Comparison between the US Theatrical Version and the Extended Edition

After the renaissance of the super heroes has been dominated on the big screen by dark and violent movies, in 2005 Fantastic Four made an attempt to show the funny side of heroes in costumes. the pseudo-intellectual touch that most other producers wanted to put into their movies is completely missing here. Fantastic Four attempts to score with not revolutionary but decent effects, much humor, corny oneliners and, plain and simple, being cool. And what do you know, it worked. The movie was a success and eventually spawned a sequel - though not without FOX providing the American fans with an Extended Version of the first movie.

For the European audience this version is rather uninteresting since the new scenes are present as a whole among the deleted scenes on the DVDs. For the American audience, however, the purchase may not be a bad idea because until the Extended Version was released the only available DVD was a Single-Disc containing only three of the numerous deleted scenes as well as lacking the extraordinary and very detailed Making of Heroes are Born that the European DVDs contained. On top of that the viewer is now able to choose between the Theatrical and the Extended Version. A remarkable release indeed.

Interesting is that the original American version (meaning the version on the first DVD release) is identical with the British version. This version is different from other DVD versions, for example the ones from Germany or Hong Kong, in terms of special effects and a few minor scenes. The old US/UK version and the HK/German version respectively contained a long storyline scene that was completely missing in the other version (US-&UK version: promenade scene / HK/German version: observatory scene). The Extended Version features both scenes consecutively, as well as a little change on Reeds grimace. So the Extended Version contains all relevant scenes.

US Theatrical Version 106 minutes NTSC
Extended Version 126 minutes NTSC

extended with 12 scenes with a total running time of 20:11 minutes

0:00
The opening credits are completely different and much longer in the Extended Version.
83 sec.

2:00
Ben and Reed are at the reception in the lobby of Dooms company. The woman sends them to the elevator rather unfriendly. Ben asks what would be necessary to make her smile.
24,5 sec.

14:00
After the radiation Reed and the others awake on the space station before being sent to the hospital.
56 sec.

17:00
We see the flowers from the experiment getting transparent.
16 sec.

51:00
Doom and Sue are meeting for dinner. Doom wants to know how far Reed has gotten with his research for a cure. She gets angry because he is not particularly interested in her and even crushes the promise ring in his hand. As he leaves the restaurant she becomes invisible for a short amount of time. The people around her are looking at her appalled or pityful.
2:44 Min.

54:00
Sue and Reed are searching the storage room for electronics, when she discovers a box with her name on it. As she reaches for it the shelf collapses and almost buries her. But Reed stretches himself over her, so she doesn't get hurt. Ben observes this "romantic moment". Right after that we see Johnny in the elevator of the building, cranking up the temperature in the elevator so that all women (only young and pretty women seem to live in that building) are compelled to take off some of their clothes. Johnny rides the elevator for quite some time.
112,5 sec.

59:00
"The Thing" watches a home video of his birthday.
51 sec.

62:00
While reading the fan mail, Sue discovers that she can make things transparent by touching them. When she tells Reed, Ben notices Johnny's appearance at the X-Games on TV.
58,5 sec.

68:00
Reed tries to transform the flowers back, but only chars them.
59 sec.

70:00
In the observatory where they had an earlier date already, Sue and Reed are converging.
62,5 sec.

71:00
Reed reshapes his face. In the Extended Version he now looks like a copy of Wolverine.
-

72:00
Ben goes to the blind artist, who has a model of him in her gallery. They go into the back room where she dusts him and convinces him to come to the exhibition with her.
Then we see Johnny and Doom in a limo. Doom tries to convince him of being the only presentable hero and proposes proper marketing. For example, the action figures we see later in the Theatrical Version.
Than the extended cuts back to Ben an the blind artist at the exhibition. Ben feels uncomfortable, especially when many people start laughing around him.
6:23 Min.

77:00
Johnny is in a club showing fire tricks. In the beginning, everyone loves it and Johnny is in a good mood. After he is done, he comes on to a woman already having a boyfriend. Neither the woman nor the boyfriend are really astonished by Johnny, which makes him a bit angry. He tries a little trick by lighting up the mans drink. The woman gets mad at him. The whole club watches and is not very fond of Johnny all of a sudden.
2:18 Min.