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"Daredevil" was criticized for not being "Spiderman" the moment it opened. It seemed that the "Man with no fear" had no fans either among film critics. While the original theatrical cut was a fine film it was also flawed; director Mark Steven Johnson trimmed 30 minutes or so from the film primarily to earn the film an "PG-13" rating from an "R". That meant that an entire subplot involving a case that Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) tried involving someone (Coolio)framed for the murder of a prostitute had to be dropped. Since that subplot fit in neatly with the bulk of the main story, it was like witnessing someone lose an unhealthy amount of weight. You knew there was something wrong and that the person could look so much beter with a few pounds here and there. ***

Such is the case with "Dardevil (Director's Cut)" and Johnson has finally been allowed by Fox to add back in the footage in the version he first submitted to the studio and the ratings board. I agree that double dipping is a nasty business with all these special editions. On the other hand, there is an audience for the "Director's Cut"--hardcore fans that liked the movie but felt it could have offtered so much more. Fans who loved the theatrical version will rejoice in the changes that clarify and add to the plot of the film. The opportunity to go back and revisit and revise a film began in the DVD era due to the popularity of theatrical re-releases such as "Blade Runner". Not every movie deserves a director's cut as some of them are perfect the way they are but so many movies are compromised on the way to the theater now because of the previews studios use to insure a movie will "play" well. It's only right that some movies get a second chance and a second life. For fans of "Daredevil" Johnson's original cut didn't come soon enough. ---

While the "Director's Cut" doesn't have all that many special features, it's a vast improvement on a film that was hampered by too many constraints. It has a single featurette on the process of creating this DVD edition entitled "Giving the Devil His Due" and a new commentary from the director and producer). ***

In addition to the restoration of a major subplot there's also a couple of fight scenes that appear to have been extended a bit more as well. These additional scenes of violence were cut for the MPAA board that gives a movie its rating. Restoring these sequences actually improves the overall flow of some of these scenes while others it just makes more graphic. At 130+ minutes, the restored version of "Daredevil" doesn't come a moment too soon for fans of the movie.