a bit more stop-start.

Newcomers, check out the Director's Cut. Obsessives, track down the Ultimate Cut just so you can say you've seen it. Theatrical Version: 96 minutes Alternate Version: 99 minutes.

There's only three minutes' change in runtime between the two versions of I Am Legend — but what a difference it makes. Lawrence's adaptation of Richard Matheson's tale depicts a post-apocalypse in which a seemingly lone survivor — Will Smith's Dr.

Neville — fights back against the monsters that the rest of the population have turned into due to a virus. The most significant change between the take that hit cinemas and the 'Alternate Version' is a completely different ending.

On the big screen, audiences saw Dr. Neville create a cure for the virus that can revert everyone back to humanity — and he ultimately blows himself up in a noble sacrifice, destroying the 'Darkseekers' in his lab and allowing Alice Braga's survivor Anna to escape with the cure.

Not so in the alternate ending. There, when the Darkseekers invade Dr. Neville's lab, their leader manages to communicate with him, indicating that the female subject that Neville is experimenting on is actually the alpha male's partner.

As it turns out, the infected population has become its own new planet-dominating society, and they can think and feel and love. Realising that all the alpha male wants is his partner back, Dr. Neville hands her over to them and is left in peace.

To the Darkseekers, Dr. Neville has been a monster snatching them away and experimenting upon them. He, as they say, is legend — and a real bad one at that. This was the whole point of Matheson's novel, and the theatrical edition swapped it out for a much more traditional Hollywood ending albeit one that involved killing off its leading man in the final moments. The Alternate Version — it's the only one that contains the most important facet of the story.

Anna Paquin's character, who had been such an integral part of the first movie and a firm fan favourite, found her entire arc on the cutting room floor. It wasn't until the Rogue Cut that the skunk-haired mutant's storyline was restored, with Iceman, Xavier and Magneto staging a jailbreak to spring her from the former X-mansion after Kitty is injured by Wolverine.

After liberating her from captivity where Iceman meets a sticky end , Rogue then takes over from Kitty to keep Logan's consciousness in the past. In addition, we get an extra scene with Mystique, who returns to the X-mansion in the past, pretending to rekindle her love affair with Beast before taking the opportunity to destroy Cerebro.

It's not difficult to see why the Rogue sequences were cut. Having the future team organise a field trip just to have Rogue take over from Kitty seems indulgent and inessential, though the new scenes do have thematic resonance. That Magneto helps lead the operation to rescue Rogue strikes a particular chord given the events of the first film, and her taking over from Kitty here has parallels with what Magneto tries to make her do in that movie. Plus the intercutting of the future break-out with past Magneto's break- in to retrieve his helmet has a nice parity, too.

Both aspects serve to underscore the range of Magneto's arc during the films, his future redemption undercut by his past self choosing to go down a path that would ultimately become his fall and precipitate his future crimes. Is it essential? But it lends a new dimension to the film and adds more in texture than it detracts with bloated runtime.

Both versions are excellent, but the Rogue Cut just about edges it. Having shot and starred in the adaptation of Whit Masterson's novel Badge Of Evil, Welles once again found himself at loggerheads with a studio — this time Universal — who took the film away from him during post-production. The suits reconfigured his handiwork into a more conventional form, blanding out Welles' outlandish editing choices and ordering director Harry Keller to shoot more expositional material.

In response, Welles drafted a page memo which detailed his creative vision for the film. After the film still found favour as one of Welles' best, in Apocalypse Now editor Walter Murch recut the film to conform to Welles' wishes as laid out in his memo.

Omitting most of Keller's story spoon-feeding, the most obvious change is with the iconic opening tracking shot that glides through the streets of a Mexican border town leading to the explosion of a car.

As per Welles' instructions, Murch removed the opening titles showcasing Russell Metty's bravura camerawork to the full and dropped Henry Mancini's jazzy score for sound effects and source music.