Jason Rising: Friday 13th Fan Film - 2021 - USA

Jason Rising: Friday 13th Fan Film - 2021 - 6/10

Three female convicts murder the guard and flee into the woods.
And into Camp Crystal Lake.
Reason?  “No one would be crazy enough to follow us here.”
Except for two federal agents and two local sheriffs.
Effective homage is fairly paced, wisely shot at night, has solid acting.
Wicked in-jokes to other infamous monsters.

Black Sabbath: Master Of Reality Documentary - 2022 - USA

Black Sabbath: Master Of Reality Documentary - 2022 - 7/10

 
Absorbing end-to-end “fan” documentary on the making of “Master Of Reality”.
Background, historical timetables, comments by group members, the whole Satanic thing.
No lulls, rarely dull, excellent use of images (group, commercials, news footage, film clips),
Only quibble I had was the creator-writer-producer also does all the narrating.
Other  voices would vary the listening experience and, in my opinion, make this better.
Still, this labor of love production is absolutely first rate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6GTf6rOepQ

After the show -
My first Sabbath concert was when they were supporting the newly released “Master Of Reality”.
The next morning, I was chatting on campus with a female friend who had also attended.
“Did you notice the singer in the jumpsuit?”  she said.  “He had an erection the whole show!”
“Guys don’t really stare at another man’s crotch,”  I said.  “Why would you do that?”
“Because,” she shrugged.  Then she started staring down at my jeans.
After a minute, I started getting aroused.  “Hey, stop that!  I have to go to class.”
“That is how we do it,”  she smiled.  “And as for why … because – we – can.”
Thousands of female eyes gazing at Ozzy that show, resistance was futile.

Dick Tracy: The Noir Edit - Fanedit

Dick Tracy: The Noir Edit

The 1990 film remains a powerful example of style over substance.
The set design, primary color scheme, makeup, songs, all top flight.
Story though?  Originally meant for Disney, shifted to Touchstone as it was deemed too adult.
Nevertheless, this is still a cartoon.
Fanedit by Wakeupkeo intends to transform this into a Noir is intriguing, though I suspect Tracy harks back to gangster films of the 1930’s rather than post WWII Film Noir.
Straight off, the “look” of high contrast black and white is outstanding.

 
Using Miles Davis themes from “Elevator To The Gallows” darkens the mood immediately.
More would have been better, though I grasp dialogue interference.
The sound is a swaggering 5.1.  Crank those bullet scenes, boys.
For all the trims and cuts, the narrative remains a problem.
This is a kiddee film.  Violent, but aimed at juveniles.
Noir was always aimed at adults, with hard boiled themes.

 
The Kid is insufferable.  Al Pacino’s Big Boy is a ranting buffoon.
Blame the source, not the faneditor.
This is a good, alternative view, of a disappointing movie.

Afterthought.  There is an actual Noir story buried in Dick Tracy, although one would have to subvert the original pitch.
This would run about an hour, jettison the Kid, many of the goons, Tracy’s cops.
Typical of Noir, there is a femme fatale, smart plan, overreach, rotten end.
The stripped down story?  That of Breathless.

The Empire Begins - 2015 - USA

The Empire Begins - 2015 - 6/10

 
Fan-editor Darth Awesome combines all three Star Wars prequels into a single viewing experience, running two hours forty minutes.  The heaviest trims come from Phantom Menace.  The main sequence is the duel between Darth Maul vs Obi Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn.  For action fans seeking Clone Wars, this ain’t it.  Though Darth Awesome describes it as rise of Empire, fall of Anakin, the story is really a character study of Anakin Skywalker, with all the good and bad that entails.

Not scratching here, but pointing things out.  Planet Kamino barely appears, to me a startling omission.  As noted, all but eight minutes of Phantom Menace was jettisoned.  The battle on Geonosis was minimized.  Duly noticed and missed.  General Grievous, on the other hand, was no loss.  I could go on and on, parts I missed, others I was happy to see gone.  The narrative holds together, but this is a story about Anakin, and I don’t particularly care for this Jedi.  Exchanges with Padme remain awful, specifically because of utter lack of chemistry between the leads.

