It’s getting increasingly rarer to find movies released on home video that don’t receive some sort of “Extended Cut” or “Unrated” version. Every film leaves scenes on the cutting room floor and if there’s an opportunity to reinsert those scenes and make some more money off people, you’d better believe studios are going to jump at the chance. Still, like any artistic medium, there are many films that benefit from a creative reworking, to the point where some “Director’s Cuts” are now considered the definitive versions of said film. The following 12 movies all saw director’s cuts that made improvements across the board and topped the theatrical releases by a mile.
12. Almost Famous (2000)
Cameron Crowe’s semi-biographical tale of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine in the early 1970s ran just over two hours in its theatrical release and while this version was positively received by critics, it left the story of William Miller’s (Patrick Fugit) life on the road with the fictional rock band Stillwater feel rushed and somewhat unsatisfying. Fortunately, Crowe was able to add 40 minutes of additional footage for the DVD release, helping flesh out William’s relationship with the band and his unrequited love for super-groupie Penny Lane (Kate Hudson, turning in what is arguably her best performance). It also helps that the characters in Almost Famous are so likable, that the simple act of getting to spend more time with them make’s Crowe’s extended cut the superior version.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/07/almost-famous-working-titles_n_5279784.html Via huffingtonpost.com