10 Awesome Deleted Scenes That Should've Been Restored
Prometheus gets a facelift (literally).
Deleted scenes released on home video and online can be a treasure trove of fascinating material for film buffs: even if a scene doesn't necessarily work within the context of a complete movie, it can nevertheless serve as a fun expansion of a movie's lore or characters.
Sometimes, however, a scene gets cut and released later that beggars belief and dismay that it wasn't included in the theatrically-released version. Now, this list intentionally doesn't include scenes that were restored in an Extended or Director's Cut, because honestly that's just a little too easy, nor will it include alternate endings, as they're simply too well-known to qualify.
Rather, this list focuses on those terrific deleted scenes that are relegated to low-quality DVD extras and YouTube videos until the end of time, when they would've added something significant, be it laughs, sustained tension or crucial character work to their respective projects.
Whether the director or the studio is to blame, here are 10 awesome deleted scenes that should've been restored...
10. Jonah Hill's Brokeback Mountain Rant - Knocked Up
The Scene: Jonah (Jonah Hill) is watching Brokeback Mountain on TV, and complains to Alison (Katherine Heigl) that Ang Lee made the movie too sanitised as he didn't show any graphic gay sex. The rant goes on for about three beautiful minutes and it's nothing short of glorious, especially once Alison begins questioning Jonah's sexuality.
Why It Was Deleted: There's no official word on why, but it's almost certainly because the movie already clocks in a lengthy 129 minutes, and comedies over the 130 minute mark are rarely successful.
Why It Should've Stayed In: It hilariously underscores the double standards regarding hetero and gay sex in cinema, whereby graphic hetero sex is far more acceptable to the MPAA, whereas graphic gay sex tends to be slapped with the dreaded NC-17 rating. Making this point to the sort of audience who sees a Judd Apatow movie would've been a terrific work of social activism. Also, it happens to be damn hilarious.