Without a doubt, there have been some amazing director’s cuts released over the past few decades, often for home releases (or sometimes theatrical re-releases). Blade Runner and Kingdom of Heaven are some of the best examples, both directed by Ridley Scott, while director’s cuts for movies like Caligula, Once Upon a Time in America (not the butchered original theatrical release), and Superman II were all generally seen as improvements.

The following director’s cuts, however, are considered among the worst, usually because they took good movies and made them worse (not always making them unwatchable, though). A couple of examples below, however, were pretty bad in their original cuts and then still pretty bad when they got director’s cuts. Also, the titles below do not include extended versions that the director specified weren’t director’s cuts, like Gladiator’s extended cut or the 20th anniversary version of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

10

‘Midsommar’ (2019)

Directed by Ari Aster

Given how unpleasant and in-your-face it is, Midsommar’s theatrical cut might not be for everyone, but it’s probably for most horror fans. Like, anyone who doesn’t mind their horror getting grim, gory, and uncompromising will probably find a good deal to appreciate, to the point where it’s hopefully not a hot take to suggest that the theatrical cut is at least a good modern horror movie.

The director’s cut, though, feels a bit more like an extended cut, adding 24 minutes to an already pretty lengthy 147-minute runtime. Despite technically adding more scenes, this version of Midsommar has a little less nuance and ambiguity regarding some of its key characters, the pacing suffers a bit (this is going to be a recurring criticism for many of the titles here), and elaborating on the cult a little more – reducing a degree of mystery – arguably reduces some of the horror.

Midsommar

Release Date

July 3, 2019

Runtime

147 minutes

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9

‘Amadeus’ (1984)

Directed by Miloš Forman

Calling the director’s cut of Amadeus bad is admittedly a little extreme. If it’s the only version you can find, it’s still very much worth watching, especially since the theatrical cut is already quite long, and the director’s cut isn’t too much longer (roughly 160 minutes versus three hours). As such, pacing doesn’t take as much of a hit here, but it’s still a cut that takes a pretty much perfect film and turns it into a “merely” great one.

And there’s something to be said about defacing perfection, and the lack of availability of the theatrical version of Amadeus for a while was frustrating. For most of the 21st century, in fact, it was the only one that was widely available, which is all well and good if you’re familiar with the original version and want to see a longer cut, but a bit rough if you wanted to see the actual version that won all those Oscars back in the mid-1980s.

Amadeus

Release Date

September 19, 1984

Runtime

160 minutes

8

‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980)

Directed by John Landis

Again, The Blues Brothers is a classic. It feels pretty long for a comedy in its original cut, running for over two hours, but it packs a lot into that runtime. It goes big, broad, and cartoonish, and has a ton of action and musical numbers alongside tons of comedy. It’s all perfectly measured cinematic chaos, drawing things out just enough at every turn, while always barreling forward and staying highly entertaining.

While the longer cut of The Blues Brothers only adds about 15 minutes of footage, it makes a big difference. What felt just right now sometimes feels a tiny bit off. As with most director’s cuts, you still get everything that worked about the original here, but the film’s impact is ever so slightly lessened. It pulls a reverse “Hey Jude,” taking a better song and making it sadder.

The Blues Brothers

Release Date

June 20, 1980

Runtime

133 minutes

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  John Belushi

  ‘Joliet’ Jake Blues

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  James Brown

  Cleophus James

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7

‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

Directed by William Friedkin

When William Friedkin was on fire, he really was an incredible filmmaker. His body of work isn’t consistent, but he was behind a handful of undeniable masterpieces, with none being more masterful than The Exorcist. This is the demonic possession movie to which all others are compared, but it’s got a director’s cut that does remove a bit of the magic.

Runtime-wise, the difference between the two cuts isn’t too great, with an increase of approximately 10 minutes. Still, it makes some difference when it comes to pacing, and there are a few scenes that are made slightly less scary thanks to some added effects. The new effects admittedly aren’t as distracting as the added effects in another 1970s director’s cut that’ll be mentioned in a bit, but it’s worth pointing out that they probably hinder The Exorcist a little more than they help it.

The Exorcist

Release Date

December 26, 1973

Runtime

122 minutes

6

‘Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood’ (2024)

Directed by Zack Snyder

As mentioned/threatened before, there are some director’s cuts that try to spin something not great into something a little better, and fall short. Like, maybe the extended cut that was more in line with what the filmmaker wanted is slightly more watchable, but if that director’s cut is still fairly bad, instead of really bad, then can it truly be called a good director’s cut? “Better” or “improved” is not always tied to “good” or “great.”

