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Deleted scenes which would have changed/ruined the film.

Started by Icehaven, October 24, 2010, 06:09:20 PM

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Icehaven

Like the 'endings which would have...', only they didn't as they were cut, but included on DVD releases so you can see what never was. Donnie Darko is a prime example, as there's a deleted scene (which may actually be in the Director's Cut version which I haven't seen) in which it turns out that Donnie's medication is actually a placebo. I've always thought it's odd that something so pivotal to the entire plot and interpretation of the film was made then cut, as if they were really ambiguous about which way to go with the whole (fairly central) mental illness theme.

I live in hope of seeing the footage of the intending ending of Dr Strangelove which was giant custard pie fight between everyone. Some say had this been included it would have reduced what was being discussed in the film to a farce. Yes it would. but that was the point of the film. Others say the only reason it wasn't there was because the actors weren't able to control their laughter when it was shot. Either way, i hope that original ending still in there somewhere in kubricks vaults. We all know the current ending well enough. Seeing the custard pie fight won't ruin it.

chocky909

The ending of Se7en where Somerset shot John Doe before Mills could springs to mind. It works quite well on some levels but I think at that point the viewer wants to see Doe's sermon completed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaYhkl4eofU

Pedro_Bear

The sentry gun in Aliens: Director's Cut
Implied far too many aliens.

The colonists-find-the-spaceship in Aliens: Director's Cut
Completely removes all dramatic tension from the marines' entry into the base.

Hicks being a paedophile in Aliens: Director's Cut
The fuck was all that about? No, seriously, who thought this was a good idea?

Hudson being a total douche in Aliens: Director's Cut
Makes us glad when he dies.

Every other scene added to the original edit by Aliens: Director's Cut
James Cameron needs an editor.

EddyWhore


paint

I am quite glad they cut the ghosts and Gbatokai being psychic from Festen. 

Pedro_Bear

Quote from: EddyWhore on October 24, 2010, 10:17:28 PM
How was Hicks a pedophile in the directors cut?

The first time Hicks blatantly starts making passes at Newt could be forgiven, just about, given it's dark when they initially encounter her, and it's consistent with the all-new douche-Hudson style squad.

The second time is whatthefuckarewewatching.jpg given she's just been established as a kid, badly traumatised at that.

EddyWhore

I honest to God never picked up that Hick's was coming on to Newt.

El Unicornio, mang

There's nothing in Aliens DC to suggest Hicks is coming on to Newt at all (although in the comic a Bishop android has sex with her, although she is of age). I like the DC but I can see why the scenes were cut. The worst scene in the DC is the one where Hicks tells Ripley his first name: Dwayne. There's also a deleted scene that was cut from Aliens but not included in the DC, but will be on the blu ray, where Ripley finds Burke cocooned. That wouldn't have worked since it's pretty clear that Burke is killed by the Alien.

neveragain

This is as good a place as any to mention the Deleted Scenes available on the DVD of that Doctor Who movie with Paul McGann. Now, this is my memory alone so it may be false, but I recall selecting the option 'Deleted Scenes' on the menu and then being treated to 30 seconds of McGann and his female assistant standing in a lift before they reach their floor. McGann turns, smiles. 'Let's go!' ...Cut to black.

That was the whole selection.

Cambrian Times

Quote from: icehaven on October 24, 2010, 06:09:20 PM
Like the 'endings which would have...', only they didn't as they were cut, but included on DVD releases so you can see what never was. Donnie Darko is a prime example, as there's a deleted scene (which may actually be in the Director's Cut version which I haven't seen) in which it turns out that Donnie's medication is actually a placebo.

Isn't the point of that scene is that the shrink says the pills are made of water which ties in with Roberta Sparrow's book about portal's/time machines being constructed of water?

Madison

The 'everyone dies' ending to Little Shop of Horrors. No. Sorry. I know it's the Faustian pact and all that but no. Audrey and Seymour can't die. *Homer voice* all they had was each other...

