Has anyone

I've finally seen the theatrical cut;

- The music changes are interesting. The trimuphant main theme is used very sparingly and many other musical pieces are altered. The lack of the uplifitng theme does change the tone slightly.

- The beginning of the film where they discover the ship is cut very lean...whether that's good or bad is up for individuals to decide for themselves. One could say it gets the the good parts quicker but I could see others thinking it's lost it's sense of scope and is less epic/atmospheric.

- Many scenes of dialogue are removed or trimmed. It's slightly jarring for someone who has only ever watched the international cut, seeing scenes removed and conversations cut short. It does however improve the pacing of the film.

- Thankfully Mathilda May loses very little screen time. It's merely seconds. The only noticeable part lost is the "use my body" dialogue.

- Speaking of cut dialogue. The US theatrical cut tries to remove the cheesier/campier elements. Alongside the use my body cut, others are "This Woman is an extreme masochist", "Come to me it'll be easier" - "I'll do just that". "Don't remember...just...don't remember". "Now she has clothes". It loses some of that cheesy charm...once more that could be seen as an improvement or not. The cheese factor is one of the things people like about the film.

All in all I can see why you prefer the US theatrical cut. Going forward I do see myself watching this cut, in part because I have it in 4K HDR now and it's the best presentation of the film. Also I find shorter films more rewatchable, naturally. This is a film I've watched about twice a year since I discovered it and with a shorter cut which retains all the best parts I could see myself watching it a bit more often.

I think had I seen this cut first I would have loved the film just as much if not more than I already do. However having seen the longer cut so many times, the changes are slightly jarring. Though I'll get used to it I reckon.