Theatrical Vs Director’s cut version.

[Smokey]

I have seen alot of DVDs that are labeled Director cut which usually mean the movie is slightly longer than theatrical version that was released to theaters. The question here is “Is director version always better than theatrical version?”

I remember watching Das Boot on TV (theatrical version...2-1/2 hour) and enjoy it tremendously. But recently bought the director cut (3-1/2 hour) dvd version and it felt little bit too long. It seem the director added more character-development scenes and probably extended some of the battle scenes.

To me, the theatrical version was much more tighter and moved faster, thus one could watch it in one setting. But for director cut, it seem some of scenes linger on too long (like depth charge attacks). And highlights of movie such as British sailor swimming toward them after their ship sunk, or going thru narrow Gibraltar Strait doesn’t pack the same punch due to viewer being emotionally drained and tired.

Another example where theatrical version might be superior to director cut would be The Good, The Bad and the Ugly