Serge

I'm glad they cut the scene of Hannibal Lecter driving the ambulance and laughing after he'd made his escape in 'Silence Of The Lambs'. The way it stands in the movie, with him revealing himself and then disappearing is fantastic, especially as we'd all been so wrongfooted by the scene up until that point.

I agree with the chocky909's comment about 'Se7en' above - it's an ending that could only have been thought up by someone who didn't understand a fucking thing about the film.

Phil_A

Blade Runner had quite a few scenes scripted but dropped to a lack of time and money, but I think the most significant one is set after Roy murders Tyrell. He travels to the top floor of the Tyrell Corp. building and finds an elaborate glass sarcophagus containing the body of the real Eldon Tyrell, meaning the one killed by Roy was just another replicant. But actually I'm quite glad they didn't use that bit in the end - it would completely change the emotional impact of that scene if you knew Roy hadn't really killed his "father".

'American Beauty' had a scene deleted which showed Col. Frank Fitts (in flashback style) with a gay lover in the Vietnam War.  The partner gets killed and Fitts sees it as a punishment from God on homosexuals - hence the homophobia.

Spoiler alert
Thankfully the scene was cut out because it would have ruined the surprise when he comes on to Lester Burnham at the end of the film.
[close]

madhair60


Cerys

Oh, hell yeah.  It makes it an entirely different film.  I like knowing that it's out there, but if it had actually been used I probably wouldn't have gone back to the film as many times as I have.

QDRPHNC

In Training Day,
Spoiler alert
after Denzel Washington leaves Ethan Hawke to the mercy of the gangbangers, there was a deleted scene where one of the gangbangers explains to Hawke that Washington had set him up and wants him dead. Without the scene, Washington's motivations are never 100% clear, even up until his death, making for a much more satisfying ending.
[close]


Ignatius_S

Spoiler alert
Quote from: xxxx xxx x xxx on October 26, 2010, 10:48:11 AM
'American Beauty' had a scene deleted which showed Col. Frank Fitts (in flashback style) with a gay lover in the Vietnam War.  The partner gets killed and Fitts sees it as a punishment from God on homosexuals - hence the homophobia.

Spoiler alert
Thankfully the scene was cut out because it would have ruined the surprise when he comes on to Lester Burnham at the end of the film.
[close]

Totally unnecessary exposition – and that's sounds so contrived, unconvincing.  Also, the flashback would be at odds with the how the rest of the film is narrated.

Spoiler alert
Personally, when he comes onto Lester, I thought it explained a lot rather and was more expecting than not, that the character's homophobia related to his own sexuality.
[close]
[close]

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: madhair60 on October 26, 2010, 11:31:49 AM
The alternate ending of Clerks
What I was going to post. If he'd put that in, he wouldn't be where he is today, simple as.

mycroft

Quote from: Tom Pynchon's Photo on October 24, 2010, 08:23:33 PM
I live in hope of seeing the footage of the intending ending of Dr Strangelove which was giant custard pie fight between everyone.

I read something/saw an interview somewhere that said that one of the main reasons for its cutting was a bit where Sellers' President is pied down and George C Scott wails about "our brave young President, cut down in his prime" which, in light of the Kennedy assassination, was suddenly far too close to home to include.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: mycroft on October 26, 2010, 08:03:13 PM
I read something/saw an interview somewhere that said that one of the main reasons for its cutting was a bit where Sellers' President is pied down and George C Scott wails about "our brave young President, cut down in his prime" which, in light of the Kennedy assassination, was suddenly far too close to home to include.
On at least one of the DVD version, there's a making of documentary that discusses this aspect (the whole thing is worth a watch) and Wikipedia has got the gist:

QuoteIt was originally planned for the film to end with a scene that was filmed, with everyone in the war room involved in a pie fight.

