A Deleted Scene From The Watchmen: Director's Cut

[WARNING: This post/video contains spoilers for the graphic novel of Watchmen, as well as the Watchmen: Director's Cut.]

One of the things I found remarkable about Alan Moore's Watchmen graphic novel was how deeply-layered it was. When Zack Snyder's Watchmen was released back in March (see the review we did with Kevin Smith here), almost everyone I spoke with had a different opinion about their favorite scene from the book that was noticeably absent in the final film. Snyder actually filmed a lot of the scenes people were referring to, but they were cut from the theatrical release. Fortunately, when the Watchmen: Director's Cut hits Blu-Ray on July 21st, we'll see many of those deleted scenes reincorporated into the film. Hit the jump to see one such scene and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

This scene opens an image of the Tales of the Black Freighter comic book, which looks (as with everything else in the film) lovingly detailed. Some Knot Tops ascend to the top of a nearby staircase and painfully and poorly deliver some clunky exposition before heading off to track down Hollis Mason (Stephen McHattie), the original Nite Owl. We cut to Mason, who is chatting with Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino) and reminiscing about the old days. They wrap up their conversation as Mason is attacked and killed by the Knot Tops.

I'm a fan of Gugino's but I thought her performance was fairly lackluster in the film. In this scene, I find her wholly unconvincing as the aging Jupiter. However, the final death sequence is a marvel to behold. Snyder's trademark action scene speed ramping is combined with cuts to the masked villains of days past. (Bonus points for anyone who can name them music cue. I'm not sure if it's a classical piece, or if it's from Tyler Bates original score for the film. UPDATE: Commenter "kindbuddy" points out that the piece being used is Cavalleria Rusticana – Intermezzo by Pietro Mascagni. You can listen to its entirety here. Badass.) It's filmed in a way that's almost as brutal and poetic as the murder scene that starts off the film.

Discuss: What do you guys think about this scene? Do you think it should have been in the original theatrical release?