From James Cameron’s Titanic to Randal Kleiser’s Grease, some deleted scenes were best left out of their movies. When filmmakers get going, their creativity takes over, and in the end, the ideas they thought were genius actually don’t work at all. For example, at 3 hours and 14 minutes, Titanic‘s deleted scenes would only make it harder for audiences to sit through the full film, so sacrificing some of Cameron’s original ideas was a smart choice.
Director’s cuts can restore what was cut by including previously deleted scenes, offering something for fans who want more of what they originally fell in love with. However, the first time an audience sees a movie in a theater, it has to be as good as editors can get it, and if some scenes aren’t working, they have to get cut. Here are a few movies that benefited from their missing scenes.
10 Jack Punches Lovejoy In Titanic
No matter what Cal did, he could not keep Jack and Rose apart. After Rose jumps from the lifeboat, she reunites with Jack, and the two share a romantic moment where she assures him she’s not leaving his side as the ship goes down. The mood soon shifts when Cal tries to kill them both, causing Jack and Rose to run for their lives. In the deleted scene, Cal gives up and sends Lovejoy after the two instead.
His right-hand man searches for the couple and finds them in the flooded dining room. He spots Rose hiding behind a chair, but Jack jumps out and attacks him before he can act. He punches Lovejoy in the stomach, and he and Rose take off. The scene slows down the pace of the film, which is long enough without the extra time it takes Lovejoy to walk around looking for Jack and Rose. It also changes a major plot point for Cal.
When Cal fails to catch Jack and Rose, he gives up. He finally lets Rose go and realizes he cares more about saving himself than trying to make her love him when she’s clearly in love with Jack. He also realizes he left the Heart of the Ocean in his jacket pocket, and she’s wearing his jacket. Not going after her proves how tired he is of chasing her down on a sinking ship where he could potentially die if he doesn’t act fast.
9 Pennywise Eating A Baby In IT
The beginning scene of IT, when Pennywise bites off Georgie’s arm before dragging him into the sewer, is disturbing enough, but the original film had an even more twisted scene. In the scene that never made it into the final cut and has never been released to the public, Pennywise devours a baby in front of its mother. Reddit user WitchTrialz shared the scene from the screenplay, and it’s just as wicked as it sounds. Stephen King has a dark mind, but not even he wrote that scene in his original book.
Having Pennywise eat a baby would have made IT more intense and would have put other disturbing horror movie scenes to shame. However, showcasing a baby getting eaten by an evil clown is a little distasteful and could have potentially offended a lot of audience members. It also didn’t add much to the film since the baby and its mother had no relation to the Losers Club. Filmmakers were right to leave that one out.
8 N’SYNC In Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones
Celebrity film cameos can be fun when done correctly, but they don’t always work. N’SYNC member Chris Kirkpatrick explained on Melissa Joan Hart’s What Women Binge podcast how the boyband ended up in George Lucas’ 2002 film Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones. According to the singer, Lucas’ daughter was a big N’SYNC fan, and the idea for them to star in the film came when they met backstage at an N’SYNC concert.
The scene never saw the light of day, and it’s for the best. Kirkpatrick confirmed Star Wars fans were not excited when they heard N’SYNC had a cameo in the film, so the scene was cut. It’s hard to imagine how the 90s pop group could have fit into the Star Wars plot. Because they’re so well known for their celebrity personas, it would be difficult to see them as anyone else, and it would’ve distracted from the film’s main storylines.
7 The Shining’s Hospital Scene
The Shining initially had a very different ending, but Stanley Kubrick cut the scene because audiences weren’t too pleased with it. After Jack freezes to death outside the Overlook Hotel, the film cuts to Wendy in the hospital, where The Overlook’s manager Stuart Ullman tells Wendy the police found no evidence of the hotel being haunted and couldn’t find Jack’s body, either. He then tosses a tennis ball to Danny, the same tennis ball that rolled toward him earlier in the film and led him to room 237. The film still ended with the iconic photo of Jack, but it also had a title card.
