Great, but coulda been...

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2013)

An action movie with numerous character studies, I enjoyed the original film a great deal. Tugs at the heartstrings with the relationship between little Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington, who see life, in general, completely opposite, yet are brought together and form a bond of caring that is beautifully innocent, and parental.
The matter that shocked me was when I came across the "deleted" scenes, which explain numerous things left untold in the movie- and includes an ending that is very different than the one used (and in my opinion is better, and should have been used). Also, two key scenes with Mickey Rourke were not used that would have added much to the film- especially the one where he gets killed. All told, even with the added time used by including the deleted scenes, which would have made it a long movie- would have been worth it to the viewing public.