Which is the better edition of The Exorcist?

[Oscar Antonio M]

Ive seen both of them at stores and as far as i know, the "Version youve never seen" cut has better audio and image than the original theatrical cut, but also i heard the theatrical cut has better extras , so which one is better?

[MooglePorn]

I heard the "Version you've never seen" was inferior to the original movie wise, and the original has an excellent doc... my choice is clear

[Notoriousaurus]

The "version you never seen" is the "piece of shit I wish I never seen"

Go with the original anniversary edition. Great extras, excellent movie.

[lopper]

Originally Posted by Notoriousaurus

Go with the original anniversary edition. Great extras, excellent movie.

How's the picture and audio on that one?

[larphillips]

I agree... the 25th Anniversary Edition is by far the disc to own. A true wealth of special features including a first rate documentary and an 'unreleased' trailer that is truely disturbing in many ways. The print and the sound were a real relevation. Having suffered through aging prints on TV for years, as well as a poor master print used for the home video versions, you would have no idea how damn good that movie could look. For an idea of what a wonderful job they did restoring the print for the Anniversary edition, just take a look at the original DVD release sometime.

Now, if you are a fan, I thought that "The Version You've Never Seen" was excellent and worth owning as well. It was one of the few 'Director's Cuts' I have seen that were truely worth that title and worthy of a new release. The addition of the cut scenes into the mix never ruined the pacing (which was always the genius behind the sucess of the film) and really added depth and understanding to the characters and the story.

I feel that The Exorcist belongs in everyone's movie library, and I would highly suggest that you own both. But if it is to be only one, the Anniversary Edition is it.

[downhuman]

Add me to the list who were not at all bothered by the Director's Cut. It's not as good as the original cut but I was not bothered or distracted by the changes at all. The spider walk scene (which looked really lame in it's original incarnation) was a welcome addition and left the hairs on my neck standing up.

I say get both editions if you are a real fan. Get the 25th anniversary edition for the original cut and the great extras and get the new version for the much improved audio and video.

[Soggy Bagel's Revenge!]

The original cut, of course. For reasons already outlined above. Plus, it has one of the most hilarious TV spots I've ever seen.

[AdamComic2]

I always watch The Version you've never seen, however, as previously mentioned, the Anniversary edition has an awesome documentary. OWN EM BOTH! THAT'S WHAT I SAY!

[Matlock]

I didn't even dare to see the new version. But from what I've read about what was changed, most of the added scenes are included as extras on the 25th anniversary edition, so you get the better version of the movie, the deleted/added scenes if you are curious about them, and a transfer that is in fact pretty close to the new version. I saw some reviews that even said that the 25th DVD has a slightly better one.

And the documentary really rocks!

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by Matlock

I didn't even dare to see the new version. But from what I've read about what was changed, most of the added scenes are included as extras on the 25th anniversary edition, so you get the better version of the movie, the deleted/added scenes if you are curious about them, and a transfer that is in fact pretty close to the new version.

Actually, the deleted scenes on the 25th Anniversary disc are glimpses, and some alternate takes, to what finally was grafted back in for TVYNS. TVYNS really is the true vision of the film, and was only cut back mainly for reasons of running time. IMO, if you haven't yet seen TVYNS, it is definitely worth a gander. Although, it is a shame you missed the theatrical run of it, as it was certainly a sight to see.

[Nexus 6]

originally posted by larphillips:

TVYNS really is the true vision of the film, and was only cut back mainly for reasons of running time.

Actually, it is Blatty's vision, but not necessarily Friedkin's. Friedkin participated in preparing TVYNS, but it is not his true director's cut. The original theatrical version is. The scenes that were reinstated for TVYNS were orginally cut mainly for artistic reasons; Friedkin thought the scenes overexplained things a little, and I tend to agree. I thought the restored scenes were interesting, but most them just didn't work in the movie (although some did in the book). The documentary on the 25th anniv. disc goes into this a bit.

At any rate, TVYNS does have superior audio/video quality, but the 25th anniv. is still pretty nice in that department, and it has vastly superior extras, including a much better commentary from Friedkin than is on TVYNS. If you're just going to get one, I'd go with the 25th anniv. edition, but there are vaild reasons for owning both.

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by Nexus 6

Actually, it is Blatty's vision, but not necessarily Friedkin's.

To be more precise, this issue is rather grey. Blatty's original screenplay was a horrendous mess, and Friedkin is the one who went note by note through the original book to get Blatty back on track. Friedkin also turned in a cut that basically resembled TVYNS as we see it today. Blatty fell in love with this cut, and it stuck with him through the years, demanding that many of those scenes be reintroduced into the film. Friedkin, being the wild-man maverick that he was, and still is, won't ever fully cop to the fact that Warners asked for many of the cuts in the film for the sake of the final running time. Friedkin garnered an awful lot of acclaim for the theatrical version (and rightly so), so to deny that version now would lessen his vision in the eyes of others. Time and ego tends to change many things.

[Nexus 6]

originally posted by larphillips:

To be more precise, this issue is rather grey.

Maybe that's true. I'm just going by the 25th anniversary doc and other things I've read. I guess I just personally prefer the original cut. I thought the medical procedure and the dialogue between Merrin and Karras on the stairs were interesting, but I felt that most of the rest of the additions were unnecessary. I thought the spider-walk scene was kind of silly, especially with the added blood. And the CGI demon faces and morphs were actually very distracting, and they really counter-acted the realism Blatty and Friedkin were originally going for. Then the ending: it worked in the book, but for the movie, I thought it really did cut down on the starkness and emotion of Father Dyer looking down the staircase and walking away.

But anyway, that's just my opinion. I'm just glad that both versions are available so we have the choice.

[Morticia]

I saw the Original Cut of The Exorcist in the theatre (at a revival, not the original run) and got to see TVYNS when it was released.

So...I own both. If you can afford it (and I picked them up pretty reasonably) and enjoy the film, I suggest getting both as well.