You could think of it cynically as a way film studios milk more money out of one film (especially if the extended edition is for a film generally regarded as bad) but I just find them interesting. Apocalypse Now is better than Apocalypse Now Final Cut (I haven’t watched redux, probably never will) but I still enjoyed the extra scenes as a matter of curiosity and wider depiction of the vietnam war under the same directorial vision. Apparently the ‘ultimate edition’ of Batman Vs Superman is a version of the movie that’s more fully realised, and better. Zack Snyder’s Justice League could be seen as an extended cut of Justice League, and it’s certainly better. Even though I really dislike The Rise of Skywalker, I’d love to see an extended edition of it with deleted scenes to see how they affect the film.

I like to really understand movies and extended editions are one way of doing that.