Enter the first Rebel Moon movie, which got released in 2023 in a confusing shorter cut that was always going to be inferior and watered down, which then got a director’s cut in 2024, the title going from Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire to Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood. It felt like a desperate attempt to recapture the magic of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which took a bad movie (Justice League) and made it noticeably better. The attempt did not work.

5

‘Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness’ (2024)

Directed by Zack Snyder

So, of course, if Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood is going to get dumped on, you kind of have to dump on the second Rebel Moon movie, which was released originally in April 2024 as Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. Then, just a few months later, the director’s cut came out, with it being renamed to Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness.

With both these new cuts of Rebel Moon Part One and Two, things were R-rated, longer, and perhaps a little more exciting, but not really enough to give this dead-in-the-water space opera enough life. There wasn’t enough enthusiasm behind the longer cuts, either. The Justice League director’s cut had sufficient anticipation and eventual hype behind it, and seemed to come about more organically. The attempt to recreate it, but rushed and cynically planned from the start, didn’t work here. And now, at least according to information at the time of writing, the Rebel Moon series seems dead. Whoops.

4

‘Léon: The Professional’ (1994)

Directed by Luc Besson

Léon: The Professional’s director’s cut is maybe a little murky, in terms of being either that or an extended cut. It sometimes gets described as an extended version, but director Luc Besson has also said that the longer version is the one he originally wanted to release in the U.S. before he was made to make edits, so… you know… maybe a director’s cut?

Look, there are some slightly uncomfortable scenes in the longer version, to put it mildly. The relationship between the two main characters does have an extra layer added to it, and though trauma/youth might explain some of the behavior, it’s still a bit weird. It’s not a wrinkle that really helps the core story told here, and so this arthouse action movie is ultimately better in its shorter version (the one originally released theatrically in the U.S.).

3

‘Star Wars’ (1977)

Directed by George Lucas

Like with Amadeus, it’s generally been so much easier to find George Lucas’s updated versions of Star Wars (the original) than the theatrical version, and to say this displeases some fans of the series would be an understatement. You could argue some of the changes are for the better (as with The Empire Strikes Back, which has the fewest changes and the least glaring ones), but it would be nice to have a choice.

Still, Lucas is pretty firm about the originals, especially the very first movie, which he directed. So, watching A New Hope does usually have things like that awkward scene with Jabba, and the ever-changing confrontation between Han and Greedo, to name some changes in just one stretch of the movie. There’s also Return of the Jedi, worthy of a dishonorable mention for the “Jedi Rocks” scene and the way Darth Vader yells “Noooo!” rather needlessly during the big climax with the Emperor.

2

‘The Warriors’ (1979)

Directed by Walter Hill

In its original cut, The Warriors is pretty much everything you could want a cult classic action movie of its era to be. It has a very simple storyline that’s all about survival, and depicts a world filled with broad yet memorable characters, with the titular gang being blamed for the death of another gang’s leader, which puts them on the run now that all the other gangs have banded together to take them out.

Maybe in an attempt to make things a bit more stylish and vibrant, the director’s cut of The Warriors has some new effects added to certain parts that prove distracting at best, and kind of mood-killing at worst. The effects try to make The Warriors feel like a comic book come to life, mainly through the use of flashy scene transitions, but the movie’s honestly better off without them.

The Warriors

Release Date

February 9, 1979

Runtime

92 minutes

1

‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)

Directed by Richard Kelly

With the aforementioned director’s cut of Midsommar, some mystery and ambiguity were stripped away in a manner that made things a little bit worse. With Donnie Darko and its director’s cut, on the other hand, far more mystery and ambiguity were stripped away, making things easier to follow, sure, but somehow also less interesting. The original cut felt like a puzzle that was fun to think about and try to solve, and the director’s cut lost a lot of that.

Also, there were some changes to the music that weren’t for the best (and Donnie Darko’s soundtrack was not worth altering or changing up), and the added explanations confusingly came with a longer runtime. It would be one thing to streamline a cut of a movie, making it shorter and more direct, but adding 20 minutes while also making what was already there feel less intriguing? Nah. Stick to the shorter version here.

Donnie Darko

Release Date

October 26, 2001

Runtime

113 minutes

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