Thoughts on Extended Editions

In my personal opinion, every time a movie is released in an extended version, usually the scenes added are usually completely pointless. Occasionally there is a movie that has an extended version or directors cut that is better than the original version. For example, the extended editions of the LOTR movies I consider to be a lot better than the theatrical versions. However, there are movies that have completely pointless scenes added in. The first two Harry Potter films are an example of this. I remember seeing those movies in theaters so the theatrical versions are the first ones that I saw. Then when they aired on ABC they had the deleted scenes put back in. At least the inclusion of those scenes make sense in the TV versions. But when the entire series was released on Blu-ray they were the extended versions. Fortunately the theatrical versions were released in 4K and to this day that is how I prefer to watch the first two movies. The Phantom Menace is another example. I also saw the movie in theaters and on VHS. I was disappointed when the DVD added in the extended podrace scene. That’s part of the reason I wanted to recreate this version as seen here https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/The-Phantom-Menace-The-Theatrical-Version-a-WIP/id/86042. However this is all my opinion and I would like to hear from other people their opinions on the subject.

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.

I do see your point.