The card explained that the Overlook was not harmed by the incidents in the film and remains open, except for in the winter, as usual. The ending was in the film during its limited release, but when Kubrick went to see the film himself, the audience’s reaction changed the way he saw the scene, and he decided to take it out. It would have been nice to have more context and to have confirmation that Wendy and Danny were okay, but Kubrick was right that the scene just wasn’t necessary. The final ending is mysterious enough, and the hospital scene just dragged the film out.
6 E.T. Watches Mary Sleeping
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is rated PG for a reason, but one deleted scene would not have been appropriate for its young audience. In a deleted scene, after Mary reads her daughter to sleep. She is naked in her bed, and E.T. stands over her in a bathrobe. The extraterrestrial being then lays Reese’s Pieces on Mary’s pillow. While filmmakers may not have intended for the scene to be as inappropriate and creepy as it appears, it didn’t come across as kid-friendly, and it certainly would not have aged well. Cutting out the scene and never releasing it to the public outside a few black-and-white images was a good call.
5 Elsa Tortures The Guards In Frozen
Elsa was intended to be the villain in Frozen but was later made the hero of the film. Throughout Frozen, Elsa is misunderstood because of her powers. However, one deleted scene from the Disney animated musical shows off Elsa’s dark side as she tortures Hans’ guards, using her powers to tie them up with snow. While it would have added more depth to Elsa, it might have made it harder for young fans to resonate with her and be on her side because they would see her as someone capable of intentionally harming others. Leaving the scene out was better for Elsa’s arc.
4 The Exorcist Spider Walk
The Exorcist‘s spider walk scene is one deleted scene fans actually did get to see. However, it wasn’t in the original film. The scene occurs after Chris finds out that Burke has died. She’s devastated but is soon interrupted when a possessed Regan comes crawling down the stairs like a spider with blood dripping out of her mouth. The scene is terrifying but is poorly placed as it happens too soon after Chris finds out about Burke’s death.
The character doesn’t have enough time to mourn before her daughter nearly scares her to death. This is part of why the scene was cut from The Exorcist. Another reason was that in the early 70s, filmmakers didn’t have the technology they have today, meaning the scene wouldn’t have moved as flawlessly as it does in the edited version released in later years.
3 Grease Kenickie & Rizzo Fight Scene
The upbeat tone of Grease would have been affected by a scene where Kenickie and Rizzo get into a big fight over her pregnancy. Grease changes its tone when Rizzo sings, “There Are Worse Things I Could Do,” but it is still able to bounce back from the sad ballad. According to TheBigLebwinski on Reddit, the directors claimed the scene was reminiscent of a Martin Scorsese film because it was so much darker than everything else in the movie.
At the end of Grease, Rizzo reveals she was never pregnant, to begin with, and she and Kenickie make up. The fight scene could have interfered with this ending, depending on how serious it was, which, from the Scorsese comparison, sounds pretty serious. The scene wasn’t necessary for the musical, though it would be fascinating to see if filmmakers ever decide to release it.
2 Jake Sully’s Drug Trip In Avatar
In one Avatar scene, Jake consumes a psychoactive worm, causing him to go on a drug trip to prove himself a genuine member of the Omatikaya clan. The scene shows Jake the connection between all things, similar to the description someone who’s gone on an actual drug trip might give. Jake also sees himself through the eyes of a dragon and soars through the ruins of Pandora. The scene could have improved Avatar, though it’s likely it would have slowed down Avatar‘s pace and made it even longer than its almost 3-hour run time. There are enough unusual moments in Cameron’s film, and the drug trip seems unnecessary.
1 Alien’s Ripley & Dallas Sex Scene
Alien‘s deleted sex scene between Ripley and Dallas would have changed the characters’ dynamic. Alien suggests there may have been romantic feelings between Ripley and Dallas, but no final scenes confirm this. In the deleted scene, Ripley tells Dallas she “needs relief,” which is code for wanting to have sex. Dallas is hesitant, but Ripley doesn’t take no for an answer.
There are many things wrong with the scene, which has never fully been released: it only appears in a short screen test of Sigourney Weaver. The scene is awkward and would not have aged well as Ripley seems to be forcing herself onto Dallas. It also doesn’t add much to the plot of the film. Alien is better off without the uncomfortable sex scene.
