10 Movies That Directors Couldn’t Stop Meddling With Even After Release

Some films have continuously kept their directors coming back for more, as even after their releases, the filmmaker kept meddling and making new cuts. When a certain amount of time is spent on any creative project, it’s nearly impossible to see it as complete or perfect. Many filmmakers could keep tinkering in the editing room for months longer, if not for release dates to abide by. Certain directors with enough sway find themselves back in the editing room, reworking their movies for DVD releases or an improved cut of the film.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the most famous modern re-cut of a movie. However, a film like that or Superman II wouldn’t count, as those re-cuts involved the original director returning to the project after departing from the initial release. Other directors, like Peter Jackson, George Lucas, and Ridley Scott, have actively returned to movies they’ve worked on despite having a say in the final cuts of their theatrical releases, either to add back deleted scenes or utilize modern technology to improve aspects of the films.

10 Star Wars (Original Trilogy)

George Lucas returned to the Original Trilogy to make them more cohesive with the prequels.

George Lucas returned to the original Star Wars films to add cohesion to the prequel trilogy. He used newer techniques to rework scenes from the older films, such as adding Hayden Christensen to the end of Return of the Jedi or changing the title card in Star Wars to “Episode IV – A New Hope.” These changes became a subject of controversy among Star Wars fans who considered the original works to be sacred. However, several Star Wars changes actually improved the original trilogy, such as the enhanced ending to Return of the Jedi, which features new music from John Williams.

9 Blade Runner

Ridley Scott returned to Blade Runner for his Final Cut 25 years after its release.

There’s a confusing number of cuts for Blade Runner, a situation that arose from on-set drama leading to Ridley Scott being momentarily fired from the film. The legendary director returned to salvage what he could of the theatrical cut, which suffered at the hands of studio interference. The released movie was damaged by lackluster narration, among other issues. A director’s cut was released later on, which Ridley Scott ironically had little to do with. Scott was given complete artistic freedom to complete the film in the 2007 “Final Cut,” which is the best version of Blade Runner.

8 Kingdom Of Heaven

Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven director’s cut improved the film.

Blade Runner isn’t the only movie Ridley Scott returned to. After Kingdom of Heaven received poor reviews for its theatrical release, Scott returned and drastically improved the film with a director’s cut. An extra 50 minutes of scenes flesh out the romance plot line and add other essential story details that fix problems with the film’s pacing and characters. The Kingdom of Heaven director’s cut deserves to be mentioned among Ridley Scott’s best movies.

7 Watchmen

Director’s cut maestro Zack Snyder kept adding to Watchmen.

Zack Snyder has become synonymous with the idea of the director’s cut after his version of Justice League. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice also famously had a vastly improved director’s cut. However, the 2009 superhero film Watchmen is the one he returned to twice. Expanding on an already 162-minute movie, Zack Snyder’s Watchmen Director’s Cut is 186 minutes long. The Ultimate Cut adds in the animated film Tales of the Black Freighter, adding nearly 30 more minutes to the run time. In the case of Watchmen, Snyder’s best version is the Director’s Cut.

6 Alexander

Oliver Stone’s Alexander has four versions.

Kingdom of Heaven isn’t the only early 2000s historical epic with multiple editions. In the case of Oliver Stone’s Alexander, the film has four versions: the original theatrical cut in 2004, the “Director’s Cut” in 2005, the “Final Cut” in 2007, and the “Ultimate Cut,” which was released in 2014. Despite its all-star cast, the original film was poorly received, but Oliver Stone wanted better for his sword-and-sandal passion project. He returned to the film multiple times, and the Ultimate Cut is a far better version of his Alexander the Great drama.

5 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

Steven Spielberg worked on two cuts of his 1977 classic.

Initially released in 1977, Steven Spielberg has tinkered with Close Encounters of the Third Kind a couple of times. Shortly after the initial version, the “Special Edition” was released in 1980 with some slight alterations that divided lovers of the movie. Spielberg returned again for an official “Director’s Cut” in 1998, taking the best of the theatrical and special editions. The final 1998 version is generally considered the best.

4 The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

Peter Jackson keeps expanding the Lord of the Rings films.

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films are renowned for their enormous extended editions. The trilogy was long enough to begin with for its theatrical releases, but Peter Jackson has returned to them multiple times to add new scenes. The timeless epic fantasy films are some of the most beloved and re-watchable movies ever, and any extra Lord of the Rings scenes in the extended editions are considered a gift. A world as beautiful and expansive as Middle Earth will constantly keep viewers wanting more.

3 Apocalypse Now

Francis Coppola has released multiple cuts of Apocalypse Now.

The tale of Francis Ford Coppola and his Vietnam War epic is well-documented, resulting in 4 different cuts of Apocalypse Now. The movie’s troubled production resulted in a ton of footage and story changes, and the large budget prompted a need for a mainstream appeal, theatrical release. Coppola returned to the project in 2001 and 2019 with Apocalypse Now Redux and Apocalypse Now: Final Cut, trying to rework his footage for slower versions than the original. In this case, the theatrical release is generally considered the best.

2 Titanic

James Cameron spent 60 weeks developing Titanic for its 3D re-release.

James Cameron is known for his meticulous attention to detail in his films, making them infrequently in the 21st century while waiting years for particular technological advancements before working on Avatar films. While he hasn’t made any altered director’s cuts of Titanic with different scenes, Cameron returned to the film to help with the 3D conversion for a theatrical re-release. Cameron spent 60 weeks contributing to the 3D conversion, which added an extra $350 million to the film’s already massive box office total in the 2012 re-release (via TheWrap)

1 The Godfather Trilogy

Francis Coppola reworked The Godfather Part III for a 2020 cut.

Like with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Francis Ford Coppola keeps returning to The Godfather films for new variants. After The Godfather and The Godfather Part II were released in the ’70s, Coppola developed a miniseries version of the two combined films. The Godfather Saga became a 434-minute version that viewers could watch on television. Coppola also returned to change The Godfather Part III in 2020, releasing a new version titled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, which slightly improved upon the trilogy’s least successful installment.

Sources: TheWrap