what is a director's cut?

Question

Please enlighten me about what a Director's cut version of a movie is. How is such a movie different from the film showed at the theatre?

Answer 1

The director's cut is the movie edited as the director wants it. Sometimes it is not the way the studio wants it, or the studio conducts test screenings and discovers that the audience does not like the movie in the director's cut version. (The problem usually has to do with the ending.)



Sometimes there is no difference between the director's cut and the final version. Sometimes the director's cut is shortened, as in the case of Ryan's Daughter, for example. Sometimes the director's cut is altered beyond all recognition, as in The Wicker Man (the older version).



Getting a contractual guarantee that the directors cut will be the final version, and that no one can monkey around with the director's vision, is a big contract perk that usually is a milestone in a director's career.

Answer 2

Well basically the Motion Picture Association looks over a movie and gives it a rating based on the sexual content, violence, profanity, the movie being too long, and so on. When a movie is so graphic that it gets a NC-17 rating, meaning nobody under 17 can view the movie, then the director has to cut out some scenes to drop the movie rating to an R. So when a movie is ready to be released on to DVD the director has an option to add on the scenes he had to cut out from the theatrical version, thus making it a Director's cut, or the more popular, eye catching term they use to promote the dvd is, UNRATED VERSION!

Answer 3

A director's cut is the final edit (called the final cut) of a film as the director sees it. Not how the test audience responds to a film, nor the publicists, nor the promoter, nor even the producer. Usually the director has to compromise with the producer and therefore the film is not totally the director's "vision". Usually the film's too long or a scene is inappropriate. The director's cut reflects that vision and that's why they come out on DVD.

Answer 4

The key for box office success is being able to show the film enough during the day. A two hour film can be shown more often during the day than a three hour film.



That means a lot of the director's vision ends up on the editing room floor.



The director's cut restores these clipped scenes and give a fuller movie experience.



Lord of the Rings director's cut are an excellent example of additional footage that really rounds out the film.



Yes, "Two Towers" is FOUR HOURS LONG! The credits are a half hour in and of themselves! But it is a much more stunning and moving film for the extra footage.

Answer 5

A director's cut is a version of a film that is released after the original cinema version has been shown. The director's cut is supposedly the version that the filmmaker thinks is the most true to the film he or she intended to make. The original cutting or editing of the film may have been taken out of the director's control.

Answer 6

The director's cut is usually a lot better, with added scenes etc. However a classic Australian film called "Picnic at hanging rock" was recently released as a directors cut and He (Director Peter Weir) actually cut about a quarter of the film out!

Answer 7

What the director would have liked not what studio Exec's or test Audience's like.So it is more in tune with the director's vision for his movie.Plus lotts of sceen's have to be cut out to make a movie shorter.Ever notice a book is always better than the movie.

Answer 8

Yes the director's cut is usually longer and how the director might have wanted it. But was talked out of it because of run times, etc.

Answer 9

sometimes a director will cut pieces out of the movie before it goes into theaters, they do this to maybe get a different rating or shorten the time. if you get the DVD they usually tell you in some sort of commentary as to why they cut it.