Okay, I'm thinking about watching this movie soon. I know there are two versions, though, the theatrical cut and the director's cut. For those who have seen both versions, which do you think is the better one? Please don't go too much into spoilers please, thanks!
shareDirector's since theatrical spoils the movie in the beginning. Best to go in without knowing
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Director's cut! I kind of envy people seeing this for the first time...I usually watch it about once or twice a year and it is still WONDERFUL !! I am actually watching it right now. lol! 💜💜
shareAlmost ALWAYS the director's cut is your best bet. Here, as well as in other films, it's usually the director showing the original vision without all the last minute edits by the corporate suits to dumb it down. A rare exception is "Donnie Darko" which, I'm told, has a lame Director's cut that actually dumbs it down worse than the theatrical. And of course you have your George Lucas directors cuts... open can, remove worms.
But in this case, I think the Director's Cut is better. I remember seeing the theatrical version years ago and not being too impressed. But I just watched the Director's Cut and found a new appreciation for this film. Like others have said, the biggest problem with the theatrical version is that they added an opening narration that kinda ruins all the fun of figuring it out.
I like the DC of Donnie Darko better. It has better music, and better alternate takes of certain parts of certain scenes. I also think the added in material helped elevate the story even more.
The only movie I do not like the director's cut as much as the TC, of off the top of my head is Terminator 2.
Cool, I might try the Donnie Darko DC based on your recommendation. I was going by the opinions of the majority on imdb, but that's hardly a guarantee. A good fitting soundtrack is always a bonus, so that alone got my interest.
shareI mean the music is the same in lots of parts, but in some of the new scenes added in, the music seems to improve. I am surprised if people like the theatrical cut better.
shareAnother example of the theatrical being better is Payback (1999).
That is, unless I'm mixing it up and actually the Director's Cut were better.
In one of them, the main villain he calls on the phone is a man,
in the other, it's a woman. "My money, yes or no?" 'No' "Bang!"
Oh ya, never saw the director's cut of Payback I don't think.
One movie where a lot of people said on here that the director's cut was worse, is Alien. I have seen both but cannot tell much of a difference. Perhaps you need to watch them in close proximity, with one still fresh in your head, before going to the other.
I had the same reaction to Alien DC. I think there were only 2 or 3 short scenes added, so I can't imagine it being much worse (or better) than the Theatrical. I think one added scene showed them arguing in the control room (no plot significance, just character development), and at the very end I think in the DC, Ripley nervously sings a song Lucky Star (no, not Madonna haha) while she's preparing to have her final confrontation. Oh and I think there was an extra voiceover at the very, very end.
Hardly any difference worth writing home about, but I still ended up buying both versions because I'm a sucker :/
Hmmm I think I might have only seen the DC then. Which argument scene was it?
shareI'm going on faulty memory here, but it was in the very beginning when they realize their return home has been diverted to investigate the distress signal. A couple of them are griping about it, and then they're reminded that if they don't go they won't get paid. I think the scene was in both, but in the DC it was a little longer.
shareWell I know I have seen the director's cut for sure, cause I remember Ripley singing in the climax.
I should watch both to compare.
Nope.
Lucky star was in the original version.
I saw it in the cinema back then.
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I strongly disagree with those who advocate for watching the director's cut first if you haven't seen the film before. The additions to the main part of the film are at best mildly interesting (the repeated spiral imagery) and at worst outright bad (spoiler: the prostitute's apparently mute daughter) and IMO outweigh the good of cutting the spoiler-ific opening narration. My very strong recommendation is to watch the theatrical cut but just mute the sound at first until the camera cuts to showing the face of Keifer Sutherland's watch. Then take the mute off. That gets you past the narration. Afterwards, if you enjoyed the movie, watch the director's cut.
shareDirector's Cut, of course. On top of what everyone else has mentioned, Jennifer Connelly's voice isn't dubbed during her singing acts, her own voice was used instead (which is ironically better sounding than the original singer.)
shareI need to figure out how to make a fan edit that keeps one line out of the opening monologue in the theatrical, "First there was darkness... then there were the Strangers", which is a line I really like. But of course the rest needs to go in order not to spoil. And then I'd edit together the Director's Cut with the Theatrical, keeping all the music from the theatrical so it doesn't ruin the musical picture I have of the movie!!!
shareDC all the way
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