Fast & Furious 6

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (130 min.)
  • Extended Cut (131 min.)

The sixth entry in the Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast & Furious 6 (or simply Furious 6) was released on Blu-ray where it included both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film. Fast & Furious 6’s director Justin Lin confirms on the commentary track, one third into the film, on the Blu-ray which edition he prefers:

“This is the director’s cut, so there’s a little extra stuff that Thure had, that I really loved. It pained me, it took me till the very and, I ended up taking it out just for pacing sake, but in this cut, I’m very happy to see it back in. When they ask about doing another cut, it’s always called extended cut because I always feel like the theatrical cut is my cut, it’s the director’s cut, but this is one of the rare times where I do feel like this is the director’s cut, as opposed to extended, just to have more stuff, and it’s not an issue with the studio or anything like that. It was just that we really had so much going on that the MPAA was having problems.  They were really great to work with, and we were ultimately able to get our PG-13. The theatrical cut is my cut, but, to be honest, with some of the sound tweaks and some of the little things that I wanted for pacing, I really do think that the director’s cut is more enjoyable version.”

Source: Justin Lin on the commentary track of Fast & Furious 6 on Blu-ray

The director’s preferred edition: Extended Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

Avatar still

Avatar (2009)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (161 min.)
  • Special Edition (171 min.)
  • Collector’s Extended Edition (178 min.)

The adventure epic Avatar reassured everyone that writer-director James Cameron is the “King of the World”. Well, at least as the King of the box office as Avatar made over $2.7 Billion worldwide. Since its release the record-shattering blockbuster has been released in two cuts, Special Edition and Collector’s Extended Edition which were included in the Avatar Extended Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray. The Special Edition was originally debuted when Avatar was re-released in theaters in 2010, almost a year after its initial theatrical release. Speaking to MTV writer-director James Cameron talks about the longer cuts of the film:

“The ‘director’s cut’ is what we release. What we do is we do a special edition, where you could select a longer version of the film that has some scenes reinstated. But it’s really more of a fan version than a director’s version.”

Source: James Cameron Talks ‘AVATAR’ Sequel, Deleted Sex Scenes, MTV.com

The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

Argo still

Argo (2012)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (120 min.)
  • Extended Cut (130 min.)

The Academy Award winning Best Picture Argo was released in an extended cut on Blu-ray dubbed Declassified Extended Edition in 2013. The extended cut adds almost 10 minutes to the film and is currently only available on Blu-ray. Entertainment Weekly interviewed director-star Ben Affleck when the extended cut of Argo was released:

Entertainment Weekly: This new extended cut of the film has nine extra minutes. Now, are those scenes your darlings that broke your heart to slash for the theatrical release? Or are these scenes more supplementary, adding context to what already exists?

Ben Affleck: No, it’s really interesting. I’ve never been in a movie where this happened or encountered it as a director. The nine minutes kind of came out all in one piece. I was screening the movie and people were really complaining that they were bored in various places but they couldn’t say what the problem was or what they didn’t like. They’d just say “Well, it’s slow. It takes a while to get going, blah, blah, blah.” And I loved the movie and I didn’t know what to do. I could tell that people were a bit less interested in Tony’s home life and so the editor and I, sort of as an experiment, said “Let’s just take out all the scenes with his wife and his kid, and just at the end, he just shows up at home on the porch. Let’s just see what happens.” And we did it and we screened it, and all of a sudden it just came together perfectly. And it broke my heart because the themes about family, responsibility, and marriage and all the other stuff were so dear to me; they were so central to why I wanted to make the movie. And Taylor [Schilling] is so great [as the wife] and she’s now on Orange is the New Black and everybody knows how great she is. But at the time, it felt like such a sh–ty thing to do — just to cut her all the way out of the movie, out of no fault of her own. And it’s such a sh–ty call because it’s like the breakup: “It’s not you, it’s me.” But it really was me! And now, I really was happy because I said [to Taylor], “Listen, I promise you, I’m going to put the whole thing back on the extended version so you’ll be able to see it. You’re really good in it.” And I’ll be interested to see if the people who do watch it share the belief that I had ultimately, that while really good, it was stuff that had to come out for the sake of the larger narrative. But it’s not just the kind of like, “Oh yeah, the bathroom scene we took out and, you know, 30 seconds from that scene.” You know, how people kind of slop stuff back in there just to be able to put a sticker on it that says “More Footage!”