Grumbles aside, Mr Awesome’s edit is OK.  I rewatch E02 and E03 occasionally, E01 never.  There is clever invention in this effort.  Definitely recommended, especially to those who can tolerate the Christensen films.  For those who hated them, I doubt this will improve your opinion.

The Hobbit: Spence Edit - 2014 - New Zealand

The Hobbit: Spence Edit - 2014 - 6/10

 
Fan-editor Spence combined the bloated Hobbit trilogy into one film, running three and a half hours.
Virtually all moronic humor was cut, as were most Elvish appearances not in the Tolkien book.
Big omission, Beorn.  Otherwise, one doesn’t really miss the rest.
The plot stays coherent and works.
If anything, more characters could have been tossed, meaning the bulk of the dwarves. Tolkien never elaborated on two thirds of them and most could have been dispensed with.
To be honest, though, near the end I was ready for the whole damn thing to finish already.
Certainly not the fault of Spence, who has done a job here.
The narrative itself is sluggish and bombastic.  Much of the film was miscast - sacrilege I know, but Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo never rings true for me.
Still, there are Hobbit fans galore, and this edit - easy to track down - is a tidy way to watch it in one sitting.
Fans of the film might score this much higher.

This Is Tokyo (Gojira + Godzilla) - 1954 - Japan

This Is Tokyo  (Gojira + Godzilla) - 1954 - 6/10

 
“History shows again and again, how Nature points out the folly of men.”

Fanedit mix of Gojira (1954) with Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) by G&G-Fan.
A shrewd idea.  Combining the 1954 Japanese version with the 1956 American version.
Meaning all the scenes with Raymond Burr’s character are in English, the rest in Japanese.
The narrative bounces back and forth between the Japanese version and the US.
The styles are different.  The Japanese mixes action, a weak love story, and ethical concerns.
The US version is akin to a dry documentary, explaining action, strategies and backstories.
While they fit together and complement each other, it is an awkward marriage.
There were one or two audio bites that could have been excised, though nothing untoward.

Journey To The Planet Of Gods (Prometheus) - fanedit - USA

Journey To The Planet Of Gods (Prometheus) - fanedit - NA
 

Prometheus is given a retro turn, courtesy of one Agent9.
Here, the good ship and crew, deciphering the roadmap left by creators, arrive at the home world.
The reception committee is not the Welcome Wagon.

 
Massive amounts of plot, character development, and dialogue have been jettisoned.
In their place are sequences from 1977’s The War In Space (惑星大戦争).
Audio and video are degraded, in keeping with a lost film, recently found.
(Indeed, the quality resembles film stock found in Dawson City in 1978.)
This is a highly entertaining mess, and those who are weary of the seriousness of the original, and who have a taste for flipbook movies should chuckle away.
Maybe pour a stiff one first.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - 1992 -Fanedits

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - 1992 - NA

Two fanedits that extend FWWM as much as possible.
Straight off, I am absolutely NOT the Lynch guy.
After the mess of S02, Twin Peaks, the show was canceled, and Fire Walk With Me was judged incomprehensible.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me: Teresa Banks and the Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer - Q2

Q2 refashioned FWWM with deleted scenes, outtakes, to better follow Lynch’s vision. Maybe. With Lynch, one never knows.
Some of the material was never remastered, so one cannot judge against video defects.
Sound design in FWWM is dazzling.  From tiny sounds to noise to the hypnotic roadhouse band.

Regarding the narrative, I am convinced there is a tight story in here, but an extended version just pumps more fog into the confusion.
FBI subplots seem meaningless to the plot. Just Lynch ridiculing them.
The extended narrative wanders aimlessly for over an hour, then it locks in and grows inspired. The sound mix, the brooding tone, the fatalistic dread. A one-way Noir ticket to Hell.
By the end of the film, there was more here I liked than disliked. I will also be the first to admit hard core Twin Peaks fans will revel in this extended edition.

