There’s usually a good reason they were deleted
Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawaty has a great interview with Matt Damon in the current issue. Damon comes off the way he always has: likable, funny, and level-headed.
In particular, I love what he says about deleted scenes on DVDs. He’s talking about the stuff they cut out of “The Bourne Ultimatum” specifically, but it applies to most movies’ deleted scenes:
Will we get to see them on the DVD?
Never. To me, that’s like walking into a room holding a pile of s— and saying “Look what I almost stepped in!”
That’s a perfect analogy. You had to good sense not to make the mistake — and then you negated that good sense by showing it to everyone anyway.
There are exceptions, of course. In general, a comedy that was made with a lot of improvisation is bound to have plenty of great stuff that had to be cut purely for time and story concerns. Hence, the “Waiting for Guffman” deleted scenes are brilliant; the Will Ferrell comedies tend to have a lot of good leftovers; I anticipate plenty of “Knocked Up” bonuses.
Do you have any favorite deleted scenes that you’ve discovered on DVD? Or do you feel like in most cases, the filmmakers should probably leave that pile of s— outside and be glad they were smart enough not to step in it?
August 7th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Sometimes I enjoy seeing the crap that the filmmakers barely avoided stepping in because it gives an insight into the movie-making process, or hints at things the screenwriter or director may have been trying to achieve. Those scenes just interest me for some reason, even when I am glad they were removed from the actual movie.
August 7th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
The majority of the scenes deleted from the theatrical cut of “Donnie Darko” were a must see. Not because they were of exceptional caliber, per se, but because the movie made NO SENSE without them. I finished that movie and thought, “what the eff?” and then after watching the deleted scenes I said, “Oh. OK, I get it now.” Whoever re-edited that sucker for theatrical release was a grade A moron.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Revenge of the Sith should have had all of the deleted scenes with Padme’s political activities added back in. It made the movie make much more sense in light of her previous characterization. The crap they cut out with scenes in the sewer or whatever were rightfully taken out, however.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
The past few years, with DVD extras, I’ve come to appreciate how crucial good editing is to making a good film. Sometimes the film becomes less coherent as the material is removed to make it flow, but many times I’ve seen what Mr. Damon was talking about. Originally, it was cool to look at all the stuff that got cut away and think “Wow! That would have made the film so much better if it was left in,” but that just not always the case.
August 7th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Not a film, but there are quite a few good deleted scenes in the Arrested Development DVDs. The extended “hot ham water” scene is one of my favorites, as is Tobias flashing Michael alongside Judy Greer.
August 7th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Perhaps the highest-profile instances of deleted scenes enhancing the original films are the Lord of the Rings movies. Granted, the material was always intended to be seen, but it illustrates just how carefully they had to edit the films to allow the story to flow within a 3-hour running time. I often wish Warner Brothers had taken this approach to the Harry Potter movies.
August 7th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Like Argus, for me, it can be interesting as far the “why” scenes were deleted, so I’m glad they are included, but in virtually every case I would agree that it was the right choice (and it’s irrelevent, anyway, as it’s someone else’s movie and not mine so they did what they should have done for their own artistic preference). I just watched the deleted scenes for A Knight’s Tale and enjoyed the other speeches/performances by Paul Bettany as Chaucer.
August 7th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
It has been awhile since I watched either version, but the Special Edition DVD of the “The Abyss” adds about 30 minutes to the movie and, if I remember correctly, really helps flesh out the story so that it makes more sense. I think that might be a case where the theatrical movie version suffered just so that a certain running time could be met
August 7th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
The extra scenes in “Blade Runner” (which would ultimately be reinserted to create the director’s cut) really, I think, make the movie better. Movies in which Owen Wilson has been in (pre-”Dupree” era, of course) usually have some pretty good improvisations. Oh, and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” had some precious improvs. “The Girl Next Door” had an extended ending which was so poorly done it would have left me with an unfavorable impression from that one instance alone.
August 7th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Deleted scenes are usually of value in long movies, because very often in long movies they have to take out a lot of good scenes to cut the movie down to something reasonable (as in LotR and Gladiator)
But forget the deleted scenes, what is up with the so-called blooper reels on DVDs? How many blooper reels do you watch just to find a bunch of “oh no I forgot my line. ha ha ha”? Only occasionally do you get truly funny bloopers or great behind-the-scenes practical jokes. In fact, the only blooper reels that I can think of with any redeeming value come from animated movies like Monsters, Inc where they are just making fun of other movies’ blooper reels.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:52 am
The DVD of ‘28 Days Later’ has a couple of alternate endings on it, both of which are improvements on the original’s, which was probably the only bad thing about the film.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:38 am
I know this isn’t as classic as the other movies we’re talking about here, but I thought the deleted scenes for the first X-Men movie helped show the depth of some of the characters, both major and minor. It gave some heart to the movie that was lacking for me. Of course, I’ve only watched them once, but that’s what I remember. I also recall the director saying that he had felt rushed getting the movie into the theaters, so it may have been that some of those really should have gone in.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:44 am
There’s a deleted scene in the Marlon Wayans classic Dungeons & Dragons that contains the entire explanation for the main character’s motivations for the story. I can’t say that leaving it in would’ve made the move GOOD, but it certainly would’ve been better.
