10 Director's Cuts That Changed Your Mind About Bad Movies
1. Natural Born Killers
Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers is one of the most controversial and divisive films of the 1990s and, whether you like it or not, a bit of a mess.
Stone was forced to make 155 edits to the movie in order for it to secure an R rating from the MPAA - rather than the box office kiss-of-death that is the NC-17 rating - drastically reducing the amount of violence and generally "objectionable" content.
The Director's Cut is actually just four minutes longer than the cinema version, but it's impressive how drastically those precious few minutes re-shape the movie.
Stone restores a wealth of extremely graphic violence throughout the film, perhaps most infamously the decapitation of Warden McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones), resulting in a far more bracing and intense fever dream of a movie.
Both versions are certainly acquired tastes, but those four minutes elevate Natural Born Killers to become an unflinching, full-fat meditation on violence in modern America, while accentuating the audience's own complicity in it.
Have you seen any of these director's cuts for yourself? What did you think? Got any other recommendations? Shout them out in the comments!