21 Director’s Cuts That Made the Movie Way Worse

A director’s cut is a roll of the dice. Sometimes, it can be really neat to see deleted scenes that explain crucial elements of the story restored to their proper places after the evil studios barreled into the editing room, twiddling cartoon cigars and demanding more cuts. It can also give you a deep and unabiding appreciation for editors, though. They’re the ones who have to gently break it to the director that a 23-minute musical sequence doesn’t belong in the middle of their action movie, and they can’t be thanked enough.

Redditor GoodGriefWhatsNext gained that respect for editors after watching Apocalypse Now Redux. “I couldn’t wait to see it,” they explained, but when it was over, “all I could think was that Coppola got it right originally. The whole side trip of meeting the French colonists on the plantation seemed like it came from a different movie and ruined the pacing.” 

As such, they asked r/Movies, “Which movie’s director’s cut made it worse?”and we all learned valuable lessons about comedic timing, egomania and the dangers of lengthening an already bad movie.