10 Director's Cuts That Seriously Improve Movies

Terrence Malick is one of those directors who's films will either have you clamouring about how he's the greatest filmmaker alive, or leave you utterly baffled by his story telling choices. Malicks films are marked by their meandering narratives, their beautiful cinematography and their wistful voiceovers.

His fourth feature film, a poetic reimagining of the Pocahontas story, is considered one of his most polarising movies. Two versions initially came out, the original 150-minute version and the 135-minute recut.

Both versions convey the tragic, squalid, and desperate struggle of the early English settlers in America; depicting the strained relationship between the Europeans and the Native Americans, and hinting at the wider, darker implications of their meeting. This serves as the backdrop for Malick to interlace the mythical tale of a romance-doomed-to-fail between Captain John Smith (Collin Farrell) and Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher).

The first cut of the movie, focuses more so on the degradation of the New World by the Europeans, and the breakdown of relationship with the natives, the second cut gives more time over to the personal experiences of Pocahontas and her own struggles with the new comers.

For anyone who digs this kind of thing, Malick's third and final cut, comes in at 172-minutes. It's simply more of the same. It's more immersive, more poetic, an even more aesthetically beautiful. But damn is it long.