Accounts vary as to why the pie fight was cut. In a 1969 interview, Kubrick said: "I decided it was farce and not consistent with the satiric tone of the rest of the film."[27] Critic Alexander Walker observed that "the cream pies were flying around so thickly that people lost definition, and you couldn't really say whom you were looking at."[9] Nile Southern, son of screenwriter Terry Southern, suggested the fight was intended to be less jovial. "Since they were laughing, it was unusable, because instead of having that totally black, which would have been amazing, like, this blizzard, which in a sense is metaphorical for all of the missiles that are coming, as well, you just have these guys having a good old time. So, as Kubrick later said, 'it was a disaster of Homeric proportions.'"[9]

Former Goon Show writer, and friend of Sellers', Spike Milligan, was credited with suggesting the Vera Lynn music for the ending.

[edit] The Kennedy assassination
A first test screening of the film was scheduled for November 22, 1963, the day of the John F. Kennedy assassination. The film was just weeks from its scheduled premiere, but because of the assassination the release was delayed until late January 1964, as it was felt that the public was in no mood for such a film any sooner.

One line by Slim Pickens – "a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff" – was dubbed to change "Dallas" to "Vegas", Dallas being the city where Kennedy was killed. The original reference to Dallas survives in some foreign language-dubbed versions of the film, including the French release.

The assassination also serves as another possible reason why the pie-fight scene was cut. In the scene General Turgidson exclaims, "Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has been struck down in his prime!" after Muffley takes a pie in the face. Editor Anthony Harvey states that "[the scene] would have stayed, except that Columbia Pictures were horrified, and thought it would offend the president's family."[32]

neveragain

That's all very interesting, although I agree it would only work with straight faces all round.

On the DVD of the Royle Family's Queen of Sheba special there are some deleted scenes set around Norma's hospital deathbed. Some of them (Twiggy saying goodbye, etc) would have been perfectly usable but the whole sequence is framed by an internal monologue from Nana, which - as well as diluting the already buggered-up style of the show even further - couldn't be included by any writer with a straight mind due to how absolutely saccharine and shit it is. It actually contains the line 'Death ends a life, not a relationship', as well as a bucketful of 'Oh I know you Jim Royle, you're soft as the rest of them'-style remarks. Christ, it's woeful. But still, these were possibly written just to keep Liz Smith busy during the shoot.

Quote from: Serge on October 26, 2010, 12:31:42 AM
I agree with the chocky909's comment about 'Se7en' above - it's an ending that could only have been thought up by someone who didn't understand a fucking thing about the film.

There may be spoilers in here about Se7en if you've never seen it - so don't read and watch it - it's truly a modern classic. I'm not going to blank out a whole paragraph for a 20 odd year old film though - so just roll on past.

Anyway - re the ending - was there  a cut where Somerset shot Doe? I don't remember that. I know there's the original cut which simply goes to black after Mills kills Doe and which was Fincher prefered ending. But I can't remember there being a version with Somerset pulling the trigger - I'm probably wrong though. The original ending tested so badly though Fincher was forced to re-cut it and film the slightly redundant coda - although it's not as bad as Fincher seems to feel it is listening to him on the commentary.

What is interesting on the commentary is the way the ending came about in the first place though, which is that was the original ending in the first draft. By the time it had got to Fincher to read, it had actually been re-drafted under pressure from studio execs to a much more cliched ending with Somerset racing across town and saving Mill's wife before Doe kills her. However, either by accident, or more likely by the design of someone sympathetic to the screenwriter - Fincher got the first draft. It was only after he'd signed on the line to direct he found out the studio only wanted to make the cliched ending and a stand-off ensued until eventually they agreed to let him do it. Amazing really as I can't imagine, no matter how good the rest of the film was, that it would have had the seismic impact on the film industry as it did.

Serge

Apparently Fincher convinced the head of the studio to keep the original ending by saying how iconic it would be, with people in the future saying, "Hey, what was the name of that film where they had someone's head in a box?", which appealed to the studio head's vanity. The 'studio' ending of them just getting to Doe in time wouldn't really linger in the memory.

