10 Unreleased Cuts Of Movies That Are Probably Terrible

American History X marks a rare case where a studio curtailing a filmmaker's vision was probably the right call all things considered.

The film's director's cut is also an uncommon example of one that's actually considerably shorter than the theatrical release, with Kaye's first cut running just 95 minutes - a whole 24 minutes shorter than the final cut.

Though Kaye's lithe version performed well in test screenings, New Line Cinema wanted more, and with the help of star Edward Norton constructed the longer theatrical version against Kaye's wishes.

This resulted in Kaye publicly disparaging both Norton and New Line, while unsuccessfully attempting to have his name taken off the film - even applying for the pseudonym "Humpty Dumpty."

Norton's cut went on to receive considerable acclaim and netted him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, all while Kaye said the end product was a "total abuse of creativity" and "crammed with shots of everyone crying in each other's arms."

While there's the tendency to side with directors against studios, who typically make cynical, commercially-motivated decisions, in this case they were most likely right. It's tough to imagine the film's more tricky emotional and dramatic beats landing with almost 25% of the runtime ripped away.

This is a story that needed time to breathe, and at 95 minutes the journey would've likely felt too breathless for its own good.