Top 10 Plot Points That Were Cut Out of Movies

Hollywood’s not exactly known for being entirely cooperative, but sometimes things can get dicey. Take the production of Terry Gilliam’s landmark satirical film “Brazil,” which was infamous for the disputes Gilliam had with U.S. distributor Universal Pictures. Universal’s then-President and COO Sid Sheinburg wanted the film to have a happy ending involving the lead character Sam escaping with his lover Jill. However, Gilliam persisted in his resistance to Universal’s wishes and the film’s intended bleak ending was maintained after the studio agreed to release a director-supervised modified version.

At long last, one clearly vital question would have been answered: “Why does the Terminator look like an Austrian body builder?” In this third installment of the “Terminator” series, a scene was filmed explaining why the titular human-killing machine looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It turns out that Chief Master sergeant William Candy, played by Schwarzenegger, had his face scanned and eventually used for future projects – alongside the deep voice of a corporate executive. While the reason the scene was cut isn’t known, we sense it would have raised too many questions and was just too laughably bad and just plain silly.

Apparently, removing entire subplots is a valid option to consider, if this is to be believed. Simon Kinberg, the writer of “Days of Future Past,” stated that the popular mutant Rogue was meant to have a larger role in the proceedings. Early drafts of the script allegedly had Rogue intervening in the scene where fellow mutant Kitty Pryde was stabbed by Wolverine. Rogue would use her power-borrowing ability on Kitty, taking over the task of keeping Wolverine in the past. Alas, it was not to be; Kinberg and company felt Rogue was unnecessary, and modified the script accordingly. Fortunately, the over 15 minutes of unused footage that was shot with Rogue would later appear in an alternate version of the film, released as “The Rogue Cut” in 2015.

Even in the early years of cinema, key details could get lost on the way to opening night. Such was the case for this 1943 monster mash-up. The original intent was for the film’s version of Frankenstein’s Monster to speak and to be blind. However, when a test audience reacted negatively to the Monster being voiced by Hungarian-born actor Bela Lugosi, the studio and filmmakers elected to simply cut most of the Monster’s scenes... which meant context for the beast’s blind actions was also lost.

Once in a blue moon, truly weird ideas almost find their way into films. In the case of “The Goonies,” such an idea came in the form of an octopus. Offhandedly mentioned at the end of the film, this aquatic creature was originally supposed to attack the titular kids near One-Eyed Willy’s lost ship. The octopus would harass group members Mouth and Stef, before kid genius Data intervened with a Walkman cassette player. For unspecified reasons, the entire scene was removed from the film proper.

It’s probably a good thing that this plot point didn’t see the light of day. While the final cut of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” gave everyone involved a happy ending, one potential alternate ending would have taken the story in a darker direction. In the scene where Rick Moranis’ character Wayne is eating cereal that his shrunken son Nick has fallen into, the intent was to have Wayne unintentionally eat Nick. We suspect this may have been too grim for the filmmakers to consider.

For such a classic film, Kevin Smith’s first outing might have ended on an absolute downer. An extended final scene was filmed, showing the main character Dante being fatally shot by a robber. Smith’s thinking was that his film, being stylized in the vein of independent films, should include the death of a vital character in its climax. In the end, though, Smith took the advice of his mentors and cut out the character’s death – though this tragic version of the film does appear as a special feature on the 10th anniversary special edition called “Clerks X.”

Talk about narrowly avoiding a depressing outcome. At the climax of 2014’s “Interstellar,” lone astronaut Cooper enters a black hole and emerges in fifth-dimensional space. Cooper attempts to send vital data to his daughter on Earth and exit through the wormhole... but in the original draft of the script, the story ended with the hole collapsing. According to writer Jonathan Nolan, the intent was to have Cooper sacrifice himself without knowing if the data got through in time.

One character’s demise might have been the springboard for another character’s suffering. After murdering Lester Burnham, the homophobic Colonel Fitts would have set out to ensure his own survival. It’s said that a further 30 minutes of film was planned and partially filmed, detailing the colonel’s framing of his son Ricky and Lester’s daughter Jane for Lester’s murder – using Ricky’s video recordings as evidence of their guilt. Since director Sam Mendes felt this plot development would hurt the film, we may never know how it would have played out.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Death of the Two Main Characters
“Pineapple Express” (2008)
- Mad Dog Tannen Murdered Gerald’s Strickland’s Grandfather
“Back to the Future Part III” (1990)
- Ash Sleeping Through Human Civilization
“Army of Darkness” (1992)
- T-1000 Malfunctions Throughout the Movie
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)
- Nero Was Held Captive by the Klingon Empire
“Star Trek” (2009)

It’s amazing at times that George Lucas’ original groundbreaking “Star Wars” trilogy succeeded as it did, considering the numerous script rewrites. Throughout the writing of “Episode IV”’s script, for instance, Lucas was fixated on two names: Starkiller and Lars. Originally starting with the name Annikin Starkiller, which became Luke Starkiller and then finally settling on Luke Skywalker, the movie’s hero also evolved from being a retired general to a teenage boy. Meanwhile, Owen and Beru Lars were supposed to have children of their own and those children were supposed to be the main focus of the movie. In the end, the original script for “Star Wars” was divided into three parts and reworked – creating the “Star Wars” trilogy we know and love.

Do you agree with our list? What cut-out plot points draw your attention? For more detail-oriented Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.