Amadeus (film) - Alternate Versions

Alternate Versions

Amadeus premiered in 1984 as a PG-rated movie with a running time of 161 minutes. In 2002, director Milos Forman introduced an R-rated version with nearly 20 minutes of restored footage. This version was dubbed by the studios as a Director's Cut. In the 1995 supplemental material for Pioneer's deluxe LaserDisc, Milos Forman had justified why those scenes were cut in the first place. However, in a subsequent 2002 interview with A.V. Club the director explains why the scenes were eventually restored:

Milos Forman on what prompted him to release the alternate version:

When you finish a film, before the first paying audience sees it, you don't have any idea. You don't know if you made a success or a flop, when it comes to the box office. And in the '80s, with MTV on the scene, we are having a three-hour film about classical music, with long names and wigs and costumes. Don't forget that no major studio wanted to finance the film, for these reasons. So we said, 'Well, we don't want to be pushing the audience's patience too far.' Whatever was not directly connected to the plot, I just cut out. But it was a mutual decision . I wanted the best life for the film myself...

Well, once we are re-releasing it on DVD, it doesn't matter if it is two hours and 40 minutes long, or three hours long. So why don't we do the version as it was written in the script?