Last Friday marked the arrival of Red Cliff (read our review here) the new war epic by Chinese action-meister John Woo. But this wasn’t the same version that graced Asian theaters prior to its international release: In its home country, Red Cliff was released as two films, the first in mid-2008; the second in early 2009.

Rather than unleash a nearly six-hour magnum opus on audiences worldwide, Woo pared both films down into a single two-and-a-half hour cut. In interviews, he said the deleted scenes mostly placed the film’s events in historical context, which might not have appealed to Westerners unfamiliar with Chinese history. Woo’s movie depicts the famous Battle of Red Cliffs, which was fought around early 200 A.D. between warlords from the northern and southern regions of China.

It’s too early to tell how successful Red Cliff will be with North American viewers (In mainland China, it broke the previous box office record held by Titanic). But when the shorter cut was released in Europe earlier this year, critics mostly seemed impressed, which has not always been the case with movies re-cut for international eyes. Too often, unwieldy running times or a need to make the movie seem more Westernized precipitates breaking out the shears, but frequently, this has led to poorly-received films.

Below, we list some more movies that were drastically re-edited or otherwise altered for international consumption, and the critical and popular reaction. Please note that we’re only mentioning theatrical releases; omitting the usually-longer director’s cuts that have become widely available on home video. Also, in no way is this intended as a comprehensive list; we’ve probably left some films out, so feel free to suggest others if you think of any.


1. Metropolis (1927 / 1928 American release)
Despite being hailed as a classic by many, few have actually seen Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi film as the director himself intended. Metropolis premiered in Berlin at 153 minutes, but was not hugely successful, partially due to the proliferation of sound film projectors which made standard silent film appear sped-up.

If that wasn’t bad enough, by the time Metropolis had its international premiere in the U.S., most theaters balked at what they viewed as its excessive running length. Meanwhile, some American distributors considered the film’s plot — an allegory about the tensions between owners and workers in a capitalistic system — as too controversial, so an American playwright named Channing Pollock was hired to tone down those elements. The result was Metropolis getting whittled down to a scant 90 minutes, the preferred running time in those days of high theatre attendance.

For decades, there have been numerous attempts to restore Lang’s vision to its original glory, although to be fair, even with all the butchering that went on, Metropolis is still considered one of the greatest films ever made. Its visual design heavily influenced such films as Blade Runner and Batman (1989), and Metropolis also inspired an award-winning animated feature of the same name, which was released in 2001.

Nevertheless, the discovery of over 20 minutes of lost footage at an Argentinean museum in 2008 has reignited hopes that audiences will one day experience the full substance of Lang’s movie, not just its aesthetic beauty.



2. Gojira / Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1954 / 1955 American release)
Gojira vs. Godzilla, King of the Monsters. No, it’s not the title of a Japanese rubber-suit movie from the '50s/'60s, but a real point of debate among Godzilla fans. Which was the more entertaining film, the original Gojira that introduced a certain giant, radioactive monster to Japanese audiences; or Godzilla, King of the Monsters, a drastically-altered cut of Gojira, which helped launch the titular creature to international fame?

Directed and co-written by Ishiro Honda, Gojira was intended as an allegory about the dangers of nuclear testing. A success in Japan, the film reportedly played for film salesman and Japanese community theaters in 1955, not gaining a true American release until the next year. However, a company called Jewell Enterprises had at that point gotten a hold of it, and looking to make Gojira as profitable as possible, cut a total of 40 minutes from the original running time, including character development scenes and the director’s environmental and political message. To further Westernize the film, 20 minutes of new footage featuring recognizable television actor Raymond Burr was shot and inserted.

Despite being a rush job, the resulting Godzilla, King of the Monsters was a success stateside; however, because of this, it was Godzilla and not Gojira that played all across Europe. The original remained fairly unknown to U.S. audiences until 2004, when it was again released in select theatres (but with considerably more fanfare than in 1955) and has since become widely available on home video. Meanwhile, Godzilla, King of the Monsters hasn’t gone away despite Ishiro’s cut being on the market. Although it wasn’t critically-embraced upon initial release, it is still considered highly-watchable thanks to "co-director" Terry Morse, who managed to shoehorn the new scenes in without too much distraction.

3. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Apparently, even after the success of The Godfather, Part II, there were parties who believed that a complex crime epic spanning two different time periods would not find an American audience. Hence, one studio famously hacked up Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, retaining much of the film’s good parts, but resulting in a much-truncated version considered by many to be bad and ugly.

Leone’s film revolved around a group of Jewish youth who grew up in the ghetto, eventually rising to prominence in New York City’s criminal underworld. An elaborate narrative structure was employed: we follow the burgeoning career of the main protagonist (Robert De Niro), with periodic flashbacks to his childhood years, until the film’s past and present literally come face-to-face.

Once Upon a Time in America premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival at 229 minutes, but was deemed too long by the producing Ladd Company, which edited it down to a mere 144. Apparently, whoever was in charge must have thought the flashback structure was a hindrance, since the film was also re-arranged in chronological order. All of this, of course, was done without Leone’s consent, and when the Ladd Company’s version of Once Upon a Time hit American theaters, it was savagely attacked by critics who knew they were watching an adulterated version of the film. As a result, it bombed.

The footage cut by the Ladd Company included the aforementioned childhood flashbacks, which I personally think are integral to the film’s success. Try to imagine the emotional impact of actor Rusty Jacobs’ appearance late in the film without his earlier scenes to back it up. Luckily, the original version is widely available on DVD, while the shorter one is nearly impossible to find nowadays.