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TWOK - Theatrical Cut vs Director's Cut

Which cut of TWOK is better?

  • Theatrical (1981)

    Votes: 8 28.6%
  • Director's Cut (200x)

    Votes: 20 71.4%

  • Total voters
    28
Well... uh... nothing that obscure, just stuff like Joachim supposed to having been Joaquin from the original episode. That is fairly pointless, no?

Well, it led to some nice continuity porn in Greg Cox's To Reign in Hell. Which is not a swipe against Greg. I love all three of his Khan books. It's just a shame that Montalban wasn't tapped to record unabridged versions of them before he passed.

C'mon, Kegg, bring on the really pointless details! :p
 
Director's for sure.

As others have said---------the couple of less well delivered lines are far offset by the much btter additions of Preston's relationship to Scott, Kirk's heart to heart with McCoy in sickbay, the extension of the McCoy/Spock argument in Kirk's cabin, the human ego scene, "that young man..." etc.

Holding out for the Blu-ray of the director's cuts.

Have/will buy all 3 seasons of TOS and the Next Gen movie set on blu-ray.
 
I agree with the majority here. Director's Cut all the way.

It -is- unfortunate that, as others have stated, a few of the line deliveries are a little awkward. But there are great character moments added to the director's cut that I think are well worth it. Scotty's remorse over the loss of Preston makes alot more sense and his death packs alot more punch. Kirk's conversation with McCoy in sickbay drives home the point that Kirk is feeling old and useless. And the extra banter between Spock and McCoy in Kirk's quarters is classic. The only addition I really put in the "take it or leave it" category is the little exchange in the Jeffries tube.
 
Meyer was under continuous pressure to keep cutting the movie down. he says this in his second commentary on the new blu-ray. (or was it in the recent book?)

In any case, if he had been allowed to keep his director's cut for the 1982 release he might have fixed/refined/combined some of the takes to get all the best line readings.

As it stands he was allowed to put back in the 3 and 1/2 minutes in the ABC cut in 1985. But adding footage back 3 years after the movie is released is an awkward undertaking.

He simply took whole, un-cut alternate takes and put them in place some of the theatrical cuts. In 1982 he may have had his editor combine the best of two or three different takes.

He was asked to make even more cuts by the studio head and finally stood his ground and said he would not promote the movie or praise it if it was cut further.

They had wanted him to cut the Kirk/David 'hug' scene at the end of the movie among other cuts!! :eek:

Thank goodness he got his preferred version on video for posterity.
 
I grew up watching TWOK on a VHS copy from an ABC showing that had many of these added lines from the director's cut. I had all the lines memorized, so when I finally got an official VHS and later the DVD of the theatrical cut, it was pretty jarring.

Definitely a fan of the DC, I'm hoping to pickup the current BluRay boxset, but I'll definitely be keeping the DC DVD.

Edit to add: I just realized the poll has the director's cut as "200X" which isn't completely right since my VHS version was from the late 80's. So the idea adding that footage back in has been around at least that long.
 
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Yeah, whenever I watch the shorter version I always freak out a little when the lines are skipped.

How they could have thought it was better without the Kirk/McCoy talk in sickbay---boggles me.

They could have cut around the extended Preston death and left in that part for sure. I think they were just looking to cut time at any cost rather than what worked or didn't.

Just about anything with Mccoy/Kelley always works and adds to the episode/movie.

Ditto for the extended McCoy/Spock debate.

"Would you mind telling me whose are the right hands?!"

Classic stuff.
 
Yeah, whenever I watch the shorter version I always freak out a little when the lines are skipped.

I think they were just looking to cut time at any cost rather than what worked or didn't.


Yeah, my taped-from-TV copy of Return of the Jedi also has a few cuts, both involving Leia. All footage of her strangling Jabba is cut, as is her skirmish against the biker scouts with Wicket. Years later, I'm just now getting used to having those scenes back whenever I watch the DVDs.
 
Guys,

Just got the Blu-Ray of TWOK, which is the theatrical cut for some reason.

I hadn't seen this cut in years, and was surprised how much I missed all the extra scenes and alternate takes used in the Director's edition of 200X.

IMO, the choices Meyer made later on were much better. For example : how could you leave out the scenes establishing that the young engineer is Scotty's nephew?

Which cut do you prefer?

I think I'd rather have the theatrical cut. Sure, it makes more sense when Scotty's nephew dies in the Director's Edition, but his dialogue is sooooo corny that it makes me cringe. It tarnishes an otherwise perfect film. "If the admiral can't see that, he's as blind as a tiberian bat." Come on. First of all, who talks to a superior officer like that. Second, the way he says it is really annoying. And really, we don't need to know he's related to Scotty. Scotty could just be upset that he lost one of his trainees. That's what I always assumed before I read the book.
 
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