Whats So Special About The Sci-Fi Special Edition?

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The Bad

The Film: Watchmen

Year: 2009

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What makes it special? If Zach Snyder’s Watchmen proved anything, it’s that taking Alan Moore and putting him on the screen page for page, almost word for word, simply doesn’t work. Snyder’s Watchmen couldn’t have looked any better, but the structure of the story was a disaster.

The problem with the Director’s Cut is that it’s even more reverential to that source novel. It reinserts an additional 24-minutes cribbed straight from the comics, so if you liked the fact Snyder filmed the comic panel for panel, then this Director’s Cut can only be a good thing. For the rest of us it simply bloats the run time to an excessive three hours (three and a half in you’re watching the Ultimate Editions with the Black Freighter Motion comic inserted) with only one genuinely worthwhile scene – the murder of Hollis Mason by the Knot Top gang.

The Ugly

The Film: Donnie Darko

Year: 2004

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What makes it special? While many special editions are superior to their theatrical counterparts because the originals were compromised for whatever reason before being allowed out by the studios, sometimes compromise is a good thing. Take Donnie Darko . Produced on a miniscule budget, shot in barely a month and featuring only the music and effects the budget could stretch to, it went on to be a cult smash on DVD, its ambiguous plot left up for discussion and research online by those willing to invest the time.

Donnie Darko ’s Director’s Cut is best described as the “For Wendy” version (no offence to any Wendy’s reading), inserting pages from Roberta Sparrow’s Philosophy Of Time Travel book (previously available online) throughout in an attempt to make the plot more coherent. The effect is to rob viewers of the sense of discovery felt watching the film. Putting together the pieces in your head and discussing it with friends/in forums was part of what made Donnie Darko so enticing. The Director’s Cut also reinserts several deleted scenes previously unavailable on the DVD (generally cut for good reason), adds lots of random shots of eyes and makes a number of audio changes throughout – most notably changing the music as Donnie cycles down the hill at the start from Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” to INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart”. Avoid at all costs.

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Read our Blogbusters discussion on the best sci-fi special editions.

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