SMART ALECK

The question July 12: Critics of “Armageddon” are complaining about the film editors’ “machine-gun cutting.” So which scenes, from any movie, would you have left on the cutting-room floor?

In “Jurassic Park,” I’d eliminate the scenes where the computer operator smokes. The inclusion of smoking in this children’s movie was totally superfluous.

Bill Wheeler

Upland

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I would leave all of “Armageddon” on the cutting-room floor, and then I would have it burned, as a message to future rock video-movie directors. I would then have the film of any scenes with Bruce Willis burned again, just to make sure.

Mark Trepanier

South Gate

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I’d cut about 2 1/2 hours of the roughly three hours of “Titanic” devoted to footage of folks rushing up and down the decks searching for lifeboats. Hey, that movie would move along quite nicely then.

Dennis Schaefer

Glendale

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Every scene in “Bulworth” with the word “m-----f-----.” My gosh, there would be no movie left.

Peggy Rothring

Thousand Oaks

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The scene in “Godzilla” where the monster marches through downtown New York happened so fast we couldn’t savor the moment.

E. Landayan

West Covina

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Cut the scene in “Armageddon” that was just like the one in “Deep Impact.” Oops, that would be most of the movie.

Stuart Finkelstein

Long Beach

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Cut all of “Armageddon” except the best scene of all, the rip-off from “Apollo 13”--overblown, amped music swelling to orgasmic proportions, our heroes in slow motion to increase the pomposity as they march across the screen to save the Earth. Play it over and over. Audiences convulse with laughter.

S. Scott Mayers

Venice

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Cut Luke’s line, “Blast it, Biggs, where are you?” during the final attack in “Star Wars.” They’d already cut the other 99% of the Biggs character. (In the book, Biggs was Luke’s best friend from Tatooine, who planned to join the rebellion.)

May S. Chin

Santa Barbara