I could be wrong, but I think the 'Somerset shooting Doe' ending is presented as a series of storyboards on the DVD, rather than it actually ever being shot. I'm glad Fincher was talked out of his sudden ending though - the fact that you see that Doe has effectively ruined Somerset's life as well, by making him opt to stay in the city rather than move away ("I'll be around.") adds an extra layer of bleakness to it.


Quote from: Serge on November 05, 2010, 04:02:47 PM
I could be wrong, but I think the 'Somerset shooting Doe' ending is presented as a series of storyboards on the DVD,

You're quite right - I'd forgotten that - I'd just remembered the original test ending - but there was a storyboard one too so I suspect it's that.

Catalogue Trousers

Similar in a way to the original Clerks ending already mentioned: the original ending for Withnail And I. As it now stands, beautifully bitter-sweet. As originally written, it would have been a true downer. Powerful, perhaps, but completely wrong.

Edit:

Although darn it, I don't know for sure if it was ever filmed or not. Must read the fine print in original posts more carefully in future.

El Unicornio, mang

It was never filmed. The only scene that was filmed but deleted was one of the pair of them fencing.

tygerbug

#28
Quote from: icehaven on October 24, 2010, 06:09:20 PM
Like the 'endings which would have...', only they didn't as they were cut, but included on DVD releases so you can see what never was. Donnie Darko is a prime example, as there's a deleted scene (which may actually be in the Director's Cut version which I haven't seen) in which it turns out that Donnie's medication is actually a placebo. I've always thought it's odd that something so pivotal to the entire plot and interpretation of the film was made then cut, as if they were really ambiguous about which way to go with the whole (fairly central) mental illness theme.

This is my favorite scene in the entire film, as presented in the deleted scenes menu. Strangely, when actually placed in the film in the Director's Cut, it didn't work at all. This is true of the entire Director's Cut, which just plain doesn't work, and it's hard to say quite why.

Actually I can say for sure one major thing they screwed up. In the deleted scenes section, the scene ends with a heartbreaking final shot, holding on a distant, overhead shot of Katharine Ross's psychologist holding a child's stuffed animal. This barely registers in the director's cut.

In general, the third act of the director's cut is full of scenes which seemed amazing when presented as deleted scenes- why on earth did they cut this? sort of stuff - but they fall completely flat in that presentation.

The same thing happened with Superman 2: The Donner Cut. In the original TV version, Margot Kidder's tearful goodbye to Superman at the end- "I got the man I loved to love me" - is a terrific piece of acting and probably the best thing in the film. When actually placed in the film it doesn't work, due to the amateurish and shitty editing of the entire DVD Donner Cut, really. Poor sound mixing I'm sure, maybe cut wrong somehow. Marlon Brando comes off really well in the Donner Cut DVD though, despite home-computer special effects slapped over his whole bit. He comes off as a key to the entire film.

I saw the Aliens director's cut first and all my favorite bits turned out to be deleted scenes when I saw the final cut. But I'm weird like that, and not a big fan of the film anyway.

Actually having Ripley react to the death of her daughter changes the film, I'd say.

Need we mention The Abyss?


Not that it changes the movie too much, but there's a lovely alternate ending to The Muppet Movie where the Muppets talk over the credits. Strangely all this was muted for the most common release. They're improvising and being as charming as you'd expect. My feeling when I saw it was that this was exactly what the movie needed, and what I'd expected and thought was missing from the theatrical version. Most of "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along" was also cut from the most common version of the film. A generally longer version of The Muppet Movie was released as a British VHS tape back in the day.


All the best gore effects were cut from Evil Dead 2 for some reason, but these no longer exist as far as anyone knows [although they're heavily featured in making-of footage shot on Beta by the FX team].

The middle section of Army of Darkness is improved in the original edit of the film- Ash's confrontations with the little Ashes and Evil Ash are a lot less stupid and irritating- they seem to have cut the scenes down to the most annoying bits, rather than bits that work better.