Incidentally, it was cut because the special effects budget wouldn’t support its inclusion. So, future screenwriters, please don’t set crucial scenes in strange, otherworldly locales that would require expensive special effects to realize, because your movie might wind up incoherant.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I rarely watch the deleted scenes. I don’t like watching the scenes out of order and out of mood with rest of the film. For me, it’s a different story to watch a director’s cut where everything is edited back in, but I really dislike most deleted scenes. (Exception previously mentioned: Waiting for Guffman.)
As for blooper reels, I love them. I don’t care that they’re all the same, I love them. I actually prefer the blooper reels where it’s showing something really out of character. A perfect example, while not a movie, is Victor Garber’s ultra-serious Jack Bristow breaking during a scene of Alias.
Heck. Who am I kidding. I even love the animated outtakes from Pixar movies.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Secondhand Lions - The deleted scene showing Garth inviting the salesmen over to the house. It really changes the dynamics of the friendship of the two men, and for the better in my opinion.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Deleted scenes that were deleted to appease the studio or meet a running time are generally useful when added back in. In some cases, like The Abyss, they are necessary for a coherent plot. Scenes deleted by the director, because they didn’t fit, or jacked up the pace, are generally useless and shouldn’t be included on the DVD. There are a few exceptions, like in the Star Wars prequels, where they were fun to watch, although ultimately unnecessary for the movie. That doubly applies for most of M Night Shyamalan’s movies. The scenes deleted from Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were great, but they were better included as an extra than reinserted because the pace would have suffered.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
My favourite is from Stranger than Fiction. They had recorded two episodes of the book show that’s playing in the background - and if you haven’t seen Kristin Chenowith and Emma Thompson improving an interview, you should. Just to see the “You’re so stupid” look on her face for Kristin’s character.
August 8th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Greg - the Star Wars prequel movie cut scenes were not fun to watch. They were painful to watch. Especially in Episode II. They were rightly cut from the final movie.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Yeah, the deleted scenes from “The Sixth Sense” were great, but ultimately had to be taken out. Those were worth seeing.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Napoleon Dynamite. The scenes, particulary with Don, were hilarious. I wish they’d left the kickball scene in, and the fishing scene, since I wondered where the crap he got the delicious bass in the first place.
August 9th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
The more that I think about it, the more I think that Damon’s statement isn’t really valid. A deleted scene could still be a well-written and well-performed scene. It may be redundant to the plot or unnecessary or add too much length for good pacing, but still worth seeing after the fact. His analogy would make sense for scenes where there were flubbed lines, or shots where the microphone was accidentally visible or some stunt or effect went wrong.
August 9th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
As you know, Eric, the best deleted scenes ever come from UHF. Not because the scenes are good - they’re not - but because Al’s apologies over having to show them on DVD are priceless.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
“The more that I think about it, the more I think that Damon’s statement isn’t really valid”
I disagree. I think that for the movies that Matt Damon has been in, it holds true. For comedies, etc., Deleted Scenes can be very funny. But for the Action-Adventure and Drama movies that Matt has mainly been in, a deleted scene would most likely tend to be any of those things that you point out.
If you think about it in a literary sense, though, he’s right. How lame would it be that at the end of the 7th Harry Potter book, there was an entire three chapters that were nothing but a bunch of typos, bad plot line developments, etc.?
I think the same is true for movies. While they may be funny, they’re not THAT necessary for the movie.
August 11th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I rarely watch the deleted scenes from DVDs, but one that ABSOLUTELY should have made the cut into the theatrical release was a scene from the movie Bruce Almighty. Tom Shadyac kept saying throughout the scene (on voice-over), “Boy, this was the one that I didn’t wanna cut, but the studio needed the film shorter…” He should have fought for it. Morgan Freeman has one of his greatest lines and the deleted scene contained a truly spiritual doctrine that would have really touched audiences in a profound way. That scene not being in the film hurt the final product.
September 6th, 2007 at 10:35 am
For nearly every “serious” movie I’ve seen, watching the deleted scenes was exactly what Damon says it would be. It’s essentially a reel of scenes that might not be total crap but are unquestionably boring. Exceptions are rare; one that comes to mind, from Spike Lee’s _Bamboozled_, is Savion Glover’s extended dance scene after he leaves the studio.
And usually the “alternate endings” are the same way: Left out for a reason. (I recall that the alternate ending to A Perfect Murder was actually _better_…though I can see why they didn’t use it in the end.)
Maybe somebody should start a database of deleted scenes and alternate endings that are actually worth seeing.