Originally posted by: greencapt
First what all was added in the 'director's cut' of DD and
Second am I the ONLY person who is sick of these stupidly named 'special edition' DVDs??? I see it like this- there's very little freakin' chance under the sun that a director these days would be 'edited' in the way that studios did it in the 70s and 80s. Even though a few instances crop up (Exorcist TB for example) I see no excuse for a 'director's cut' these days. Maybe I'm just being picky but just call it a 'special edition' or 'extended edition' for gosh sake but don't think we're so stupid to think that the director sat back two months after the DVD came out and said 'Oh if only I could have included so-and-so or if only I could have freely edited the film like I chose... oh woe is me!' Actually, the Daredevil Director's Cut is probably one of the truer examples of actual "Director's Cuts" these days. I think the director had DVD in mind when he shot the movie, so he shot it for an R rating knowing that the studio would cut it down to PG-13. Upon its studio release, the Fox forced them to add some scenes to make it more friendly to audiences. These included the priest confessional scenes which gave Matt someone to confide in and the sex scene with Elektra after the rooftop scene. Originally, Matt left her on the roof to go play superhero. Additionally, the studio had them cut a subplot that helped to the film be more coherent.
Here's most of the changes made for the Director's Cut, spoilers below:
* Some extended moments to Matt's origin story including his father wearing devil-like boxing robes.
* More violence in the bar sequence, as well as some unnecessary motorcycle stuff.
* During the scene where Matt goes to sleep in his deprivation tank, he somehow visualizes the murder of a prostitute. I didn't feel this was executed too well though. Also, he has a short dream of a nun (his mother) looking after him as a child. It's a reference to the comics which may be seem strange if you don't understand it.
* No priest confessional scene the morning after he kills the guy at the train station.
* More jokes from Foggy at the cafe. Pretty funny though unnecessary stuff about a seeing eye dog and a Fight Club reference.
* After we meet the Kingpin, he find out someone's been talking to the press so he beats his bodyguards to death with his caine.
* After the scene where Matt tells Foggy about Elektra, they continue walking to meet a new client. He was accused of murdering the prostitute Matt saw in his vision because he was found passed out with the murder weapon. Using his human lie detector, Matt can tell he's telling the truth and deduces that he was framed.
* A new scene of Matt and Foggy crossing the street with Foggy expressing his reservations about the client.
* A new scene of Bullseye being a badass in an airport.
* A new scene where Matt and Foggy look for clues in the dead prostitute's apartment. Matt finds an etching in the table saying "MOM 6-8"
* A new scene of Matt and Foggy representing their client at court. A police officer testifies that the client did indeed kill the prostitute. Matt is confused because his lie detector thing tells him the officer is telling the truth and so he figures something's up. We also see the reporter Ben Urich watching the trial so he's somehow interested in all of this.
* The courtroom scene is followed by the scene where Matt meets Elektra on a street at night and their moment on the rooftop. Originally, this came later in the movie. When she asks Matt to stay, in the DC, he leaves her to go save to day or whatever.
* After the "I'm not the bad guy" moment, there's a new scene (or kinda alternate one) where he tries to find solitude in a church. He meets the priest and we find out he hasn't been attending Sunday mass. Unlike the theatrical cut, the priest doesn't know he is Daredevil.
* The previous scene is followed by Matt receiving the invitation to the ball. Unlike the theatrical version where he needs to be coerced by sex with Elektra to attend, Foggy convinces him to reluctantly go.
* At the ball, there's a new scene of the Kingpin's assistant being an a-hole to Foggy.
* Some minor extensions to the moments leading up to Elektra's dad getting killed - this uses some shots of DD that were used another way in the theatrical cut.
* After Elektra's dad gets killed and Matt gets all angry with himself, another one of the confessional scenes from the theatrical cut is cut. Instead, this is followed by the scene where the Kingpin gives Bullseye orders to kill Elektra. In the theatrical cut, this was a little later in the movie. Also, instead of the censored line "I want a bloody costume," Bullseye says "I want a f***ing costume!"
* The previous scene is followed by a new scene with Foggy screwing up in the courtroom because Matt is absent. Also, their client (played by Coolio) testifies and acts like an idiot. It's largely used for comic effect and is unnecessary. This leads into Matt attending the funeral.
* After the funeral, Matt is stopped by Ben Urich who gives him some info. The killing of the prostitute is somehow related to the Kingpin and Urich was using her as a source for some articles he wrote on the Kingpin (probably the ones which led the Kingpin to kill his bodyguards in one of the new scenes). He goes on to tell Matt the cop that gave the testimony at the trial is crooked.
* There's a new scene of Matt catching up with the aforementioned cop outside a strip club and getting info out of him. Matt couldn't get a good read from him because he wears a pacemaker and he reveals that he's working for the Kingpin. This and the previous scene replace the scene from the theatrical cut where Ben Urich meets with Matt and tells him to beware of the Kingpin.
* There's a new scene of Foggy and Karen Page (the secretary) realizing what the "MOM 6-8" clue meant. Turns out Matt read it upside down and it means the prostitute met with the Kingpin's assistant (initials W.O.W.) the night of her murder (August 9th).
* The scene with Ben Urich and the Kevin Smith character is extended. Urich receives a phone call from Foggy about what he found out.
* A new scene after the Bulleye/Daredevil fight where Urich meets up with the police detective and tells him he knows how to get to the Kingpin. This is followed by another new scene where the detective meets with the Kingpin's assistant at a ritzy bar and tells him he knows he murdered the prostitute and gets him to give up the Kingpin. All of this explains why the cops came for the Kingpin after his fight with Daredevil.
* There's a new scene at the end where Matt passes by the church and the priest tells him he just missed Sunday mass. Urich meets him and tells him that he knows he is Daredevil and that it's his job to report it.
* There's a new sequence after the previous scene where we see the Kingpin behind bars and Bullseye in a body cast at the hospital (this last part was used as a during-the-credits surprise in the theatrical cut. This sequence has new narration of Matt waxing on about how evil always survives.
Ultimately, the director's cut runs 133 minutes, a full 30 minutes longer than the theatrical version. I think a good half of of the new material strenghtens the film. The other half isn't bad, just unecessary.
Originally posted by: TheDemonHunter
It may have seemed rushed, but didn't they have this thing in preproduction hell for a few years while Affleck fought to have it made?
I don't think it was Affleck who fought for it. Rather, the director had been trying to make it for years and finally convinced the studio. Say what you will about the final movie, but the director definitely had passion for the material. It probably seemed too rushed because Fox had them cut out the subplot.
I caught Elektra on DVD out of curiosity and thought it was pretty bad. At least the theatrical cut of Daredevil seemed to have potential. Elektra's potential went out the window the moment they decided on the story. They gave Elektra weird quirks like having OCD and disregarded the darker feel of Daredevil. The movie just never picked up for me. I sat there waiting for something interesting to happen, but nothing ever did.
