'Sucker Punch' R-Rated Cut Will Be Released On Blu-Ray

We're not even halfway through 2011, but it's safe to say that Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch has been one of the year's biggest disappointments. When Snyder premiered footage from the film at San Diego Comic Con 2010, many fans (myself included) ate it up, anticipating a mind-bending, genre-blending, roller coaster ride of geeky goodness and that anticipation built with each and every piece of material released. Then the film came out. And it was incoherent, boring and – frankly – tame.

Maybe that'll change on June 28 when Warner Bros. releases an R-rated, extended cut of the film on the Blu-ray with an extra 18 minutes of footage. After the jump, read about one of the extended scenes and more.

Thanks to /Film reader Kees for the heads up on this news, which comes from DVD Active.

There they show the sales page for the upcoming Blu-ray release. It'll feature the R-rated extended cut with 18 extra minutes, Maximum Movie Mode featuring branching off, director walk-ons and more, animated prequel sequences and more. Here's the image.

I was fortunate to first see Sucker Punch almost a year ago, well before release, in a very early test screening. And while the film was quite similar to what was eventually released in theaters, it did have a few additional key scenes. Not 18 minutes worth, but maybe 5 minutes worth. And since that 5 minutes made for a better movie, one can assume it'll be back in this version. So I'll now describe the scene. MAJOR SPOILERS for the Extended (and regular) Cut of Sucker Punch coming up.

Basically, Baby Doll (Emily Browning) eventually does meet up with The High Roller (Jon Hamm) in an intimate setting. The two talk, flirt, and get very suggestive in a red colored bedroom. In fact, it almost seems like the High Roller is going to set Baby Doll free but when the two go to kiss, the film abruptly cuts to the lobotomy, which is in the theatrical cut. In the theatrical cut you see Hamm's character say something to the effect of, "Did you see that? She gave me a look." That line doesn't really make much sense in the final, theatrical cut. But in the extended cut, it makes perfect sense because we saw what Baby Doll was imagining: the possibility of love and freedom. It doesn't save the movie, but that scene certainly helps to explain one of the many, many holes in the script.

Now if only the rest of the extended footage explains what's going on in reality (or what is reality) when Baby Doll is dancing in the brothel then maybe the movie will improve. (Note from Russ: we know that a couple musical numbers were cut from the theatrical release, and those could well make up a good bit of the extra 18 minutes.)

Did you like Sucker Punch? Do you think 18 more minutes will improve it? Will you check it out?