Source: Ben Affleck on the new ‘Argo’ Blu-ray and the role more daunting than Batman, Entertainment Weekly

The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray | UHD Blu-ray

The Blues Brothers still

The Blues Brothers (1980)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (133 min.)
  • Extended Edition (148 min.)

The Blues Brothers is considered by fans to be a classic comedy, and come to think of it, almost all comedies are thought by someone to be a classic. But not every comedy is likely to be titled a “Catholic classic” by the Vatican.

Writer-director John Landis originally presented The Blues Brothers as a roadshow film but Universal’s owner Lew Wasserman wanted the film shortened and the rest is history. For many years the extended cut of The Blues Brothers was the only cut available on DVD until the 25th anniversary edition where it included both the theatrical and extended cuts. Landis has talked about his preferred cut of the film only a few times on the record. Most notably in an interview with DVD Talk Radio from 2005:

Scott Weinberg: Do you have a preference? Do you consider one or the other a director’s cut?
John Landis: Well, in my own head, I think both are incomplete.
Scott Weinberg: How so?
John Landis: Well, you know, my original cut was a roadshow. You know, it had an intermission and I had to make all these lifts and trims. And then more lifts and trims. What the expanded version represents the second version. The second lifts from the roadshow version.
Scott Weinberg: What happened with the original print?
John Landis: They threw away all that stuff in 1985.

Source: Interview with John Landis, DVD Talk Radio

For those who want to know a little bit more about the roadshow, theatrical and extended cuts:

“The movie originally was a roadshow; it was meant to have an intermission. And Lew Wasserman said, “John you have to cut 30 minutes out of it.” So we did big lifts, and then I had a preview in L.A. and then I made some more lifts, and that was the released version. I’ve always felt the movie was kind of strangely lopsided, because of the rhythm and how I intended it to be, that was gone. But nonetheless, I don’t know how many years ago, Universal found this exhibitor print.

In 1985, Universal threw out all of the outtakes and trims, so the negatives are gone. So, all of the other stuff that was cut out is gone. However, the print from the preview showed up. It turns out it was stolen by the theater manager’s son, and he put it on eBay about seven or eight years ago, so Universal and the FBI swooped in to retrieve it, and that so-called “Expanded Version” is that preview print. It’s not my first cut of the movie, but it has like three scenes that weren’t in the movie, and we were able to extend some songs. The John Lee Hooker number is longer. The James Brown number is longer. The Cab Colloway number is longer. It’s like 15 minutes longer, but it isn’t the movie either.”

Source: AICN LEGENDS: Capone talks THE BLUES BROTHERS, Eddie Murphy, and Ed Wood with John Landis!!! Part 2, Aint It Cool News

The director’s preferred edition: In a way, neither edition

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

Knight and Day still

Knight and Day (2010)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (109 min.)
  • Extended Cut (117 min.)

James Mangold’s action-adventure romp Knight and Day starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz was released in an extended cut on DVD and Blu-ray in almost every country except for the US. Mangold confirmed with This or That Edition which edition he prefers:

The director’s preferred edition: Extended Cut

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King still

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (201 min.)
  • Extended Edition (265 min.)

For many years the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy have been among the most beloved longer cuts of movies, and for many the only true way to view the fantasy epic. Writer-director Peter Jackson went out of his way to make the extended editions on DVD and Blu-ray a must own for every film fan with excellent packaging, tremendous behind the scenes featurettes and meticulous documentaries.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is available on DVD and Blu-ray in separate editions that include the theatrical cut and the extended edition. Only a limited edition DVD included both cuts. IGN interviewed Jackson when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was being released in theaters in December 2003 where he was asked about the extended editions:

IGN: What happens on the extended version of this one [The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]? 
Peter Jackson:
The extended versions are interesting because I do the extended versions for the fans, really. To me every time I put a scene in it, it’s mucking up the momentum. The theatrical versions are very carefully worked out. We spent a whole year trying to get the best possible cut. I do the extended cuts because we have 30-40 minutes of footage that people are interested in, fans of the books.

IGN:
What’s the definitive version of these films?
JACKSON: The theatrical versions are the definitive versions. I regard the extended cuts as being a novelty for the fans that really want to see the extra material.

Source: Interview: Peter Jackson, IGN in December 2003

The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers still

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (179 min.)
  • Extended Edition (235 min.)

