Restoring deleted footage

Over the weekend, my wife and I watched our DVD copy of Aliens: Special Edition. It?s a movie both of us had seen numerous times, but for some reason we were both in the mood for insectoid horrors, gun-toting marines, and a ticked-off Sigourney Weaver. The DVD had sat on the shelf for a few months after we?d bought it. One of those purchases we were enthusiastic about, but somehow never got around to watching until now.

The film was something of a revelation for me. As many may already know, the new edition includes seventeen minutes of previously deleted footage. In this instance, the restored footage, in my mind, really added to the film?s story in a significant way. The scene revealing that Ripley had a daughter, who had passed away during Ripley?s fifty-seven year hibernation, provided a lot of insight into her character, and helped flesh out her protectiveness of Newt even more. The scene where Newt?s family comes upon the same abandoned alien spacecraft that the Nostromo crew found in the first movie, helped give faces to the doomed colonists, and deepened the viewer?s understanding of the callousness of Carter Burke. Scenes involving the sentry turrets that the marines set up in the colony hallways added a new feeling of suspense to that section of the film, giving a steady build-up to the point where the aliens discover a way into the operations complex.

In all, the restored footage really enhanced the story for me. I can remember thinking the same thing after watching the restored footage in the ultimate edition of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Several of the restored scenes (Sarah?s vision of Kyle Reese stands out in my memory) added more depth to the character of Sarah Connor. Although I?ve certainly seen deleted footage in other movies that I agreed should have remained on the cutting room floor, in some instances it seems that the scenes were unjustly cut, and restoring them makes an enjoyable film that much more so.

Has anyone else encountered restored scenes that improved a film they already admired?

well i remember watching the directors cut of Alien1 in cinemas some time ago and was much disappointed because they dubbed the new scenes with the aged voices so you could hear just from the different voices which scenes were new and which were old (jeez, they didn't even manage to let the computer voice of "mother" sound like the original one). the new scenes made the film more interesting but if you don't watch it in english, the negative aspects are probably stronger.

The director's cut is the best!

Paden said:

Has anyone else encountered restored scenes that improved a film they already admired?

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Lawrence of Arabia

An adjacent thread jarred my memory of another candidate. The director's cut of Blade Runner vastly improved that film for the better, both through adding deleted scenes and by eliminating certain things included in the original release, including the lackluster voice overs and the tacked-on pastoral ending. The alterations made an already exceptional film much more powerful.

Star Wars Special Edition trilogy.

I'm usually quite skeptical when it comes to new scenes being added into movies I like. There have been some tradgedies, like star wars and night of the living dead. But I did enjoy the directors cut of army of darkness, and the unrated version of dawn of the dead(the remake). As long as they offer the original version of the movie along side the one with additional footage I'll be happy. (or even better put them both in one case, so one dosn't have to fork out $40 if he wants both....

I love the Happy Gilmore deleted scenes! And The Billy Madison deleted scenes! They're freaking hilarious!

Well, speaking in a more humorous vein, I have to admit that I found several of the deleted scenes from Napoleon Dynamite pretty hysterical.

"Battle for the Planet of the Apes". The Japanese laserdisc has a cut with
extra scenes showing more action and an interesting subplot involving the
worshipped bomb. Not only does this subplot tie the story in with the previous
films on an even greater level, it gives more depth into the human morality
theme which is such a part of the Apes series.

As for Paden's original mention of "Aliens". I remember, back in the day,
being disappointed when reading that those scenes were cut from the
North American release! Imagine the bonus it was when I was recording
the movie on TV and, lo and behold, the daughter and sentry gun bits
were included. Good thing they are now available for all to see.

Plus, I'll go with Vogel for "Lawrence of Arabia".

Monty Pythons Meaning of life, not so much for added scences, but the extra disc is great, After seriously O.D.ing ont he oythons in high school I was nto looking to forward to it, but damn was that extra disc funny!

The Superman Director's Cut had some really good scenes, the best addition (in a deep sense anyway) being the restored scene with Jor-El and Clark in the Fortress after his first night out as Superman. The end of it is pretty touching. And, while it doesn't make an incredible amount of sense after the scene in Luthor's library, the "gauntlet" is dang cool!