Very keen on getting this. Thanks Mark for the recommendation. :)

The thing about Directors Cuts Mark is that they are more truthful to what the director's vision wants to be. I haven't seen the extended version of The Exorcist yet, only the original and that was one film that really deserves its place in cinema history.

Of course there's no hard and fast rule for every film. But I think generally if the scenes were left out for any other reason other than being cut by sensors, they should be left out.
I think directors cuts etc are interesting from an academic point of view but certainly in cases like The Exorcist and The Wicker Man...the shorter, more concise cuts are easily better.

I think the validity of Director's Cuts very much depends on the situation. If it's a Blade Runner type scenario, where the version released was not the director's vision, then I think they are worthwhile and usually better. If it's like an Aliens type of thing, where it's basically a bunch of footage cut for length shoved back in, then I think there is an argument to be made for them being a curiosity at best, a thing of real film buffs.

There are of course times when they fall completely flat - the Director's Cut of Donnie Darko, immediately springs to mind. A version of the film that robs the original of all its mystery and ambiguity.

Hi Mark,

Probably the best example of a Directors cut both enhancing and ruining the film at the same time is of course.......Blade Runner.

The Good:
Taking narration away and removing "that ending"

The Bad:
Putting scenes in to insinuate that the Deckard character is a replicant.
Now lets get this one straight....yes Ridley Scott always intended the character to be a replicant but...and here's the thing....it DID NOT get approved.
Harrison Ford acted the role like he was a human and there is no dialogue in the film that supports the theory.

The fact that Ridley had to add scenes that insinuated that Deckard is a replicant says it all really. A case of a director butchering a film & changing its meaning.

Now we have a load of Sci Fi geeks adding their own stories about the character i.e. he's actually a new new replicant without the strength so not to give himself away and blah blah blah.