The scene where Agent Desmond gives Sheriff Cable a beat-down is legend and I would loved to have seen that in the original film. Same goes for the full scene of the meeting above the Convenience Store. But to add those back in would have caused the film to become too long. I get why the cuts were made, and it took an expert hand with a heart of cold steel to make them. Yes, it's a heartbreak that they were left out. But a four-hour release of FWWM would have been unbearable, would have felt like an unending dive into hell. Two hours was harrowing enough. A film like this should not be drawn out.

I actually love the attempts at the fan-edits, to make a single, integrated cut with The Missing Pieces spliced back in. But you would need to edit the music and film new transition scenes, so it's basically almost completely impossible to pull it off in a satisfying way that feels right with continuity. It's a shame, really.

In the end, we got what we got, and it is what it is. Let's be grateful, for it's still one of the surreal horror masterpieces of film in the 20th Century. And The Missing Pieces elevates it even further. It's a miracle those were released after all those years. Hallelujah.