7. Brazil
Theatrical: 94 minutesExtended: 142 minutes Thankfully, the consumer-friendly, so-called 'Love Conquers All' version of Terry Gilliam's 1984-inspired Brazil, re-cut by a ridiculous studio to give it a happy ending, has been seemingly banished from wide theatrical release. But that is the version executives originally intended to release in the U.S. (and did release on television and home video), had Gilliam not intervened on the sly and conducted private screenings of his extended version for critics. Critics favoured this unreleased cut, Gilliam wondered out loud in a Variety ad, "Dear Sid Sheinberg, when are you going to release my film?" and the studio grudgingly agreed to cinematically release Gilliam's cut of the film (though still shorter than his original, at 132 minutes). While the film remains messy in its longer cut, it features the most shocking, most indelible imagery of Gilliam's career. The director excels at visual flair, not cohesive narrative, but while the nightmarish marriage of Orwell and Monty Python leaves a lasting impression, hardly any of it would be satisfying enough without the extended version's ending. It's typically dark but oddly defeatist for the director to give his lead (Jonathan Pryce) such a hard time at the finish, allowing him the glory of escape, only to later find him hallucinating in a torture chamber, imagining a better life in a dying dream. Yet this parting shot improves the film massively. A happy ending just never felt right for Brazil.