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Braindead (1992)
The Original: Gory mayhem in Peter Jackson’s splatter comedy.
When a woman is killed by the bite of a rat-monkey, she comes back to life and just can’t stop eating – anything or anyone.
Extended Version: An 85 minute version exists, but Peter Jackson’s preferred cut is his own 97 minute version (itself edited down from a 104 minute cut).
Best Addition: There’s nothing massively different, except for Jackson having given the film an “additional spit and polish”, which makes it look even better than before.
Legend (1985)
The Original: Sumptuous, feast-for-the-eyes fantasy from Ridley Scott, starring Tom Cruise as Jack, who sets out on a quest to stop Tim Curry’s evil Lord Of Darkness.
Scott’s original cut was 150 minutes long. That was edited down to 89 minutes for the theatrical release.
Extended Version: Scott finally release his Director’s Cut in 2002, which ran at 113 minutes and reinstated a great long list of additional and extended scenes.
Best Addition: The restoration of Jerry Goldsmith’s original score, which was swapped out in favour of Tangerine Dream’s odd ‘80s rock outfit for the theatrical release.
Amadeus (1984)
The Original: A period drama based on Peter Shaffer’s stage play.
Set in the latter half of the 18th century, Antonio Salieri attempts to exploit the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Extended Version: The original cut was 158 minutes, which is pretty long in itself.
For the 2002 DVD release of the film, though, director Milos Forman added in another 20 minutes of footage.
Best Addition: Both Mozart’s descent into depression and the rivalry between Salieri and Mozart’s wife Constanze (Elizabeth Berridge) are fleshed out further, lending the film a darker edge that ramps up the emotion.
Sin City (2005)
The Original: Black and white (with splashes of colour) adaptation of Frank Miller’s brilliant graphic novel.
Extended Version: The DVD release of the film adds seven minutes of footage to each of the film’s four storylines.
Among those are more screen time for Carla Gugino as Lucille in ‘That Yellow Bastard’, and a scene in which Marv goes to his mother’s house to fetch his gun, Gladys.
Best Addition: That gun-fetching moment for Marv, which shows that despite his bloodthirsty, brutish manner, he’s still a bit of a softie on the inside.
The Exorcist (1973)
The Original: William Friedkin’s hysteria-making horror movie about a little girl who’s possessed by the devil.
Extended Version: In 2000, Friedkin released his own recut version of The Exorcist , dubbed ‘The Version You’ve Never Seen’.
It added in a few little chill scares, some beautiful shots and the Best Addition below…
Best Addition: The infamous spider stair crawl, in which young Regan leaves her bed to crawl down the stairs, bent backwards like a spider. Terrifying.
The Big Red One (1980)
The Original: Sam Fuller’s war epic, which was hacked to pieces by the studio prior to the film’s release, resulting in the underwhelming and at times totally confusing 116 minute edit.
Extended Version: Twenty-four years after the studio butchered it, US film critic Richard Schickel used Fuller’s production notes to restore the film to its former glory.
His cut ran at 160 minutes long.
Best Addition: The scene in which the Horsemen are trapped in the Roman coliseum and saved by the French Spahi Moroccan cavalry.
It ends with the shocking sight of Moroccan Goums removing the ears of German cadavers.
Nightbreed (1990)
The Original: Clive Barker’s legendarily misunderstood/butchered/loathed/loved mutant movie, in which deformed freaks attempt to evade a psycho serial killer.
Nightbreed’s botched theatrical release saw 20th Century Fox cut the film something chronically, removing most of the gore and marketing it as a slasher flick.
Extended Version: Years later, the Cabal Cut was assembled by Barker’s friend Russell Cherrington, who used the director’s novel Cabal and a second draft of the screenplay to reassemble the film.
He added in 45 minutes of footage. The film’s unavailable on DVD, but has successfully aired at a number of festivals.
Best Addition: In the words of Seraphim Films’ Mark Miller: “More monsters, more action, more story. And believe it or not, there’s even a musical number.”
Leon (1994)
The Original: When her family is murderer, 12-year-old Mathilde (Natalie Portman) is looked after by solitary hitman Leon (Jean Reno).
Meanwhile, corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman) is closing in.
Extended Version: An ‘International Version’ of Leon adds 23 minutes of footage to the film that was deemed too risqué for more mainstream (read: American) audiences.
Best Addition: A challenging scene in which Mathilde dresses up in a pink number and asks Leon to be her first lover.
It’s creepy and disturbing, but believable enough, and adds another layer of ambiguity to the pair’s relationship.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Original: Hyper-violent western from director Sam Peckinpah, in which a group of outlaws struggling to survive in the old west go up against a Mexican bandito.
Extended Version: Ten minutes of footage was added when The Wild Bunch was re-released in 1995 under the banner ‘The Original Director’s Cut’.
Though the additions don’t comprise of any more violence, the MPAA condemned the re-release with an NC-17 certificate.
Best Addition: It’s arguable that the re-release earned that NC-17 because of one simple addition – shots of children observing the bloody clashes.
The addition of their reaction shots is a masterstroke, though, offering the violence a new context and reminding us of just how awful some of the things that take place are.
RoboCop (1987)
The Original: Paul Verhoeven’s satirical action sci-fi.
Paul Weller’s cop is mowed down by criminals and transformed into the eponymous RoboCop – the most efficient law enforcer this side of Dredd.
Extended Version: The unrated director’s cut adds just one minute of footage, but it’s worth it.
Best Addition: That one minute consists of gory additions that initially troubled the MPAA – including a bloodier version of the Ed-209 attack.
