7 Director’s Cuts You Didn’t Realise You Wanted

Unseen footage from hits and misses...


Director’s Cuts seem to be everywhere, but there are some movies that could still benefit from some editing and extra scenes.

Clive Barker is attempting to get a new version of Nightbreed whacked on to DVD, so we thought we’d take a look at some other movies we thought might be candidates…

The Film: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The director(s): Eduardo Sánchez/Daniel Myrick

Director’s comment: “The first time we cut the movie, we knew it was too long - it was about two and a half hours.

“There's a lot of good stuff that didn't make the film. I'm really happy with the film and I think we cut it as well as we could.


What could be found on a new disc? Given the loose, first person style of filming for the indie horror, there’s naturally a lot of footage left over.

You could probably make an entirely separate film from what the lads had left over once they’d edited the thing down.

Next: Kafka


The Film: Kafka (1991)

The director:
Steven Soderbergh

Director’s comment: "While we were doing Ocean's 12, I went back in to re-organize it. It's a completely different film. There's new material - stuff that I shot that never made the movie is now in there.

“I'm doing it for my own interest - to see if I can make something out of it that I'm happier with. I think the goal, ultimately, is to put out a double DVD with the original and the new version."

What could be found on a new disc? Soderbergh’s underrated, under-seen tale of an insurance agent (Jeremy Irons) who gets involved with an odd group of terrorists has all sorts of missing footage, not to mention the chance we could get a brand new edit from the director.

Next: Mimic


The Film: Mimic (1997)

The director:
Guillermo del Toro

Director’s comment: "I think it would be worth going back to Mimic for me, to do a director's cut and I'm trying to do it. It'll not make a massive difference, but I think tonally it will."

"It's not going to be the Director's Cut to end all Director's Cuts, it's just going to make a minute difference to a movie that is not a lost classic by any stretch of the imagination but I do believe the screenplay is really good and I urge people to read it on the net."

What could be found on a new disc? Del Toro makes mention of stripping out some of the overused, Hollywood-style jump scares and putting back more original content.

Next: Singles


The Film: Singles (1992)

The director:
Cameron Crowe

Director’s comment: "With “Singles,” Crowe has said in the past, “we're in talks with Warner Brothers to make sure they hung onto all the outs from the movie. I have the eight track masters on all the concert stuff - there's great, unreleased stuff.

I want to do the DVD commentary with editor Richard Chew and whoever else from the Seattle crowd I can drum up.”

What could be found on a new disc?
It’s simple… Jerry Maguire and Vanilla Sky both got great, deluxe DVDs and Almost Famous got an entirely different cut (The Untitled Bootleg Edition)!

Time for Singles to get the love it deserves – a re-edited version with the unused footage and extra concert stuff.

Next: Babylon AD


The Film: Babylon AD (2008)

The director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Director’s comment: "It's pure violence and stupidity. The movie is supposed to teach us that the education of our children will mean the future of our planet.


What could be found on a new disc?
Kassovitz could put his money – and his Avid – where his mouth is and produce an entirely new cut of the film, which “saves” it from mediocrity. We doubt Fox would ever agree, though…

Next: The Fountain


The Film: The Fountain (2006)

The director:
Darren Aronofsky

Director’s comment:
"It's something more for fans. I worked on the film for 6 years and it went through a lot of versions.

And there was one version that was much closer to one of the scripts that we had. And we kind of chose between which way we would go with it and they both are kind of interesting.

So I was always curious for myself to see what that alternative version would be. And we cut it actually recently, it's done. I would have to get Warner Brothers to support it and get it out there."

Hopefully, there'll be enough of a demand that they'll let me go in and do it."

What could be found on a new disc?
While Aronofsky refuses to label it a “director’s cut”, but more an “alternate story”, we still want to see what else Aronofsky could do with it. Less mysticism? More sci-fi?

We love The Fountain, but we’d happily watch his newly tinkered version.

Next: Star Trek


The Film: Star Trek (2009)

The director:
JJ Abrams

Director’s comment:

What could be found on a new disc?
Unnecessary? That entire sub plot would certainly help clear up some confusion about why Nero and his gang seem to just wait around for 25 years, doing almost nothing.

Apparently the damage caused by the Kelvin’s impact leaves them vulnerable.

Oh, and we want baby Spock too. He was in the trailer, but not in the film.

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