Compared are the Theatrical Version (e.g. available on the German 3D-Blu-ray and the new edition of the German Blu-ray) and the Rogue Cut (e.g. available on the new edition of the German Blu-ray, not in 3D)


38 differences, including
* 20x alternate footage
* 22 scenes with additional footage in the Theatrical Version
* 3 recuts

Length difference: 1022.3 sec (= 17:02 min)
* Additional footage Theatrical Version: 142.3 sec (= 2:22 min)
* Additional footage Rogue Cut: 1164.6 sec (= 19:25 min)

Background

The seventh installment of the X-Men universe was the successful one at the box office, it grossed $750 million. Before its theatrical release, director Bryan Singer mentioned that apparently only a single sequence with a length of approx. 10 minutes regarding the character Rogue, played by Anna Paquin, was removed from the final cut of the Theatrical Version of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Singer made it very clear that this sequence simply would not fit because it lowered the pace. This statement caused a lot of displeasure among the fans during the following months and that displeasure made the screenplay writer reveal some
details about the missing subplot which heated up the interest in the longer original version.

However, The Wolverine was the only installment of the X-Men series with a longer version on Blu-ray/DVD and it seemed as if the status quo was not going to change with the Blu-ray/DVD release of Days of Future Past. For the time being, only the Theatrical Version was announced.With its release in October 2014, the release of a longer version now knows as "Rogue Cut" was confirmed but it would not be available since late summer 2015.

The interesting part of that announcement was that Author/producer Simon Kinberg was suddenly talking about a "substantial part of the movie" and he emphasized how much the fans love the Rogue character. Furthermore, there was talk about further scenes with other characters all of a sudden. In the meantime, the "Rogue Cut" has been released worldwide at the same time which is an opportunity to put that statement to the test. Is the "Rogue Cut" just another rip-off with a few deleted scenes back in the movie in order to make a fast buck or was it worth waiting for?

The New Version

Basically, it is safe to say that the "Rogue Cut" makes the good theatrical Version even better. Some fans might not care about the different approach but a real effort to give the fans another satisfying version was made here. With a length difference of 17 minutes, the "Rogue Cut" does not only contain the infamous longer Rogue scene. Instead, some scene from the Theatrical Version are missing now or they will be solved differently.

First of all, I would like to go into detail regarding the new Rogue footage. She only appears in the last third of the motion picture and causes a huge drift of events up to the grand finale. At first, there is a rather long sequence in which she gets freed. This sequence however has been combined with another sequence - more details in the following paragraph. Ironically, putting in the Rogue character is what could be argued about the most resp. contrary to the other differences, it is the less positive alteration made. Somehow, the frantic flight around half the world and the smooth rescue (after this had not been possible for many years) seems to be too much and it also lowers the pace before the showdown. Due to a neat montagw with Magneto's head scene (later in the Theatrical Version as stand-alone scene), some kind of dynamic is generated. And more important, one gets to see Magneto from the past and the future simultaniously in action which is kind of nice. Any subsequent scene of Kitty from the future taking care of Wolverine now shows Rogue. That way, Rogue is quite involved in the events. That it was previously considered too much is still reasonable though.

As already implied, there are further new plot scenes. As part of the long Rogue's rescue sequence, there is a new scene with Mystique and Beast in which one gets to see more of Jennifer Lawrence. But more important, it tells us more about the two characters. Same goes for the discussion at the beginning right before the time travel. Apart from Bishop, Blink and Sunspot now get to state their skepticism resp. they now speak as well. Contrary to the Theatrical Version, Storm may now demonstrate her strength with that comment. Also, there are several scenes with Icemand and Kitty showing how they feel about each other plus two interesting moments with Wolverine in the past: for starters, he says goodbye to the acquaintance he has made and he also has a short conversation with Quicksilver's sister. During the latter, Quicksilver's other twin sister is mentioned as well. Certainly, none of it is necessary but it improves their characteristics. And it can't be emphasized enough that these scenes are NOT deleted scenes already knows from the previous Blu-ray release. All in all, quite a surprise - in a good way.

Other than that, there are probably reversed alterations required for the PG-13 rating. Nothing like the huge amount of alterations in Wolverine's solo performance but of all things, it is his fight scene that shows MPAA typical differences with a length of only a few frames. In the commentary, censorship is not mentioned. Instead, it is explained that the entire is just supposed to entertain which is why they did not want to overdo it. In retrospect, it is a bit fishy though. The F-bomb is also in the Theatrical Version but only once. In the Rogue Cut, it comes up a second time when Nixon is swearing and shorty afterwards, he makes a similar comment. Like I said, rather unspectacular but still some additional value for the Rogue Cut.

Last but not least, a few removed scenes ought to be mentioned. As one can already assume by the alterate Kitty/Rogue resolution, the Rogue Cut does not contain ALL the footage. For instance, Iceman dies later in the Theatrical Version. He does not die until the Sentinels appear on the ship but not during Rogue's rescue. An alteration that perfectly matches the rather dramatic and more present love story between Kitty and him. Another difference is the missing dialog between Wolverine and Beast (also in the Rogue Cut but shorter and as part of an entirely different conversation) plus a few reaction shots surrounding additional dialog scenes. Another distinctive scene has been replaced as well: while Magneto gets drawn from Blink's portal back in the temple, it is Kitty in the Rogue Cut - thanks to being displaced by Rogue, she has gotten more strength again.

All in all, the Rogue Cut is good value for money. The scenes with Rogue may seem a bit too much but at the end of the day, the fit in really nice. Also, one gets to know more about the secondary characters which is not bad at all. Not only Rogue but other mutants appear to be more present as well. Furthermore, the Rogue Cut Blu-ray also contains the Theatrical Version - in 3D would have been nice but considering the new bonus features, it is still a decent release.



Time index refers to
Theatrical Version Blu-ray / Rogue Cut Blu-ray