Ridley Scott makes some of the very best movies out there. Or at least he does eventually. For some unknown reason, lately he has been making incredibly long films, which for the most part have to be edited down. In some cases, like for Kingdom of Heaven, he had to completely butcher the film from a four-hour version to the two-and-a-half-hour version that appeared in theaters. What most people saw was the theatrical cut, a solid but somewhat mediocre historical epic with an incredible cast and great production value. But the subsequently released director's cut, dear lord, it's brilliant! It's one of the ten best films of this decade. A masterpiece.

In fact, for most of Scott's best films, the director's cuts tend to be far superior, fully fleshed-out works that make you never want to watch the theatrical cuts again. Alien. Gladiator. American Gangster. Blade Runner. Legend. In all cases the director's cut is superior, even when the original is quite good (although there is a long-standing geek argument over which Blade Runner is superior). So why do I bring this all up? Because Scott's latest film, Body of Lies, is a solid political thriller that feels as if it's missing a good 20 or so minutes that may well find itself on a future DVD.

Body of Lies stars two of Hollywood's Oscar powerhouses -- Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio -- as two CIA agents who are at odds with one another, despite working together. Crowe plays a seasoned desk officer and operations chief overseeing DiCaprio's anti-terror operations in the Middle East, but he seems to be running his own agenda and a number of side operations and often leaves DiCaprio out to dry. But DiCaprio gets into his own trouble as he falls in love with a Middle Eastern woman and puts himself (and her) at risk by doing so.

The film is everything you expect out of Scott. Brutal, raw and incredibly well acted. Though it just feels like something is missing, as if there are a few pieces left out to prevent it from being a GREAT film. Adding to the trouble, the film shifts gears almost exactly halfway through and starts to feel like a completely different movie, leading up to a difficult-to-watch climax that almost loses the audience only to win it back at the last moment. When I first walked out of this at the theater I told a friend it was very good but I was sure the director's cut could be better.

Well, the DVD is out, and lo and behold, there isn't a special feature on the disc. Not one. Not a commentary, a deleted scene, not even a trailer. Which leads me to believe they have some kind of special feature in the works and that this is just the bare bones theatrical cut. Either that or Warner Bros. has had a sudden aversion to special features on their standard edition DVDs. (Nights in Rodanthe, which I wrote about here was also special feature free.)

Perhaps they're just hosing regular DVD watchers in support of Blu-ray? If I were a betting man I would bet that a special edition release is right around the corner for this. But this film is definitely worth checking out regardless -- it's solid, entertaining and has some really great moments. Just not as epic a film as you'd expect from Scott, Crowe, DiCaprio, and the writer of The Departed.

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