7. Spider Pit Sequence - King Kong (1933)
The original King Kong is one of the most recognisable films in movie history. It was an instant hit thanks to its groundbreaking use of special effects, which included animation, puppetry, and stop-motion, along with a number of techniques which allowed the filmmakers to combine animated footage with live action sequences. Shortly after its release, 4 minutes of footage was cut from King Kong due to their apparently "shocking and violent" nature. Most of the cut scenes have since been restored, but one sequence in particular has managed to remain elusive. So elusive, in fact, that it wasn't until 2005 that we were really provided with evidence that it actually existed. When Peter Jackson remade King Kong in 2005, he included a number of short featurettes (on the 2-disc Special Edition DVD) that discuss the infamous "lost spider pit sequence" from the original 1933 film. Here, he talks about the elaborately painted renditions of the "master shot," and the production photographs which helped illuminate what the scene might have really looked like. But he also takes things one step further and recreates the scene using the same techniques as they would have in the original film, using modern models, actors, sets and animators. To be fair, a production note included in Jackson's DVD extras tells us that Cooper had actually cut the scene himself because he felt that it slowed the pace of the film and distracted from the "terror of Kong." But it's still pretty cool to see it recreated anyways, if only for fun.