Summary

• The theatrical version of Hot Tub Time Machine is more tightly scripted than the unrated version, with unnecessary extended scenes.
• The unrated version includes purposeless additional nudity scenes that offer little more than alternate camera angles.
• Sebastian Stan's funny scene is the best addition in the unrated version, but overall, fans won't miss much by choosing the regular theatrical cut.

The unique time travel comedy starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke. Three friends, Adam (Cusack), Lou (Corddry), Nick (Robinson), and Adam's nephew, Jacob (Duke), go on a boys' trip to a ski resort from their younger years to recapture their youth. There, they discover a hot tub that takes them back to 1986 and gives them a chance to fix past mistakes.

Unrated movies and NC-17 movies are sometimes confused, but there's a distinct difference. NC-17 films have been rated as such by the MPAA, while unrated simply means the film was never submitted to the MPAA. Moviemakers can use an unrated cut to entice fans with more footage, usually of the crasser variety, but they can just as often simply be a less well-edited version of the film. The unrated Hot Tub Time Machine and theatrical cut have some differences that viewers will want to check out before deciding which to watch.

The Theatrical Version Feels More Tightly Scripted

The Unrated Version Has Scenes That Go For Too Long

For the most part, the regular, theatrical version of Hot Tub Time Machine is a much more tightly scripted film than the unrated version. 10 of the 12 "additional and extended" scenes in the unrated version are extended, meaning they only add on to a scene that viewers would have already watched in the regular cut. For example, at the beginning of the movie, in the regular version, Adam and Nick have an extended conversation about Lou as he pretends to lie asleep in the hospital. Shots are also rearranged and the cut of the scene is different.

None of the changes add anything substantial, however. The longer conversation in the unrated version may have an extra joke or two, but that does not mean they are necessary or that they are even funny. This is a prime example of a scene that goes on just a hair too long in the unrated version and feels like the actors on set were ad-libbing. There are other instances of this in the unrated version where a normal scene is extended for an unfunny joke that trips over itself as the cast tries to get lines out over one another.

In another extended scene, around the 32-minute mark, the friends gather together to shout a mantra regarding having a good time in the past. The regular version has no one in the group invested in the cheer except for Jacob, which is another funny example of how out of place the young man is. The unrated version sees the friends arguing longer over what it is they should say, finally agreeing on "Hot Tub Time Machine". Not only is it a more awkward scene, but Nick had already said the title of the movie earlier, with much funnier results.

The Unrated Version Has Purposeless Additional Nudity

The Unrated Hot Tub Time Machine Has Pointless Inclusions

One of the attractions of a movie's unrated version, for a certain sect of viewers, is the promise that there may be additional nudity. In the Blu-ray case for Hot Tub Time Machine, the words "UNRATED" are actually scrolled across a woman's chest. The implication is clear. Whether viewers consider that eye-rolling, titillating, offensive, or uninteresting, Hot Tub Time Machine's version of this is basically useless. There are only two extended scenes in Hot Tub Time Machine with this additional nudity and both, oddly, simply feature different angles of the same scene.

One extended scene is in the jacuzzi between Nick and Tara (Jessica Paré) and the other is a scene between Jacob, Lou, and Zoe (Crystal Lowe) when they try to have a threesome. Both unrated scenes feature little more than the camera shooting from a different angle than in the regular version. New characters are not introduced, and only the hot tub scene has additional lines, but even those are unnecessary. They barely feel like additional scenes. Perhaps a better term is "scenes filmed from different angles."

In some ways, it feels grosser that the movie would make a big deal about the sensual nature of the unrated version on its Blu-ray cover and then be no different than if the unrated version actually had more nudity. As it stands now, the "UNRATED" script on the cover of the Blu-ray is just a blatant marketing tactic.

Sebastian Stan Gets A Funny Scene In The Hot Tub Time Machine Unrated Version

The More Sebastian Stan, The Better

There is one significant additional scene in the Hot Tub Time Machine unrated version. At around the 1 hour 22 minute mark, Blaine, the evil and near-maniacal ski-patrol bully, played gamely by Sebastian Stan, talks to his ski-patrol buddies about the "Chernobyl" energy drink he's confiscated. Blaine believes the drink is a bomb and begins counting down in the middle of the party, waiting for it to explode. His friends ask him to knock it off, but Blaine claims this is an "Acorn 5" situation, whatever that means.

Blaine gets into an argument about having to keep track of the time but then realizes he's been talking instead of counting. "How long did our talking just take?" he demands, and of course, his friends don't know, so he forgets the idea and decides to go after the time travelers, whether they have a bomb or not. This is Stan right before he entered the MCU, and he does a fantastic job with his limited screentime. This additional scene gives Stan another chance to be over-the-top and ridiculous, and it's probably the best addition to the theatrical cut.

The Hot Tub Time Machine Regular Theatrical Version Is Better

Fans Won't Miss Out By Choosing The Regular Version

All extended and additional scenes considered, the regular theatrical version of Hot Tub Time Machine is the better movie compared to the unrated. The unrated version ends up being only around 1 minute and 40 seconds longer than the theatrical cut and around 30 seconds of that is the Sebastian Stan countdown scene. There is very little more offered by the unrated version, even for die-hard fans who want to see as much Hot Tub Time Machine as possible.

Sometimes, unrated versions of movies can be a whole separate purchase, so at least Hot Tub Time Machine does not give viewers an extra charge. It being just a tacked-on feature of the real movie seems to be more of a marketing ploy to convince someone that the Blu-ray or DVD has more content than one would think. As it stands, there is no real reason to watch the Hot Tub Time Machine unrated version over the regular theatrical version.