Before the advent of DVD special features, alternate endings were often consigned to the cutting room floor, never to be seen by the general population. However, that’s no longer the case — and thanks to sites like YouTube, it’s easier to see these clips than ever before.

Here are five must-see alternate endings that might just change the way you saw these hit movies; at the very least, they’re an interesting look into the way films are made.

5. I Am Legend

This well-known alternate ending is more in line with the way things play out in Richard Matheson’s hugely influential novel. Rather than the explosive ending of the movie that went to cinemas, Will Smith’s character realizes that he might be as much of a scourge to the undead as they are to him. It may only be a few minutes long, but it changes the tone of everything that came before it.

4. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

The alternate ending to Dodgeball simply cuts the action short, leaving the referee’s call of a GloboGym win intact. The team from Average Joe’s are sent home as failures, and for once the bad guys come out on top. It’s most likely just a joke meant for the DVD release, but it’s a funny twist on the sports movie genre.

3. Little Shop of Horrors

Few alternate endings go quite as big as this one; rather than the hint that the killer plant Audrey II is still alive that we got in the movie’s cinema release, this deleted denouement sees the world conquered by the flower.  There’s all sorts of death and destruction — it’s certainly not what you’d expect from the closing moments of a stage adaptation.

2. 28 Days Later

The bleak zombie outbreak of 28 Days Later is made even more bleak by this alternate ending. Rather than have protagonist Jim saved on the operating table, this twist sees him expire. His two companions are forced to simply carry on out without him — it’s not the most satisfying way to round off a movie, but it’s very fitting considering the jet-black tone of the film.

1. Titanic

It might seem like some sort of horrible joke, but this alternate ending Titanic is very, very real. It’s difficult to imagine the movie going on to quite such box office success and critical acclaim as it enjoyed had these awful final moments been the last things audiences saw. The acting is bad, the dialogue is wooden and, generally, it seems beneath the rest of the movie.

What’s your favorite alternate ending? Or do you prefer to stick to the way things turn out in the cinema release? Let us know in the comments section below, or get in touch via Twitter by following @SocialNewsDaily.