DVD Extras

It could be the fact that my children have sucked all cognitive thought and reasoning from my brain, but some movies seem to be missing something (a loose end is still out there or just something) and in some cases just don't make much sense unless you really go back and fill in the blanks on your own or you read the book that it most likely is based off of.. But then if you are lucky to have a special addition dvd, you watch some of the extra deleted or extended scenes and you think "wow! ok, that makes things a little more clear." or "Oh, so that's what happened to that random person." And the most common questions "Now, why did they cut that?"

So, as you all know, I'm a bit of a Twilight fan. But something I heard in an interview with the director of New Moon, Chris Weitz, got me really thinking. He was asked a question regarding how much extra footage or outtakes would be available on the DVD. He said about 20 minutes...20 MINUTES. Do you know how much more could be fit into 20 minutes?! That's like a full episode of a sitcom without commercials. Now I understand that in movie making some things need to be cut so it flows and the transitions are smoother but the more I watch of these extras the more I question the directors choices. With movies like 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter', it's shown that as long as the movie is entertaining and or stays true to the source of the subject material, people will sit for way over the two hour bench mark. I would much rather sit and watch a good two and half hour movie than a choppy two hour one.(I should mention that there ARE some movies that do make sense and are beautifully done, (new moon being one of them) but again, once you see the extras the big question of "now, why did they cut that? still comes to mind)

And what gets me is, to even view these extra scenes now a days you must buy a special addition/ deluxe DVD that costs almost twice as much. The stripped bare Walmart one won't really do (unless it's a kids movie and either you don't like your kids or you know it's going to get trashed in a few days anyway). And I understand that those extras are part of the allure of those extra pricey ones but here's my Moral/ Ethical question....Are the Directors intentionally cutting out good material so that they can make more money with the special DVDs? In the past there was just one DVD, it had some deleted scene and a lot of "the making of" options on DVDs. But now there are alternate endings and special extended additions, not to mention the "Directors cut" edition that comes out about a year after the main DVD....I THOUGHT THE ORIGINAL WAS SUPPOSE TO BE CUT BY THE DIRECTOR!!! Do they think I'm going to buy the movie twice?!*sigh* Oh well, it's not like I can do anything about it. I'm a sucker for extras and I'm not alone and the Movie people know it.