My thoughts on the Legend US theatrical release vs. the Ultimate Edition:
Music: I prefer the Tangerine Dream electronic score of the USTR over the classical score of the UE. Lily's singing in the UE is a little corny, but it fits her innocent & naive character well. However, the awful Jon Anderson & Brian Ferry songs at the end of the USTR score all but kill the movie...
Character Development/Dialog: the UE has *much* more dialog, really making the characters far more interesting. I watched the USTR after the UE & most of those conversations still exist, but they're severely truncated & hacked, which makes the dialog & continuity appear very awkward.
Intro: The USTR has on-screen text, while the UE has Darkness speaking to set the stage. A little awkward in the UE that he's sitting in his chair (obscured from view) by his fireplace, talking to himself, setting the stage...but it makes it feel a bit more like a theatrical production. This monologue & an extended conversation with Blix the goblin does drag on a bit before the movie really starts, but it works. UE wins here.
Darkness: The UE teases the audience w/ glimpses of Darkness until his full dramatic reveal through the mirror. USTR shows him early on--no suspense or drama or surprise there...
Extra Bits: I think the only extra bit shown in the USTR but not the UE was when some nasties jump out & scare Gump in Darkness' castle. The scene was mildly entertaining but certainly optional.
DVD Extras: It's *amazing* what they built for this movie--an entire forest in the biggest sound stage in Europe. Populated w/ real live animals who were *living* in it during shooting. And more animals (pigeons, etc) just moved in on their own! It all burned down before filming was over. Too bad. Early film test was interesting. Blix is modeled after Keith Richards--if you shrink the nose & chin a little, it looks totally like him--awesome.
Long story short, thanks a lot Isucamper. It was interesting seeing the 2 versions within a week or so of each other & learning about the movie-making process & the compromises/changes/etc that can change a film dramatically.
Thanks,
-Jason