* *

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me: Extended Blue Rose - igorleoni

 
This is the second edit I have watched, which attempts to reinsert missing footage into Lynch’s “feature”.
With this director, I am never sure of anything.  I find him more  maddening than Herzog.
Anyway, the first section of this plays out like amateur, community theatre.  I don’t know if these performers cannot act, or of they have been directed to emulate drunken cacti.
Once Laura Palmer appears, the acting turns professional, although the story continues to meander somewhat.  Just hold on and bear with it.
The truckstop sequence is unforgettable.
The image quality if this is excellent, the audio adequate.  Subtitles are unnecessary.
I still suffer enjoyment / appreciate issues with this film.  Indeed with this director’s oeuvre, or the director himself, whom I’ve always equated with the unclothed emperor.

In many ways, this is similar to Q2’s version, and my comments from 2014 mirror my thoughts toward this edit.
For Twin Peaks fans, and Lynch believers, both versions are strongly recommended.

Dinner With A Vampire - 1989 - Italy

Dinner With A Vampire - 1989 - 5/10
AKA - A Cena Col Vampiro

Silly vampire spoof from the 1980’s.
Four actors are invited to a lavish castle for dinner, only to discover their host is a 4000 year old Mesopotamian vampire!
Viewers who anticipate screaming, running, inferior acting, might enjoy despite deficiencies.

 
The castle is the real highlight in this, though the Count’s challenge makes a good puzzle.
This was made for television, so don’t expect gratuitous … anything.
Faneditor, Dr. Sapirstein has done an expert restoration of this.
For one thing, the image work is masterful.

 
Other prints I had previously seen were grainy, washed out, damaged.
The clarity is sharp here, the colors sumptuous.

English subs = https://subscene.com/subtitles/brivido-giallo-first-season/english/2700109

LV 426 - 2017 - USA

LV 426 - 2017

 
Rearranging of Prometheus as a direct prequel to Alien.
This is a timely edit since it is apparent director Scott seems disinclined to follow the Prometheus arc any time soon.
The B-movie angle is paramount here.  This has a 50's SciFi look.  Horror elements are more to the fore, as well, with an emphasis on dark undercurrents and heightened tension.
The character “David” is particularly Machiavellian here, whether by programming or faults.
The grandeur of the original is lacking, though the original was a disappointing failure of broad ambition mangled by sloppy, poorly focused writing.
Faneditor “TMBTM” has crafted a great late night ride. The last act interweaves several stories and strikes the hammer down.  Strap in for high octane excitement.

Note: Some sources offer subtitles, most do not.
I converted the pgs subs to srt, then did a wee bit of editing.
My srt = https://www.addic7ed.com/movie/122414

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Silent - 1992 / 2017 - USA

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Silent - 1992 / 2017

 
The Coppola classic, transformed into a pre 20's Silent film.
An inspired reworking, though not without faults.
First - and many members commented on this during the “in progress” stage - the font for the inter-titles is difficult to read and the type is too small. Adding to this, the inter-titles often disappear before one is able to digest them.
Second - the original two hour running time has been condensed to one hour.   Events rush at a furious pace so that the narrative is often confused.  Newcomers to the story will be lost.
Better, there are two Philip Glass scores available. The Kronos Quartet and the solo piano from the restored 1931 Dracula.
The color tinting on this is magnificent, from enhancing the mood for specific scenes to coloring a flash of lightning or tiny detail.
Faneditor “Paulisdead2221“ shines here.
Recommended, though anticipate those inter-titles.

The Sukaiwaka Fortress - 1958 / 2016 - Japan

The Sukaiwaka Fortress - 1958 / 2016

 

Modification of Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, major inspiration for Star Wars.
Changes here are subtle and sweeping.
All music has been replaced with John Williams’ scores.
Here and there, subtitles have been altered with **Star Wars phrases and references.
This is well done. Faneditor “ssj” also provides a FULL commentary track which will prove invaluable for aspiring editors as well as the curious.

