Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut

The mutants’ battle against the Sentinels – in a rather longer form…

I’m not going to rehash everything I said about Days of Future Past on its release last year (you can read that here); short form is it’s a great X-Men movie. Does this new version really add to that?

In terms of footage, and alternate takes on scenes, the answer is yes, and for those who have not yet invested in a home video version of the movie, then this is the one to get – it not only contains the Rogue Cut, but also the original theatrical version, along with its commentary.

The new cut isn’t that different initially – it’s really only in the third act that you can see the major differences – although there’s at least one new scene (featuring Beast and Mystique) that really should have been in the initial cut. That’s something that is acknowledged in the commentary to the Rogue Cut, which, to be honest, you need to listen to unless you’re actually running both versions side by side if you’re going to spot the differences. It’s certainly interesting to see the full Rogue scenes where they were intended to be… and it’s equally clear why they were deleted. Not, I hasten to add, because of the quality of the acting within them, but more because the pacing of the film – one of its assets – is skewed by their inclusion.

Sometimes the longer (or Director’s Cut) version of a movie becomes the default one to watch; I suspect that this won’t be the case with The Rogue Cut, but it’s definitely a disc that X-Men movie fans will want to pick up for its alternate takes and some of the information about the next film contained within the extra features.

Verdict: Not an essential purchase unless you don’t have the film in any format already, but an intriguing alternate version. 8/10

Paul Simpson

X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Fox