10 Movies That Were Massively Improved By A Director's Cut

1. Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

Legendary director Sergio Leone poured his heart and soul into the making of this sprawling $30m crime epic, only to see his vision butchered by the studio. A 229 minute cut of the movie reportedly screened to a 15 minute standing ovation at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, but by the time it hit theaters in the United States the movie had been hacked down to an incomprehensible 139 minutes.

Edited without Leone's consent, Once Upon a Time In America flopped at the box office and the director was so distraught by the experience that he never made another movie before his death in 1989. Now regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, you'd hardly be able to tell from watching the 139 minute version, which sacrifices the elaborate flashback structure of the plot in favor of rearranging events in chronological order, with so much material sacrificed that it barely even makes sense.

Leone's 229 minute extended version was finally made available on home video in 2003, presenting the visually stunning, emotionally complex and powerfully acted masterpiece the director had intended.

Do you agree that these Director's Cuts are all superior to the original version? Are there any other movies that you would have included? As always, sign off in the comments below.