War Of The Stars II: The Future In Motion - 2013 - USA

War Of The Stars II: The Future In Motion - 2013 - 7/10

 
Fan-edited film.
Outstanding, highly inventive reworking of the path of Luke Skywalker by TMBTM.
Edit uses approximately 75% ESB and 25% ROTJ, but oh, what choices have been made.
Luke’s path now considerably darker.
The emotional problems that imperiled his father, are more pronounced in him.
The Ewoks are minimized, and there is more splatter.
Vader’s character is bent, whereas Boba Fett - man - his screen time and importance is doubled.
Deleted footage used, along with clever insertion of sequences from other films.
Music also modified, most notably the use of Holst’s “The Planets.”
Well worth hunting down for Star Wars fans who have “seen it all.”
Definitely the road not taken.
This - this - is an amazing example of how an inspired editor can utterly modify a film.

Prometheus: Special Edition - 2012-2013 - USA

Prometheus: Special Edition - 2012-2013 - 7/10

I enjoyed the theatrical release of this film, despite bellyaching from critics and fanboys.
Nonetheless, the fanediting community went to work on this almost immediately.
One of the top examples is by “Agent9”, and his is an outstanding overhaul.
He threw the yoke of structure onto the film and straightened the narrative.
Taut, focused, scenes added, scenes tossed.
I cannot stress how amazing the visual correction work was.

 
This was one helluva an edit, and everyone looked forward to A9 repairing Prometheus 2….
….Only that never happened.  Agent9 either lost passion for the hobby, or tired of the scuffles, or something else.
By and large, fanediting is a thankless endeavor.  Many beg to view, few say thank you.  That’s life.
As far as Prometheus 2, such a colossal fail.

Subs = Most of the subs for Agent 9’s edit are machine translated VonSubs.  I fixed most timing errors and corrected OCR mangled words.  Again, this srt is for Agent 9’s edit.
https://subscene.com/subtitles/prometheus-special-edition/english/2558041

Trailer -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGJFGIPQ7c

The Phantom Strikes! - 1996/2013 - Fanedit

The Phantom Strikes! - 1996/2013 - 6/10

 

Another winning reworking from the folks at FanEdit.
Top job and a quality companion to The Shadow Strikes!
This Phantom is recast as a 30's black and white action ride.
Cheesy humor eliminated, nice removal of sloppy stunt work (visible wires and doubles), and reining in of Treat Williams’ original over-the-top, ham fisted acting.
The 1996 adaption of The Phantom was always a PG movie. Sex and violence very toned down.
Billy Zane was comfortable as The Ghost Who Walks, though he was awfully polite.
In addition, how on earth he preferred white-bread Kristy Swanson over smoldering Catherine Zeta Jones defied comprehension.
The edit is fun, breezy and light, and not as dark as many actual serials from the 30’s (meaning safe for sheltered family viewing).
This spirited romp through a 30's time tunnel is worth seeking out.
Good popcorn flick from BionicBob.

 

Pulp Empire - 1980 / 2013 - USA

Pulp Empire - 2013 - 7/10

 
Ever wonder, what if Tarantino had dabbled with a galaxy far away?
Complete deconstruction and reworking of The Empire Strikes Back.
Linear narrative is tossed in favor of flashbacks and foreshadowing.
John Williams score removed in favor of funky blaxsploitation cues.
Bits of A New Hope, Return Jedi, Sith, Clones Wars, pitched in the cut, and running time trimmed almost thirty minutes.
Pulp Empire quite the grindhouse gem, with Darth Vader a badass mack daddy.
There are hundreds of Star Wars edits out there.  Most are lite, a tweak here or there.
This is a full bore rearrangement, and a must-see!
Would that other editors possessed the vision and skills that NJVC showcases here. 

Trailer

http://vimeo.com/62322967