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Originally Posted by Michael Brooke  My policy is that if a cut version is likely to be very familiar to a lot of potential customers, there's a good case for retaining it if only for nostalgia reasons - unless of course it's been butchered to the point of incomprehensibility, when it's a waste of disc space.
A case in point: the upcoming Crimes of Passion. There are three cuts of this film - the R-rated US one, which is worthless (and director-disowned), the 107-minute international theatrical cut (which we know that Ken Russell personally signed off on) and a 112-minute "extended cut", whose bona fides are unclear. So while Arrow isn't bothering with the R-rated cut, they are including both of the others.
There may also be a more practical reason for including two versions - sometimes "uncut" versions have to be reassembled by splicing in footage of noticeably subpar quality which viewers may find distracting (Hellraiser 3 and Pray for Death are recent examples), so the R-rated versions are included because they offer an uninterrupted viewing experience at optimum technical quality. Come to think of it, the 112-minute version of Crimes of Passion may well be a similar situation, as I don't know if 35mm materials for the offcuts still survive. |
If the versions have clear differences then I can see the reason for including it. With re-animator 2 its literally a few short snips on Gore scenes. Its very different from say Rob Zombies Halloween (1st one that popped into my head) where the R-rated and unrated use entirely different scenes ect.
As for crimes of passion. Totally stoked for that. I've set myself a task of trying to get all Ken's stuff on Blu-ray wherever possible. I own DVD's of Lair of the white worm and The Devils, Blu-rays of Altered states, Great passions, great performers and Valentino so far.