Editing Director's cut (section)

== Inception ==
The trend of releasing alternate cuts of films for artistic reasons became prominent in the 1970s; in 1974, the "director's cut" of ''[[The Wild Bunch]]'' was shown theatrically in Los Angeles to sold-out audiences.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Ellen |title=Is a 'director's cut' ever a good idea? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/apr/07/rise-of-the-directors-cut |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 April 2011}}</ref> The theatrical release of the film had cut 10 minutes to get an R rating, but this cut was hailed as superior and has now become the definitive one. Other early examples include [[George Lucas]]'s [[THX 1138|first]] [[American Graffiti|two]] films being re-released following the success of ''[[Star Wars]]'', in cuts which more closely resembled his vision, or [[Peter Bogdanovich]] re-cutting ''[[The Last Picture Show]]'' several times. [[Charlie Chaplin]] also re-released all of his films in the 1970s, several of which were re-cut (Chaplin's re-release of ''[[The Gold Rush]]'' in the 1940s is almost certainly the earliest prominent example of a director's re-cut film being released to the public). A theatrical re-release of ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' used the phrase "[[Special edition|Special Edition]]" to describe a cut which was closer to Spielberg's intent but had a compromised ending demanded by the studio.

As the [[home video]] industry rose in the early 1980s, video releases of director's cuts were sometimes created for the small but dedicated [[cult following|cult fan]] market. Los Angeles [[Cable television|cable]] station [[Z Channel]] is also cited as significant in the popularization of alternate cuts. Early examples of films released in this manner include [[Michael Cimino]]'s ''[[Heaven's Gate (film)|Heaven's Gate]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.filminquiry.com/the-production-of-heavens-gate/ |title=Unmaking of an Epic - The Production of Heaven's Gate{{!}}Film Inquiry |date=28 April 2015}}</ref> where a longer cut was recalled from theatres but subsequently shown on cable and eventually released to home video; [[James Cameron]]'s ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'', where a video release restored 20 minutes the studio had insisted on cutting; Cameron also voluntarily made cuts to the theatrical version of ''[[The Abyss]]'' for pacing but restored them for a video release, and most famously, [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner]]'', where an alternate workprint version was released to fan acclaim, ultimately resulting in the 1992 recut.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/best-blade-runner-cut/ |title=Which Blade Runner Cut Is Really the Best? |first=John |last=Saavedra |date=11 November 2021 |website=Den of Geek}}</ref> Scott later recut the film once more, releasing a version dubbed "The Final Cut" in 2007. This was the final re-cut and the first in which Scott maintained creative control over the final product, leading to The Final Cut being considered the definitive version of the film.