Comments on: There’s usually a good reason they were deleted

By: Kyralessa

Kyralessa — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:35:35 +0000

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.

By: Phil Cardenas

Phil Cardenas — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 03:23:15 +0000

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.

By: Steven Stout

Steven Stout — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:55:51 +0000

“The more that I think about it, the more I think that DamonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s statement isnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢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.

By: David Cornelius

David Cornelius — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:41:53 +0000

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.

By: Eric Herman

Eric Herman — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:17:26 +0000

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.

By: Turkey

Turkey — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 03:47:37 +0000

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.

By: David Manning

David Manning — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 23:31:47 +0000

Yeah, the deleted scenes from “The Sixth Sense” were great, but ultimately had to be taken out. Those were worth seeing.

By: card

card — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:27:26 +0000

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.

By: Chrystle

Chrystle — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:59:45 +0000

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.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:18:46 +0000

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.