Avengers: Extended Edition, The

While I really liked the beginning of the edit with Hill at first, I kind of missed the original intro, and felt like this compromised the ending a bit, which in my opinion wasn't really seamless, especially when compared to the original.

Some of the added scenes were pretty great and IMO necessary additions, but some of them weren't really as great: The Hulk scene with the security guard would be great if not for the fact that it spoiled where Loki was going to open the portal to the audience, and I think finding it out with Stark really works wonderfully. Some of the added stuff in the battle is good too, but at the same time compromises the pace, like the bits with the guard and the chitauri gun (the audio and video of this part is also somewhat jarring). The additions with the waitress were great, though.

All in all I still preferred the original cut of the movie when putting the pros and cons of this edit. But that's just me. It's still a pretty good extended version of the movie.

This edit is very technically sound, but I felt the scenes included did little to add to the viewing experience. I feel like while the new scenes explain and expand on some stuff, it makes the rest of the film less charming. The subplot showcasing Maria Hill as a mole or cool, but the new prologue that comes with it feels incredibly atonal compared to the rest of the film. The alternate Fury/Council scene, while explaining why Hawkeye didn't kill Fury, feels unnecessary, and it removes the line about wars being one by soldiers, thus making the transition over to Captain America more abrupt. Speaking of unnecessary explanations, it's easy to see why the scene where Loki devises to break the Avengers was cut, especially since it doesn't change the fact that it's, as Tony said, "not a great plan." Lastly, I didn't care for Cap handing the Chitauri weapon to the police officer, since that results in us seeing him get killed, which is a real downer, and at the point in the movie the audience shouldn't be feeling down.

There are only two scenes that I felt should have gone back into the film. The extended Captain America scene (maybe excising or doctoring the part where it says Peggy is in London, since she seems to be living in America by Winter Soldier) and the part where Harry Dean Stanton convinces Bruce to go back into the fight (cutting out where Bruce explicitly states that he's going to Stark Tower, we should figure out what the endgame is when Tony does. The scene would have Bruce going "yes...no...I don't know.").

I do feel bad being so negative in my review, but sometimes less really is more.

First, let me comment on the skill of the fan-editor, samspider3: in a word, Excellent. The edits here are virtually seamless -- it was only my familiarity with the source material that clued me in to what was being added and changed. If you aren't familiar with the theatrical release, you would never guess what was changed (except for one scene, which was unfinished in the source).

Now as for the movie itself, I have less kind words. The Avengers as theatrically released is practically a perfect movie. Sometimes movies are cut for timing, sometimes because of studio meddling -- but sometimes scenes are cut out because they just don't work. An archetypical example of this is the Jabba the Hutt scene from Star Wars Episode IV: not only is it a clumsy scene in itself, but it simply restates the much better earlier Greedo scene -- and in the larger scope, completely spoils Jabba's arrival in Episode VI. It is better and rightfully left on the cutting room floor.

Just about all of the scenes added in Avengers EE are of this nature. While I love Maria Hill, she's just not a significant enough of a character to bookend the entire movie around. Scenes with The Waitress just stop the movie cold, especially during the Battle. An added scene with Loki and Hawkeye seriously spoils the later scene where Black Widow "interrogates" Loki. And is there any one person in the world who is finally satisfied knowing where Banner got the motorcycle from?

Even so, as a die-hard MCU fan, I would recommend this edit for an MCU fan's collection. I enjoy the Universe, and this EE allows me to spend 11 more minutes in the Universe, and for that I am grateful.

In closing, here's an idea I'd like to throw out there: Kevin Feige recently commented that they would not be doing any more One-Shots. It might be interesting (if possible) to take a bunch of deleted and other scenes and re-cut new One-Shots out of it. The Waitress, for example: make a little mini-movie with her as the main character. You'd even get a Stan Lee cameo in it. Other possibilities are out there, too. That would be fun to watch.