For many years the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy have been among the most beloved longer cuts of movies, and for many the only true way to view the fantasy epic. Writer-director Peter Jackson went out of his way to make the extended editions on DVD and Blu-ray a must own for every film fan with excellent packaging, tremendous behind the scenes featurettes and meticulous documentaries.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is available on DVD and Blu-ray in separate editions that include the theatrical cut and the extended edition. Only a limited edition DVD included both cuts. IGN interviewed Jackson when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was being released in theaters in December 2003 where he was asked about the extended editions:

IGN: What happens on the extended version of this one [The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]? 
Peter Jackson:
The extended versions are interesting because I do the extended versions for the fans, really. To me every time I put a scene in it, it’s mucking up the momentum. The theatrical versions are very carefully worked out. We spent a whole year trying to get the best possible cut. I do the extended cuts because we have 30-40 minutes of footage that people are interested in, fans of the books.

IGN:
What’s the definitive version of these films?
JACKSON: The theatrical versions are the definitive versions. I regard the extended cuts as being a novelty for the fans that really want to see the extra material.

Source: Interview: Peter Jackson, IGN in December 2003

The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings still

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (178 min.)
  • Extended Edition (228 min.)

For many years the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy have been among the most beloved longer editions of movies, and for many the only true way to view the fantasy epic. Writer-director Peter Jackson went out of his way to make the extended editions on DVD and Blu-ray a must own for every film fan with excellent packaging, tremendous behind the scenes featurettes and meticulous documentaries.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is available on DVD and Blu-ray in separate editions that include the theatrical cut and the extended edition. Only a limited edition DVD included both cuts. IGN interviewed Jackson when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was being released in theaters in December 2003 where he was asked about the extended editions:

IGN: What happens on the extended version of this one [The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]? 
Peter Jackson:
The extended versions are interesting because I do the extended versions for the fans, really. To me every time I put a scene in it, it’s mucking up the momentum. The theatrical versions are very carefully worked out. We spent a whole year trying to get the best possible cut. I do the extended cuts because we have 30-40 minutes of footage that people are interested in, fans of the books.

IGN:
What’s the definitive version of these films?
JACKSON: The theatrical versions are the definitive versions. I regard the extended cuts as being a novelty for the fans that really want to see the extra material.

Source: Interview: Peter Jackson, IGN in December 2003

The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

Superbad still

Superbad (2007)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (113 min.)
  • Unrated Extended Edition (119 min.)

The Judd Apatow produced comedy Superbad holds up pretty great a decade after its premiere in 2007. When it debuted in 2007 it received critical acclaim and launched the career of two time Academy Awards nominee Jonah Hill. When Superbad arrived on home video format it was released in three separate editions: a theatrical cut DVD, an unrated extended edition DVD and an unrated extended edition Blu-ray. The theatrical cut is unavailable on Blu-ray.

Director Greg Mottola confirmed with This or That Edition which edition he prefers:

The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray

Casualties of War

Casualties of War (1989)

What editions are available?

  • Theatrical Cut (113 min.)
  • Extended Cut (119 min.)

Casualties of War is without a doubt Brian De Palma’s most overlooked movie. It was quite the box office bomb at the time despite having two prominent young actors starring in the film: Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox in a rare dramatic departure from comedy. Since the premiere it has been considered by numerous critics and filmmakers as one of the best Vietnam War movies. In 2006 an extended cut of the film was released on DVD where it included two scenes cut from the theatrical cut. The theatrical and extended cuts are widely available on DVD but the extended cut has yet to arrive on Blu-ray.

Indiewire interviewed De Palma in 2013 and where he was asked whether he’d be interested in doing a new cut of Snake Eyes and talks about Casualties of War:

Indiewire: Have you ever thought about putting it back in or leaving it in as a special feature?
Brian De Palma: Well it was like when they made the special version of “Casualties of War,” I put in two scenes that were cut out from the initial release and I was very happy to put them back in. If they came to me and said, “We’re thinking about doing a new version,” I’d be happy to do it.

Source: Interview: Brian De Palma Talks ‘Passion,’ Digital Vs. Film, Psychosexual Thrillers & The Abandoned Ending Of ‘Snake Eyes’, Indiewire

The director’s preferred edition: Extended Cut

Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com

List of different editions with courtesy of DVDCompare.net: DVD | Blu-ray